English 1301 students:
For our first blog, Friday, September 7th, please submit a comment during our class time, 12:00-12:50 or 2:00-2:50 p.m. depending on your section, of at least two well-developed paragraphs (a well-developed paragraph is about 8-10 sentences). In your comment, please answer the first four questions and the last question in the blue box on p. 23 (in our textbook) about this funny essay (click on the link to access the essay):
Link: "How to Say Nothing in 500 Words"
After you submit your comment, please submit a reply of one well-developed paragraph to at least one of the other students' comments. Please reply thoughtfully to the selected comment (rather than just stating that it is a good comment).
Here is how to submit your comment and reply:
- Click on the “sign in” link in the top right corner of this page. Then, type in your ASU email and password (or your gmail address and password would work). Submit your comment and reply by clicking on the comment link at the bottom of this post and on the reply link under the comment to which you would like to respond.
- As I mentioned in class, you should compose your comment and reply in a Word document first, and copy and paste them into the comment box and reply box, respectively. You will be able, by using this method, to avoid having to rewrite your comment and reply if any problems occur when you try to submit them.
Reminder: Please read pp. 65-79 and pp. 211-231 in our textbook before class on Monday, September 10.
Have a great weekend,
Dr. K
The general subject in how to say nothing in 500 words is College football should be abolished because the writers main point is college football is bad for any university. He used “The players are so busy practicing that they don't have any time for their studies.” “And Nowadays college football is what you might call a big business”. As he’s key supporting points. I think the writers purpose of writing this essay was to persuade the reader that college football is negative for university’s by using key points and examples. Some parallels with my personal experience is being a student athlete was hard but a good thing. Playing football made me try more in school to keep my grades up. It also teaches you time management for your school work. You don’t put off assignments to the last day because you have a game the next day and you don’t want to stay up all night. I believe being a student athlete is a great thing.
ReplyDeleteI was also a student athlete and can relate with how hard it can be to juggle academics and sports.
DeleteI like the point you made about student athletes being motivated to keep their grades up, because I think people have differing opinions about this. Some people might argue that college sports are detrimental because student-athletes care more about the sport than about their studies. However, as a former college athlete, I agree with your argument that many student-athletes are in fact more motivated than other students because they don’t want to lose their eligibility to compete. Plus, like you said, being a student-athlete can help you develop important life skills, such as time management, or self-motivation. I also think it is interesting that sometimes student-athletes are required to meet higher academic standards than non-athletes. I’m not sure what ASU’s policy is, but I know some universities have very strict academic requirements for student-athletes. Even more than just maintaining a certain GPA, they are required to spend a certain number of hours in the tutoring center, or in group study sessions, or other similar things. What are your thoughts on this? Is this a good way of making sure student-athletes prioritize academics over sports, or could it end up being unfair, or too much of a burden on these students?
DeleteI like that you said that playing football can help you learn about time management. I say this because it is true, you have to have a fine line of when to do your work and when you have football practice.
DeleteIn the essay “How to day Nothing in 500 words” the writer is explaining how he was assigned an essay over the weekend on college football.College Football doesn’t seem to be something that really interest him but the point is that with some exaggeration and digging you can come up with an essay. The writers main point is “WHY COLLEGE FOOTBALL SHOULD BE ABOLISHED” and he explains his reasoning behind it. He believes that football does more bad than good all around for the students.
ReplyDeleteStudent athletes have the hardest schedules on campus due to having to attended classes and mandatory practices and meetings, game time required from football. The writer is trying to get through to his audience that football is more of a business than a benefit for the athlete. He talks about how many don’t even get to play but still have to put their education on the back burner because at the end of the day the schools care about football first.
I personally understand why this essay would be something he rather not do since he doesn’t know much about the topic and is disinterested but with research and hard work it can be done.
haven't heard "put on the back burner" in a while. (∩╹□╹∩)
DeleteMore of a business is a really good way to describe what the author is trying to say about football. I also agree with why he doesn't want to write the essay, but we both know that you can't just NOT do it. He probably should have put his full effort into rather than just doing it for some sort of grade.
DeleteElijah Rodriguez
ReplyDeleteThe main subject is how a essay can seem easy to put off but things like finding strong rebuttals, evidence of why you’re right and a strong foundation is trivial. That an opinionated essay should use facts and not to sound like you’re right and if you don’t get what I'm saying is the readers fault by being so ignorant to any evidence you have. For example, “one rather simple way of getting into your paper is to take the side of the argument that most of the citizens will want to avoid.” The reader Is explaining that when writing an essay, it's easier to find other articles or events to relieve stress on yourself instead of having trouble with the essay as a whole. That a good essay is easier to make if you’re willing to look on both sides. The writer's purpose is to find a middle ground on opinions and try to get more information before picking a side.
I had an essay/presentation on who and what a true hero is. I wanted to be edgy and picked someone from a Japanese manga because everyone else chose boring people. I had a group of three but I was the only one who did anything in that group. So, in order for me to research him, I had to look for sources and almost found no evidence that my hero was a great one. After so much hard work I had to present it myself and I almost had an anxiety attack mid speech when I realized that the presentation sucked. So instead of finding someone easy to research, I put too much pressure and rushed my project. If I just did what the writer wrote, id probably have a greater English grade that semester. So, try to think through everything before stalling or writing. Its OK to change dynamics and try new things.
I definitely relate to being put into a group where no one else did any work, which also caused me to rush the project. Inevitably led me to a B instead of the A i had hoped for.
DeleteI know what it is like being part of a group where no one pulls their own weight. I know what it feels to do most to all the work. I just ignored them and let them get a failing grade for not doing any work.
DeleteWhen talking about the general subject in this humorous yet informational essay you could say he was talking about writing styles and whether or not to write your opinion or the write what you think the professor wants to hear. Another just general subject that the writer touches on is how to actually go back and fix and write a good essay. Leading me to the writer's main point which is about how you can meet the word count or page count the professor gives, but it doesn't always mean your writing is good or that you said anything effective. He teaches us how we can be better writers and how making small changes to just a few sentences can make such a huge difference in the paper or essay. The writer's key supporting points start with the essay that the girl wrote about how football is bad in colleges. The writer then explains why her essay was not good and was deserving of the D- she got.
