Analysis Of How To Say Nothing In 500 Words

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How to Say Nothing in 500 Words In Paul Roberts essay, “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words”, he explains in detail all of the ways in which students can write an essay without making an actual statement. This essay exposes several ways that one could eliminate excessive wording and cut right to the actual meaning in an essay. While Roberts makes some important suggestions about producing real content and reinforcing claims with concrete evidence, his opinions seem to represent restrictions that undermine the need for individual expression and creativity when writing. When writing an essay, many will formulate certain claims based on personal beliefs rather than factual evidence. Roberts gives an example of how a professional writer would write …show more content…

I think that all of these suggestions ought to be considered, however, as you are writing you should not be exceedingly concerned about whether or not you are using too many colorful words. I personally believe that his opinions could stifle the creativity that is supposed to be a part of writing. For example, he explains that colorful words should not be overused, colored words are too often associated with different meanings, and colorless words can be too general in meaning. If a writer were to attempt to abide by all of the guidelines that Roberts suggested, they would not know where to begin. Robert’s puts a lot of emphasis on the opinions of others, “It is always a bad mistake to think your readers are more naïve than they really are”. Out of his opinions, guidelines, and preferences—which of these enable the free spirit of writing? Previously in this module, we read William Stafford’s essay, “Writing”, where he constantly stresses how important it is to disregard the grammatical issues and judgements of others during the process of composing an essay. I believe that William Stafford would disagree with many of these suggestions because of Robert’s regimented view point towards writing an essay. While I don’t think that Robert’s propositions should be completely disregarded, I do consider individual creativity to be an essential part of

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