TOW 1 - How to Say Nothing in 500 Words

Paul Roberts was an author who focused on English as a topic, approaching it with a very serious viewpoint. His helpful writings gave some ideas to approach writing as an art, not a task. This is made apparent by his writing in How to Say Nothing in 500 Words, a passionate guide in writing. The piece puts forth a situation, being given a prompt and the instructions to write 500 words about it. He then goes on to explain some of the things that people do in order to extend their writing when given a word count, and says that these extensions will only get you a poor grade. After this is an elaborated list of things one can do to avoid saying nothing in 500 words. With the example of a college student preceding the majority of the piece, this is written for students, in order to help them be more effective and engaging with their writing, and to keep them from wasting their words. The author uses several subtle but effective rhetorical devices in order to make his writing a more effective means of communication to his audience. The first we see is immediate, right off of the bat, putting the reader into a position that would make it easier for them to understand the author's points, a position that, given the intended audience, would probably have been experienced several times by said audience. This immersion helps readers better see from the author's perspective. Another rhetorical device that the author uses well is alternating humorous and didactic tones. This means that the author weaves together humorous writing that both keeps readers interested and makes them open to suggestion, and didactic writing, which takes on a more sage, authoritative tone that makes people feel like their being taught, and puts them in a mindset to remember what they're being told. Overall, it's a very effective and useful piece of writing, and I know I'll be using this throughout the year.