ReplyDeleteThe writer then starts stating key important points on what to put in the essay or paper. Starting with avoiding obvious content, taking the less usual side and to constantly move from content to the abstract. To continue his main points he teaches us how and when to use colorful words and how to not say the cliche things when writing an essay or paper. It seems to me that the author's purpose of this paper is to simply teach good writing. Compare the bad and show us how to make it better with small and simple changes. But also show us the importance of the changes and why we must make them if we want those good grades. I can definitely relate with the busy scheduling of drill team and having it interfere with my class schedule or even when it comes to doing homework and making time for it. But if anything drill team did teach me good values. I believe there is some good and some bad when it comes to playing a sport while attending school as well. Because it does exhaust you out and leave little time for homework.
I definitely agree with you. The author teaches us how we can make better essay just by making small changes like changing a few words and sentences. And I also agree with that there are both good and bad things when students are playing a sport while attending school as well. Being a student athlete has good values such as healthy life and having fun, but also it can take your time for study away. I think it won't be easy to balance between being athlete and being student at the same time.
Delete"How To Say Nothing in 500 Words" is a essay by Paul McHenry Roberts. Roberts had to write an essay over the weekend about college football. Roberts clearly expresses his opinions about about college football. The general subject of the essay is that college football should be abolished from universities. As for the main idea, is that college football does a lot more bad than good. Roberts gives some examples of why college football is bad. He says that the athletes "practice every afternoon from three to six" and that the athletes wake up and go to classes "without having studied." Roberts purpose for writing this essay is to let the reader know that college football is not good for universities and for those who are participating in the sport. I can relate to what Roberts said, I used to play football in high school and i was very tiring and I had a lot of trouble finding time to do my work for my classes.
ReplyDeleteRunning track and playing basketball I definitely understand the feeling of being too tired to finish work. When added with having a job it can definitely wear you out and that was while in high school. I can only imagine what it takes to be an athlete in college and still produce in the classroom.
DeleteI definitely understand where you are coming from. When I was in high school I used to play in track and cross country and it made me very unfocused on my studies at school. I had to think outside of the box and drop out from the sports so I would be able to bring my grades up to a passing grade.
DeleteI agree with the struggle of athletics and education, it is truly a act of strength to dedicate yourself to a sport while being able to function strongly in a classroom. Success can be found wherever it is wanted and collegiate athletes are a prime example. If someone is able to do both tough tasks then I must give them major props.
DeleteThe Author of "How To Say Nothing In 500 Words", Paul McHenrey Roberts, is talking about an essay he had to write about College football. His side was to abolish it all together because of the negative impact it can have on the student athletes. His point were "The players are too busy practicing that they don't have time for their studies." which can be found in the "WHY COLLEGE FOOTBALL SHOULD BE ABOLISHED" first paragraph, second line.
ReplyDeleteRoberts also talked about way to pick a side on an essay without using the normal thoughts that get repetitive because so many people will have the same thoughts over that side of the same essay. He also mentioned that when given different topics to choose from, maybe the best option for an interesting essay is to pick the topic that others won't want to research and write about. Roberts talked about how instead of choosing to talk about "Fraternities" or the "favorite high school teacher" found in the "Take the Less Usual Side" section, Paragraph three, he chose to talk about beetles. This is just Roberts trying to help the students to write better essays and in return, will give the teachers grading the essays more diversity with given essays that tend to be written from the same perspectives with the same key points.
Sorry for it saying unknown, this is my submission.
DeleteI think you are right that Roberts wants to help students. Because he gives a lot of good tips about how to make a better essay.
DeleteI think that with him wanting to get rid of college football he wants to help the students learn more from their studies.
Delete“How to say nothing in 500 words” by Paul Roberts, is like a onion in the fact it has layers. In the first couple of paragraphs the passage seems to be written about getting through a essay topic the writer was uninterested in, but further through the passage the tone changes to a informative approach about how to create a better piece of writing. The author structures paragraphs by giving a main idea such as “call a fool a fool” and “get rid of obvious padding” and then explaining the meaning followed by examples of the concept at work. The passage is pieced together almost like a how to improve one's writing. Written in mind mostly for students, but also can apply to anybody writing. The idea is that through better preparation and stepping out the usual mindset on a subject you’re more likely to to receive a better grade. Which is better than the alternative of reviving a C or D because the writer saw the subject as “dull”.
ReplyDeleteAs a student I have come across many uninteresting topics and sometimes my grade has reflected my interest level. Nonetheless I understand that you get what you put in and having to dig deeper. In AP English we were asked to write about college and at the time I was completely uninterested with the idea. As a result I constructed a poorly written paper and didn’t apply myself. If I had only applied myself I might have been able not only improve that essay but improved my overall quality of work.
I heavily relate to what you said about not applying myself in uninteresting topics. Throughout high school for me was basically procrastinating all my assignments, like essays for English, till the night before they are due. I wouldn't put too much effort into researching the topic or how to look at the topic from different point of views,which in return gave me a grade that I deserved for the time and effort i put into it.
DeleteYour description of this article as an onion was on point! The article definitely took a couple turns before I figured out exactly what the author’s purpose was in writing it. I can also relate to your comment about grades sometimes reflecting interest level. I’m curious, what do you think is a good solution to this problem? This article gave some helpful pointers on how to write about an uninteresting topic, but I’m wondering how else this issue could be addressed. Do you think students should try to find something interesting about the topic, some aspect or angle that they can relate to? Or do you think teachers should try to find ways to pique students’ interest? Or is the final product the only thing that matters?
DeleteI understand about the uninteresting topics also. Sometimes, I would fail a paper becasue I had no clue what to write about. The topics that High School teachers gave me were either too boring or had little research to write about. For the amount of words or pages that were given to my class, we can up with little to nothing on what to write about. Most of my class procrastinated until last minute then realized they had nothing to write and were a little too late to ask questions about the essay topic.
DeleteKassie Morgan
ReplyDeleteIn “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words”, the main point is about how someone can reach the correct number of word or pages that your professor assigns. The writer also talks about writing what comes from your opinion, not your professor’s opinion. He starts his supporting points with the essay about the woman who wrote about how football shouldn’t be in colleges. Thus, he explains why she earned the grade she got. Another point he mentioned was to be abstract and always turning general remarks into seeable examples. He tells us about different techniques of writing and how to write a decent essay. For example, using colorful words, colored words, being aware of pat expressions. He persuades us about how making the smallest of changes can do a lot of good in an essay. The authors purpose in this essay was to try teach students or people great writing skills.
