An Example Of Good Writing: Zinsser's "Simplicity"
Zinsser's essay on Simplicity is an example of good writing for many reasons. The main topic in his essay is clutter. Throughout the essay he not only tells us why this is a problem, but he shows us through many detailed examples. The essay was written so that anyone who reads it could understand it.
He does not use complex words that often tend to loose a reader. Zinsser asks questions throughout the essay that cause the reader to think and feel as though he is a part of the essay. The whole essay gives the reader a positive outlook on writing.
Clutter is all the unnecessary words that are added to a sentence. When
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When Zinsser is proving this point in his essay he uses the example of the president of a major university writing a very unclear letter to state a problem the school was experiencing. Zinsser translates the letter to read the actual message that everyone can understand.
The way Zinsser writes the essay it is easy to understand. He uses everyday words not dictionary words. No one wants to read an essay that every other word they have to stop and go look it up because they do not know the meaning. This causes the reader to become frustrated and they also tend to loose interest. There are too many other options presented to people today that already stray them away from reading.
By asking questions in the essay it keeps the readers attention. In the essay Zinsser asks, "Who is this elusive creature, the reader?" That question causes the people reading to stop and think, could he be talking about me? Now he has captured the readers full attention, so they read on to find the answer.
Throughout Zinsser's essay he makes many suggestions to the reader in which he can better his own writing. This makes the reader go away with a good feeling. Now the reader knows what to do to get rid of the clutter in his writing. This makes the reader realize that he did not waste his time by reading the essay, but he actually learned something.
I can identify a strength of the essay is that he doesn’t get off the topic often. He touches about wealth and how that isn’t the true source of happiness but quickly closes on the subject and goes back to the good that we are seeking. Another example where he does this was towards the end, he briefly talks about sleep is an inactivity of the soul. He clearly dismisses the subject by pointing out its irrelevance. This makes the essay easier to follow. Another strength that I notice was he used the
but his problem was making his book read like a novel. He accomplished this by
He makes several good points and uses such wording in this paragraph that really affects the reader.
He, obviously, is the narrator, and the person whom we see the story through. He gives us his opinions on the matters at hand, and we see the book through his viewpoint. The traits described above allow him to be such a great narrator, for he can get people to confide in him, and relay this information to the reader.
The essay goes into great detail of his relationship with his father. He describes his father as cruel (65), bitter (65), and beautiful (64). He does mention the bad in length. On the flip side, he tells us some of the good as well. Throughout his storytelling, the reader gets a glimpse into his life and the way he feels. His feelings evolve during the extent of the essay.
Have you even judged someone on who he or she is or what they looked like? And have you ever had a bad experience or traumatic experience happens and you looked for someone or something to blame, but in reality there was nothing to blame? Well, a natural disaster can be blamed on no one, but in times like that emotions run wild and blame can be put on someone who fits a certain profile. Racism and Hurricane Katrina were two forces that clashed together to create an even bigger problem for the victims. This is caused by an insecurity of the situation at hand. In the book Zeitoun by Dave Eggers, racism and racial profiling is the underlying themes in the story. These themes are also the underlying themes of people who are subjected
his work more appealing to the reader and reel them in to find out what’s going to happen next.
This is a very important part of the book because it shows the reader that the
emotional, connotative diction that he knows will have a significant effect on his readers. “Yet,
of eager anticipation in the reader to know and be relieved of the bewilderment that the
the characters. The story reminds his audience that a man is more than a father. He is
In doing this, he is letting the reader into his personal experience, regardless of what
The narrator though an educator, is not very good at verbalizing his emotions. He tends to be the person who keeps everything inside
After September 11, 2001 I’ve had trouble finding what makes me more angry; the way the authorities handled the hurricane of Katrina or the way the Arabs were treated. I have herd countless stories related to the 9/11 attack and until today I see the way that has affected the lives of many. Through Eggers story, I was able to comprehend more about the tragedy in New Orleans and even though I thought I already knew about the aftermath that Katrina brought, Eggers grabbed my attention by introducing me to the story of a Syrian-American middle aged man named Abdulrahman Zeitoun. He was a father of four, married to an American wife Kathy and owned a
therefore enabling him to share his point of view with the reader about the drastic changes in