I agree with him on this essay that there is some bad to certain people, but I personally believe that there is some good when it comes to playing sports. Golf is a type of sport that you have to keep practicing to get better, not for someone who can just pick up a club and be good at hitting the ball right off the bat. It taught me to be more focused and think about what I am doing before just walking up to hit a ball. But, it never drove me away from my studies. I always put my studies first then golf. I would write an essay just like how I would play golf. For example, focus on what I am writing, stick with the same subject, and think about ideas that relate to the subject. I believe the only bad part is if you are procrastinator and put off your studies until the last minute, then you might just fail.
In the essay "How To Say Nothing in 500 words", Roberts makes a few valid points on why college football isn't good for the athlete. Being a student athlete I can definitely see where Roberts is coming from because being a student and a football player is very time consuming, frustrating, and overall just a struggle. Roberts explains why college football should be abolished and a lot of his points were tied with the lack of satisfaction and the struggle of the student athlete. This is where I think Roberts is wrong in his essay.
ReplyDeleteRoberts is blind to the fact that the student athlete chose to play football and be a student simultaneously. The football player choses to do both because it is what he loves to do and I can personally relate to this. The kids who advance to the next level from high school have a passion for the game. Also, Roberts fails to consider the facts that a lot of the kids who play football in college are on scholarship which is extremely relieving and helpful for the student and anyone paying for his college. College football is a way out for a lot of kids and Roberts doesn't understand that. College football is also very beneficial for the universities financially and socially. College football should never be abolished.
The writer main point is that college football is a distraction to the student athletes. He also believes that college football really does not prepare you for the NFL and that students should focus more on their work instead of worrying about sports. If the student can balance their school work and sports at the same time then they should be fine in school. Football in college started out just like any regular club you see today. His purpose was to let people know that majority of the students that fail classes are student athletes. And that the teachers give them a pass because they are athletes.
ReplyDeleteYour last sentence is really interesting, that teachers give students a pass because they are athletes. In your experience, do you think this is true? In my own experience, I don’t think I’ve seen teachers straight up give student-athletes a pass, but I have seen some instances where teachers maybe gave them a second chance, or gave them extra help. The reason I find this point so interesting is that it seems to be a big point of contention when it comes to school sports. Some people claim that this happens, but there isn’t much hard evidence to back up that claim. Without any evidence, I think this is pretty insulting for both the students and the teachers, since it is essentially starting a rumor that could damage someone’s reputation. On the other hand, if this is true, then it’s obviously very unfair for the students who aren’t in athletics, and who don’t get the same kind of privileged treatment. I’m not sure what the solution is here, but I think you’ve identified something worth discussing!
DeleteFrom reading your comment I fully agree with what you said here, though there are several athletes who are smart and get their work done and turned in, there are a lot of them who fail in their classes.
DeleteThe writer’s general subject in “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words” is writing. His main point is that you cannot always take the easy way out and use the first idea that comes to mind because that is not going to get you the grade, no matter how good you think your idea is. In the essay the boy thought that going the way he thought the teacher would go would help him make the grade but because his idea was siding with the teacher but because it was not original or well thought out it did not get him the grade that he had planned for. The writer’s key supporting points were set up as tips to help actually get the grade that a student would strive for. He first mentions to stay away from obvious content, in my opinion this would help for a better grade because I am sure that teachers and professors get tired of grading essays all basically stating the same cliché things that they have read from students for years. If a student has a different take on things it probably catches attention from a teacher or professor most likely resulting in a better grade. This also goes along with his next point of taking the less usual side. He states to stay away from abstraction and be more straight forward. Be confident in what you are saying and make the reader believe your opinion is right. He says to use less padding, make sure you are saying what you need to say instead of just trying to get to the minimum word limit without putting in much work. He lastly says to make the essay more colorful with words instead of using the same words that everyone else in your class is using. I think the writer’s purpose in “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words” is to help students have a better understanding of what essays need to be in a higher level education system.
ReplyDeleteThe general subject of the comedic essay, "How to Say Nothing in 500 words", written by Paul McHenry Roberts, is basically being more AWARE of the things you do and say. When talking about the main point the writer is trying to explain, it is to be DIFFERENT and don't do what everybody else is doing. In paragraph 2 of "College Football Being Abolished", the passage talks about how the players are practicing so much, it is to the point where they didn't have a lot or if any time to do their academic studies and even though A LOT of people want to join, not many students are able to participate in football with only 1 of 10,000 able to join. Also in "Take the Less Usual Side","Slip Out Of Abstraction", even the title itself talks about learning how to overcome to norm or be DIFFERENT". In paragraph one it talks about putting down arguments when talking about Abolishing College football, it explains that having a different midset than the rest of the people can make you more intellectual and not commerical like most of the population in college and unviersities. The particular purpose in the writer's mind seems to be to learn how to think differently from others.
ReplyDeleteI got the same impression from the article; I definitely think the author was emphasizing that being different, standing out, was very important. In your opinion, how important is this in relation to other aspects of writing? For example, if a student turned in a paper that had a unique, interesting angle, but it was riddled with grammatical errors, should it still get a good grade? On the other hand, if a student turned in a boring paper that used all the same arguments that everyone else was using, but it was grammatically perfect, should that get a good grade? Then between the two, which do you think would be the better paper? In high school or college, teachers might say that content is important, but then the only feedback they provide is about grammar or punctuation. I find this irksome. If the main feedback students get on their papers is about grammar, doesn’t that tell them that grammar is the most important thing to focus on? If a student’s grammar is so confusing that the reader can’t understand what he or she is trying to say, then I think in that situation, grammar is definitely important. As students, how do you think we should prioritize the different elements in our papers?
DeleteThe main subject of the essay “ How To Say Nothing In 500 Words “ by Paul McHenry Roberts is for the most part, about finishing a 500 word essay on a subject that the student has no interest or much knowledge in. The main subject seems to be how students are overcoming this writers block that they typically face in class when it comes to writing essays. The majority of points he uses to support his main focus come from his last paragraph. He talks about making a dull and overused subject pretty interesting and the many ways to go about it. Some such ways choosing another side of an argument that is rarely chosen. By doing this, it garners the readers attention by making them interested in another point of view than what they are typically accustomed to.
ReplyDeleteI feel as though the author’s purpose of this essay is to give hope and advice to students who face this challenge when it comes to writing essays. I can relate to his points rather well being a student myself. I always become pretty scared thinking of what to say when it comes to writing about topics that I usually have no interest in whatsoever.
Through out reading the essay I can definitely agree to your statement in the sense of the author wanting to advise the students in what exactly to avoid and or what to strive for when it requires the writing. For sure interesting when you say it gives you hope as a result from reading his thoughts on the subject. I am sure this will boost up your confidence when it comes to your writings from now on, so congratulations!
DeleteI can relate to you Qui-Gon John, whenever i'm writing a passage i'm always hesitant on what words to use and the order I should use them in. Furthermore I believe you have found some good answers for these questions and you put them in a good order of answering and describing them.
DeleteI agree with your opinion on the essay. Roberts main purpose is to explain that students can't write an effective essay. He does show that by explaining ways that it could be effective by giving a list. The list has stuff such as get straight to the point with your writing and try no to pad it up with word that are not needed. This list can become a foundation for any ones writing. This will indeed help overcome the difficult writers block. It will also help boost creativity in writing. Overall, your comment is satisfactory in explaining the motive of the writer.
DeleteThis comment was written by Johnny Lopez.
Delete“How To Say Nothing in 500 Words" written by Paul McHenry Roberts. Is just him writing an essay about his opinions about his personal views on college football. His general subject of the essay is to give a 500 word count essay on college football. With this he chooses his main idea which is him stating that he thinks college football should “be abolished.” Paul list a few ways to prove how and why college football is bad to have. By saying that is should be fun and exciting like it used to be, and now it's just like a business. McHenry’s key supporting items are how college football is distracting and does more harm that good to the university students. The university will spend loads of money to give the coaches good salaries to the coaches. Also, all the mandatory playing time and practicing the students have to go to can affect how well the students do in class. When they’re tired, it’s harder to focus. All this activity all the time and constant working can be physically draining on someone.
ReplyDeleteAvery Rios, I would actually disagree. This paper to me seemed to be about helping students write better papers. While Paul Roberts did repeatedly use college football as an essay example, that’s not what it was actually about. His point was how if you write a paper as he explained at first, it would not receive a very high letter grade. He continues on to talk about how a student can improve how they write for a better grade. The story of a college student getting an essay and then slacking on it until the last minute is actually just a fictional example used to prove his points. The writer clearly states throughout the rest of the paper what one should and should not do in order to write well thought out papers.
DeleteI believe every student at one point or another in their academic career has had to write an essay requiring them to really strive deeper in context or blandly an over exaggerated amount of little words spread out in order to meet the word requirement. Roberts simply generalized this process in an essay format for how it usually occurs from the point when the teacher assigns the essay, the struggle between finding the correct words and phrases, plus falling into the same whole as other students causing all of us to sound mot very interesting. As he states “ it is better to take the side most will not take.” This allows the student to have a more original essay than everyone in the class. The teacher will actually be interested into the essay instead of wanting to scheme over it because he has read the same things over and over.
ReplyDeleteRoberts perfectly described this situation into my own personal experiences. I have always been the type to procrastinate in my school work because I have felt I still do a good job in the quality of my work. Yet his essay has truly made me reflect on what is the other side that teachers go through when it comes to grading them. I don’t want to be an unoriginal student, the kind that falls into the previous discussed category. I have well deserved thoughts that should be interesting enough for my teacher to appreciate.
I too find myself procrastinating when it comes to turning in assignments. The essay has been an eye opener as well because I've never seen a fellow student write about the actual thought process when it comes to writing essays. It was truly unique.
DeleteStarting off with the college football as the essays vague topic, the writers general subject was based on key ideas to expand the intellectual ways to better an essay. The writer mentioned key notations like avoiding obvious content, take the less usual side, slipping out of abstraction, getting rid of obvious padding, opinion orientation, colorful words, and colorless words. The writers main point was to establish ways to improve writing, especially in essays. Roberts uses main points to justify the concepts of essay writing, for example, using facts instead of opinions to pick a side in an argumentative or persuasive essay. The writers key supporting points are to not let bias judgment cloud statistic or facts, to take the side that most people would avoid, debate on both sides of an essay using clear and concise facts, go into depth about ideas and not just generalize them. Other key points are to convince the reader on your topic of the essay, being timid on writing is being unclear, and the usage of fancy words that can replace the simplest words to enhance the idea of the sentence.
ReplyDeleteThe writer's main purpose of this essay was to give a clear visualization of what to do to make an essay understandable and to strengthen the topic of the essay. Roberts uses important information that he missed when writing the essay about college football. An experience that I have was when I wrote an essay about people that have changed the world in a negative and positive way. For the negative side I used the historical figure, Adolf Hitler. For the positive side I used Martin Luther King Jr. On my draft essay my teacher told me that I needed to make my sentences more clear and crisp, but also straight to the point. She also mentioned to use more history and facts when writing my essay, another key point was my grammar choices. She told me that the ideas were there, but they needed to be organized. Reading Roberts main points on how to make an essay better helped me understand the ways to improve my writing, and to be clear and concise, but also staying on topic.
Throughout reading your essay, I feel like you gave your answers a lot of thought. I agree with you on how the purpose of Roberts' essay is to help you enhance your writing. Good job!
DeleteThe author's main purpose in "How to Say Nothing in 500 Words" is that college football is merely a distraction to the students, rather than something good. When talking about this he also refers to the simple fact that athletes will have little to no time to do their classwork when it is football season, they are so focused on the game. In many ways he states the fact that if people are to focus more on their studies and prepare for tests they would come out with better grades at the end of the semester, rather than better stats at the end of the season. He also believes that college football isn't going to prepare you for the NFL. Another main point that he makes is that teachers are more willing to pass an athlete because they want to see their school win however, when it's someone who isn't an athlete they focus less on them.
ReplyDeleteThis is by Brailey Cardenas
DeleteI agree with what you're saying here, it is true that it's a big distraction to students when they're involved in that rather than in school. I think that almost everyone can pass if they put their all into it, so when you say that teachers make them pass purposely I agree and disagree at the same time!
DeleteI have to disagree on what you are saying about the main point. I believe the main point of what the writer was trying to do is to help improve on how you write your essays. The writer used the football topic as an example of an essay can be boring. In the end, that is just my option on the subject.
DeleteProfessor Roberts’ article starts out with an example of an essay that is being written, the essay containing everything that the essay must have: the introduction, body, conclusion and 500 words. Then, the paper is finished. When the essay is finished, Professor Roberts beings to give his critiques on how to make the essay sound better than what’s written. Professor Roberts is giving instructions or tips to students on how to write an essay without making the subject of that essay sound dull. Professor Roberts takes the writer step by step leading to the end of the well composed essay. “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words” is an article that’s gives suggestions on how to become the better writer on any subject. Not only is the writer getting rid of information but also enhancing what is written. All of Professor Roberts’ information is important but his main point is getting the writer to have a very well composed essay and catching the audience's attention and giving something that is not expected of the audience.
ReplyDeleteAvoiding content that is obvious to the reader is one of Professor Roberts’ in the article. This meaning to trying to avoid what the audience is expecting on the subject and since the audience already has the same idea, the essay won't necessarily catch the reader's attention. Writers should write what is truly felt on the subject and sometimes writing about the unusual side of the subject. Avoiding “filler content” is stressed by Professor Roberts. Why add useless words to a simple sentence and make it a paragraph? It is more than likely to become repetitive and lose the audience. Professor Roberts suggests using “colorful words” to grab the audience’s attention. Colorful words keep the audience attentive. Using colorless words is suggested to be avoided, words that have no color that are generalized. Roberts purpose is teaching the writer how to write an essay on any subject and make it more interesting, showing what to avoid and points the writer in the right direction.
I agree with your comment and some of the statements within it. I agree when you said " Roberts purpose is teaching the writer how to write an essay on any subject and make it more interesting...". I think this is exactly what the author was trying to do and was the message he was trying to convey to his readers. great job!
DeleteIn the article “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words.” The writer’s general subject is that college football should be banned because it takes up the students time to study. He thinks that the players do not get enough time to study due to all of the practice and training they have to go through for football. Which I would say makes a lot of sense and I see where he is coming from. Although coming from me a person who has played football and many other sports his whole life I would say if the player really cares about football then he will take care of his class work. This is mainly because in order to play you have to be passing. So if he really wants to play then he will make sure he is passing all of his classes.
ReplyDeleteThe writer’s main point is that college football takes up too much study time. Which is true because you usually practice twice a day once in the morning and once in the afternoon. I think the writer’s seems to have a particular purpose, and I think that purpose is to sway people from liking college football once they know how hard it is on the players. Which to me isn’t write but I do get the fact that if you believe in something then stand up for what it is which is exactly what the writer is doing. To me though the players and their parents obviously know the workload they are taking on playing football in college. I mean if they didn’t don’t you think they would at least ask for some clarification on what they are about to put them selfs through and then take time to think about it. Not just dive in head first without knowing what’s going on.
In “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words” the author, Paul McHenry Roberts, teaches students on how to turn their assigned, boring, ordinary essays into something more. Roberts mainly focus on the point on how standing out from your peers will make you and your essay more interesting. In short terms, take the road less traveled. Robert supports his ideas by using an example essay titled “Why College Football Should Be Abolished”. He first shows the example essay at its boring “original” form. As Roberts’ essay progress, so does example essay. Roberts advises students to avoid the obvious at all cost. In these types of essays we are assigned to write about our opinion, therefore she should use our OWN opinions. Roberts points out on the use of “colored, colorful, and colorless” words and its effects on the essay. He uses the example essay once again to show the effects. Roberts essay fulfilled its purpose on being informative while being expressive to the given audience.
ReplyDeleteBack in high school, I did everything. Sports, Band, UIL, and Theater, you name it. It was stressful. Juggling between all these activities left me tired as a dog. Even now, with the little free time I do have is now dedicated to my studies or to theater. I even see student athletes, who go to classes all day, and practice right after class, struggling with their studies the second week in. I found that, even with 60+ year difference, time hasn't changed a thing!
Well now. I must say, congratulations on having actually read through and comprehended the entire essay. You clearly put some thought into your comment and expressed your own opinion rather than regurgitating someone else's views or expectations. I believe we can both agree that honest expression of oneself is a keystone not just in writing but to living one's life. I also enjoy your writing style- particularly in the second paragraph where it seems to me you really hit your stride. It's just a shame I have no idea who you are due to the whole "Unknown" post (which you should probably fix).
DeleteWhat I got from reading "How to Say Nothing in 500 Words", is that the author is saying he is against football. In the essay, he explains various reasons to why college football it unnecessary and why it should not be a thing included in college. Some of the reasons that he listed are that its a distraction, there's no time to do class work, and teachers are willing to pass athletes over non-athletes. The way he described these issues , made me understand where he was coming from and why he felt that way. The way the essay is set up, it seems as though the purpose of the essay was to entertain the audience. With my personal experiences, Robert made the essay very relatable to me. Being a non-athletic student, it seemed like the students who were on the football team got "special" treatment so that they could pass and represent the school. The school doesn't help much with making education a priority, instead they made Friday game nights the priority.
ReplyDeletePaul Roberts General subject is that students should not be writing essays only worthy of D’s. The difference between receiving a C versus a D is easily remedied by putting just a bit more effort into your work. If a student is not lazy in their writing, they can easily achieve this goal. The writer’s main point in “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words” is not to fluff your papers. He goes on to explain how you can better your essays with more meaningful information, opposing views, and colorful words. His subject also points out these faults and ways to correct them in humorous ways, making them easy to digest. The writer’s supporting key points include being direct, avoiding meaningless words, and not using pat expressions. When one is direct and specific with their writing they come across more knowledgeable about their topics.
ReplyDeleteThe writer does have a purpose in mind during his paper, that being trying to help students write better papers. He gives many helpful tips on how to remedy this problem along with his own opinions. He wants students to take his paper as a sort of outline for their own. Hypothetically, if student are to use these points on writing along with their own knowledge of the subject they can write great, meaningful papers. I also have found some parallels in the tips he has written with what I try to go by. On papers with sometimes bland topics, I try to go the road less traveled in an attempt to push my own writing abilities. On top of that, I like to keep a good balance between average sentences and ones with too much fluff. If a paper is all padding, it can get boring very quickly for the reader and writer alike.
I totally agree with what your saying on the writer's main point about "not to fluff your papers" because that was Roberts main purpose in writing "How to Say nothing in 500 words". Throughout the article he includes many tips to avoid writing a paper that is worth a "D".
DeleteThe general subject in the “How to say nothing in 500 words” is how to write interestingly for readers. The writer’s main point is that when you’re writing, say things as vigorously as possible with the right word in the right place rather than write obvious content and abstraction on usual side. The writer uses the five hundred-word composition about why college football should be abolished to support his idea. He states that like these “It is too commercial, it takes the students’ minds off their studies, it is hard on the players, it makes the university a kind of circus instead of an intellectual center…”, the obvious things and abstraction make composition boring. The writer said like this “take your roommate, Alfred Simkins, the second-string center. Picture poor old Alfy coming home from football practice every evening…” would be more interesting for readers.
ReplyDeleteI think the writer’s purpose of this essay is to teach how to make interesting writings for readers. The writer makes readers to compare bad writing and good writing giving an example of five hundred-word composition. And I also agree with the writer’s opinion. With my own experience, I felt more interested in people’s new story rather than same old story arranged in a row when I’m choosing and reading novels. It could be applied to essays, too. The obvious, and usual side writing will make readers boring.
In the essay “How to say Nothing in 500 Words”, the writer shows that his general subject is to improve a person's way of writing an essay. The writer shows this by giving examples of what not write in a essay and explains how to improve on what you write. In the essay, the writer’s main point is that you need to find ways of making you essay interesting to readers. Some supporting key points that the writer shows in the essay is to stop stating the obvious and be original, add color to the words your writing and lastly avoid adding useless content that serve no purpose but to add length to a paper.
ReplyDeleteI say the purpose of what the writer was writing is to inform the readers on how to write a good essay and to avoid thing that would make it boring. If not, then why would the writers use examples of boring essays and then show how to fix the essays to make them more interesting if not to inform the readers. Some of the example the writer uses is something that I have experienced in the past. I was the one that wrote down obvious statement just to fill up the paper.
I agree, before reading this I was also one to just wrote anything basically just to make the essay or paragraph seem longer. I felt as if he knew exactly my thought strategies on how I start my papers! The first and easiest thing that would come into my head was straight on my paper just because it was the easy way of doing things.
DeleteI like the part where you said you were talking about not stating the obvious and be original. I feel as though the majority of people attempt to mimic great writing styles rather than working on their own.
DeleteThe writer’s general subject in “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words” is about how a college student is assigned a five-word essay on college football. The student chooses to write about “Why College Football Should Be Abolished”. After turning in the essay to their Professor the student sees that they received a “D”. According to the professor, the essay was “weak in content” and “...exaggerated a little, not much”(Roberts 2), that is why the student received a “D”. The writer’s main point in “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words” is helping the reader to become a better writer by giving many important tips. An additional main point that Paul McHenry Roberts includes in “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words” is how to avoid the way many people write. The writer includes many key supporting points throughout the article. The first and most important key point the writer states is, “Avoid The Obvious”(Roberts 3). The writer is letting the reader know how to avoid writing the obvious meaning don’t write about the same thing that everyone else is already thinking about the topic. Another significant key supporting point the writer includes in the article “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words” is “Take The Less Usual Side”(Roberts 3). Taking the usual side means, “is to take the side of the argument that most citizens will want to avoid”(Roberts 3), so being different from everybody else will help with becoming a better writer.
ReplyDeleteThe writer’s particular purpose of writing the article “How to Say Nothing in 500 words” is to inform the reader on how to become a better writer. Paul McHenry Roberts includes enough tips and advice throughout the article to help anyone who is having trouble writing. Roberts purpose in writing the article is to also guide writers into the right direction in improving in their writing skills. I can identify parallels with my own experiences with the college student who is writing over college football and also with college football players because I have been in the same position as them. I relate to the student in the article because I tend to dread any writing assignment because I have trouble in writing essays. So I can understand how the college student in the article “How to Say Nothing in 500” got distracted with other things because not everybody enjoys writing about college football. In addition to having parallels with the student I can relate with college football players too because when I was in high school I played sports. It can be hard for athletes to keep up with two things because they have to stay focus on their education while having to play football.
I get where you're coming from. In when you're an athlete in any sport that consumes a the majority of your time it can become difficult to balance school work and athletics. Also great job citing your sources.
DeleteGood response overall! I can definitely relate when its said that its hard balance school and sports. Everyone has an activity outside of school and I wish school could realize that a lot more. I hate that school is just centralized in the fact that everything under the sun revolves around it. You're forced to go from K-12 and its frowned upon if you don't do anything outside of it, yet if anything interferes with it, its your fault. I also agree with you on "dreading" writing assignments. Why do we need these? Im fine without them.
DeleteThe author is trying to explain to the audience on how to write an essay in 500 words and say nothing in the process. He then explains various techniques on how to do this. This includes explaining the topic in more depth. The example he uses is when describing college football. Instead of just siding with the professor and take the easy passing grade, you could dig deeper into the subject and find out what you really feel about the subject. Take the side that is less commonly used. The main point of this essay is to convey the many different writing techniques you can use to say nothing in 500 words. In addition to this it also conveys a hurmors point on how to improve writing skills.
ReplyDeleteThe author describes several key supporting points to his thesis. Some of the key supporting points to his thesis on how to say nothing include, taking the less usual side. In addition to this you might try to get rid of any that is obviously just extra fluff in the story to make it appear longer and better than the essay really is. The whole purpose for writing this essay is to show that you don’t have to be a dull essay writer when you are assigned a word count to reach. He is trying to teach the audience on how to make the writing more interesting and flavorful instead of boring and bland. I do have some parallels in my own life experience. In my senior english class we were given an assignment where we had to write about an experience that “changed our lives”. I did the typical football essay, the one where you win the championship game and everything turns out great. When my english teacher looked at it he told me to start over, because it wouldn’t have received a passing grade, and he knew I could do better. I then changed the way I wrote it and used more exciting word choice and storytelling devices, and as a result of fixing the essay I ended up receiving an A on the paper.
ReplyDeleteThe writer’s general subject was learning how to block a persons instant reaction to write down the obvious answers. He also went on to give examples of using better wording and to only use cliches and obvious answers when there is absolutely nothing more to think of. Robert’s main idea was basically about how people sometimes overthink writing or writing essays because their instant reaction is to scribble down the first thing that comes to mind. It goes to tell that even when we think they're couldn't be anything else to write, there are a ton of ways to increase your word count. When in reality, the first thing that comes to mind should just be completely blocked off because otherwise these thoughts won’t let the real creativity won't come in. Some of his key supporting point were his examples of common mistakes and them right underneath he shows what would have been a better version of what the writer said. He shows that the majority of the time there isn’t anything wrong with what someone has written down but that it’s more about how it could have been worded differently to sound very educated and interesting. He even goes on to give examples of what we should completely steer away from and tips we should try. Also, he adds some humor into this essay to succeed of full attention while someone is reading the essay.
Paul McHenry Roberts appears to want to help others do better by writing the knowledge he has already been through and seen so that others can grow as writers. I think he has seen the struggle, especially with students, who stress themselves because they can’t think of what to say. I have always been the type of student who struggled with word choice and sentence structure. This essay, has shown me ways to avoid certain topics and how pointing blame isn’t a good idea. Also, how teachers get somewhat irritated when students have very similar ideas because it was the first idea that popped into their heads. Personally, I had no idea there were ways to turn a simple sentence into something worth reading just by adding better word choices, I thought it was more complex than that. Everything he said was correct about how my thought process for writing papers is. Hopefully, I remember to apply these tips to upcoming essays and so on.
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DeleteI agree that after reading the article "How to Say Nothing in 500 Words" it will help students including myself who have a hard time writing to know what to avoid when writing a paper.
DeleteThe way to write a paper that is supposed to be 500 words, but you are extremely used to simple minded writing. There has to be a better way to extend your thoughts and papers than, “In my opinion,” by writing and processing your thoughts. This statement is aged and boring possibly a waste of everyone’s time. The writer is trying to get his readers to expand and elaborate the main points they are presenting in their papers. Freshman or beginning writers often misunderstand, writing a paper with small and timid texts is not a good way to write a paper, it causes the reader to be bored and annoyed with reading basically the same sentences over and over again. Being straightforward, saying what you mean to say, and avoiding obvious topic routes or methods, can potentially make assignments interesting and unexpected for the person reading them. When writing opinions using a different tactic than usual to show the reason why a function, group or activity is dangerous or beneficial for someone, by putting the unthinkable in your writing. The writer uses obvious topics to support his material and points, which makes his views presentable and worth reading. By being extraordinary and exaggerating your points the assignment given by your professor will be a breeze by following these tactics.
ReplyDeletePaul McHenry’s “How to say nothing in 500 Words” essay is commonly about going the extra mile and putting forth the work instead of half way doing it. It is way easier not to try your best and find shortcuts but what good does that do for you? The author is generally stating you can make an amazing grade, learn the material, and create a great writing masterpiece if you want to. When the author provides “ Call a fool a fool” and get rid of obvious padding” he is basically building a mini outline by setting up the main subjects then the details that support them. All of these additional tactics Paul uses are intended on improving your paper. I think he is right if you give it your all because your grade reflects the effort you put in. I would know first hand because in highschool our teacher would give us essays and I wouldn’t attempt to finish it until the last minute. This caused me to rush through my essay, plagiarize, throw random things down and not try my best.
ReplyDeleteIn the essay “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words”, the authors general subject is how to be a better writer. The main point of the essay by Paul Roberts is that writers can use a more unconventional way of writing as opposed to the already beaten path that students have used before. He gives many examples of how to get around using the same methods of writing to meet your needs for your text. This is huge for writers who often experience writers block. The author’s key supporting points are shown throughout the article. One major key point that the author gives is to not use additional words such as “in my opinion” or “it seems to me” in the sense that it only makes the reader bored. Many times the writer uses these types of phrases or words to meet their word count for an assignment. The author gives many examples on how to avoid doing this and what to do instead. Using the same repetitive or cliche terms is something that will introduce only boredom to the audience. Using additional and different approaches in your writing will help to catch the reader’s attention.
ReplyDeleteWhen the author Paul Roberts wrote this piece of text, his purpose was to offer an alternative approach on writing for students who are in a higher level education category. Throughout the article he shows several ways to develop and improve essays without losing your audience, even if the topic of the essay is boring or dull. I can relate to this piece of text due to experiencing some of the things the author’s key points cover. I realize how the information offered can help writers who have trouble completing their essays to the fullest. I often have used conventional ways of writing to meet my word count on many assignments. This text has shown me the faulty and risky side of doing this as well as alternatives to prevent doing it again. I also relate to this article because I have suffered from writer's block just as many of us have. The article contains useful insights to somewhat “cure” writer’s block. This article is a necessity for students who are beginning a higher level of education.
In his essay “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words”, Paul McHenry Roberts talks about an essay he wrote about college football while in college. Roberts expresses the disinterest he had over the topic, using common points causes essays to be repetitive and boring. He points out how meeting a word minimum does not always equal a good grade. Essays need to have more unique points, thoughts and wording to convey the writer’s side on a subject. Roberts’ purpose of the essay seems to be to both warn and inform students about how an essay is only as good as the effort and thought put into it, without being generic and uncreative.
ReplyDeletePaul McHenry Roberts goal in ‘How to Say Nothing in 500 words’ is to persuade readers that college football can be destructive to a student’s academic success. Mr. Roberts repeatedly states how exhaustion from a student athlete can show a great amount in school work with examples that include “What with one thing and another, it's ten o'clock Sunday night before you get out the typewriter again” to reveal poor self-discipline from one individual athlete. From experience I can say that athletics does not distract one from their studies but rather encourage and push students to excel tremendously in their academics. Participating as an athlete and a student simultaneously in high school, I was encouraged to pass classes to get play time. Being an athlete also teaches young adults to manage how many hours they put towards studying because time management is vital. The learned responsibilities that come along with mixing academics and athletics can benefit any individual throughout life.
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ReplyDeleteIn this short story the writer makes it very clear that the general subject of the passage is the struggle of writing a paper on a subject that does not have much body. Regarding the main point of the essay, I would have to say that the writer is making a point that it is not a simple task to make a subject that seems rather bland, interesting and colorful. A key point that the writer mentioned was the character that was attempting to write the essay found it was much more difficult to write about a topic that doesn’t have much body to it. The writer also made it very clear how work that might seem easy, such that you can blow off for a day or two, can take more time and thought than previously assumed. I believe that the purpose the write was trying to portray is to somewhat educate the reader to make something bland and boring sound colorful and vibrant. In the passage the writer states that the character is in their first year of college, so I would assume that Roberts is addressing first year college students. The writer believes that with any subject that might be plain you can turn it into something that someone would enjoy readying, using colorful words, interesting vocabulary and, stimulating sentences; on that note, I would think in the same manner.
ReplyDeleteI believe the writer does not reveal any biases, but critically weaves this informative essay on how important that the skill of, turning a bare subject into something far more interesting, is such a useful skill to possess. I personally do not have any knowledge that would challenge any of the writer’s ideas. The only thing that I could find missing from this passage is a way to fix the problem; a way to make a subject that doesn’t have much meat to it, interesting. I feel Roberts kept this passage very sequentially and logically sound. A theme or idea that I can identify is that the writer keeps the story light-hearted, nearing the end he reveals that it takes far more work than previously thought to make an interesting paper out of a seemingly easy topic. In my personal experience I can relate to the side of the passage where the character puts off the paper until the last second, finding out that the assignment at hand is going to require significantly more effort than I previously assumed. Although, creating interesting essays purely based of a subject that obviously doesn’t have much to work with, is something that I find can be a redundant composition; the real trial is producing something that would be considered stimulating.
I believe the author’s general subject is to show us as the readers, that you can say something about nothing yet still achieve the professor’s word count and help teach ourselves how to write a proper essay. The author’s main point of this passage is to teach us the audience to improve upon our writing skills. The author’s key supporting points are shown after reading the girls position on college football. Some of those points are, avoid the obvious content, taking the less usual side, and being abstract.
ReplyDeleteFrom what the author has said in they’re passage they want to convey the purpose of making us the audience become better writers. When the author started talking about calling a fool a fool, that stood out to me because I sometimes have a habit of indirectly delivering my ideas in a passage and it sometimes doesn’t convey the idea that I want to convey.
We have all had a time in which our grungy, English teacher decided to give us a long and tedious essay. Whether you did it perfectly or not, you still had to think of words to say and fill space. That's what Paul McHenry Roberts talks about in his essay, “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words”. Dr.K has given this dissertation to us to practice some of the strategies given in the essay. The essay itself started in the closet, then in the restroom, but wait how'd I end up on garage? It was all over the place. Roberts writes an essay telling us how to expand on our essay, talking about nothing, while doing it in his own. Don't be bland, is what he's saying. He tells us to use the other side of our brain, go left instead of right, make the bold statement even bolder, take extra chocolate off the cake, and avoid that annoying chihuahua you always pass by.
ReplyDeleteWe all have a purpose in life and i think Roberts was to make a great essay about making great essays. Again, as reiterated, we don't want that “D” instead we want better. I have a hard time writing essays and example of that would be right now. It is 2:43 and this is due in seven minutes. All jokes aside, Roberts gives us key points that can better our essays. Not just essays alone, but rather our everyday life. Be spontaneous in everything you do.
When reading “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words”, the writer seems to not only be expressing the struggles of writing essays as a student but also explains to the readers on how to overcome such tedious issues in writing. The main point of this essay is to give advice to the reader on how to make their papers not only longer but also more developed. Some key supporting points that can be found are in the section titled, “The Less Usual Side” where he explains that the professor will most likely not have a stronger opinion than the readers. In this case, he wants the reader to understand that you should not choose a topic or view that you think will coddle to the professors liking. He wants you to think more outside the box and try to choose a subject that will be more refreshing. While analyzing the essay, the writers purpose seems to be informative in that he wants the reader to take away these techniques and put them to use in any future essay they may have to write. He wants you to know that just stating a fact to support an opinion is not enough to convince a professor to give you a good grade on an essay. It is more about going into the “heart of the matter”. I can identify greatly with this subject as a student who has taken many writing courses. I know the struggles of not only stretching out an essay to reach a specific word count, but also making it in depth enough to please my teacher.
ReplyDeleteIn “How to say nothing in 500 words”, by Paul McHenry Robert, the writers general subject is the practice of developing good writing skills in other words being more creative. His main point being students taking the easy way out by writing down what first comes to mind and not putting any forethought to their writing assignments. He expresses his main point by giving the reader various examples of how teacher/ professor gets tired of reading the same thing over and over again. Throughout the article it can be seen that the writer wanted to inform the reader of better writing skills and to think outside the box.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteWhen reading “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words”, the writer seems to not only be expressing the struggles of writing essays as a student but also explains to the readers on how to overcome such tedious issues in writing. The main point of this essay is to give advice to the reader on how to make their papers not only longer but also more developed. Some key supporting points that can be found are in the section titled, “The Less Usual Side” where he explains that the professor will most likely not have a stronger opinion than the readers. In this case, he wants the reader to understand that you should not choose a topic or view that you think will coddle to the professors liking. He wants you to think more outside the box and try to choose a subject that will be more refreshing. While analyzing the essay, the writers purpose seems to be informative in that he wants the reader to take away these techniques and put them to use in any future essay they may have to write. He wants you to know that just stating a fact to support an opinion is not enough to convince a professor to give you a good grade on an essay. It is more about going into the “heart of the matter”. I can identify greatly with this subject as a student who has taken many writing courses. I know the struggles of not only stretching out an essay to reach a specific word count, but also making it in depth enough to please my teacher.
ReplyDeleteI previously posted as unknown but then figured out how to sign in so I decided to repost.
DeleteThe essay by Paul McHenry Roberts “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words,” Roberts explains how many Freshmen in college do not know how to write an effective essay. He does this by showing how college freshmen will write as if they have no feelings and essays that seem to show no life in them. They only seem to explain their opinion on the subject making the paper sound dull and boring. This creates the main point which is that many student’s essays are “insufferably tedious” and just repeat the “old bromides.” Roberts believes that many students can bring their papers back to life with some key reminders to remember to use while writing their essays. Using these reminders, Roberts believes that it results in more successful writings for students.
ReplyDeleteRobert’s steps to follow to have a successful paper start off with avoiding the obvious content. Bring something new to your paper by not sticking towards the same bland points in your writing. Always take the less usual side of a paper by choosing a view on a subject that many others might not think of using. Try to keep unnecessary abstractions out and get straight to the point. Do not try to pad your essay so it will look bigger by adding meaningless info. Try not to write your essay to make it look like you only tried to reach the minimal word limit. Beware of unneeded pat expressions and avoid the when appropriate. Also try to avoid colorful word choice when appropriate and get straight to the point. By doing this Roberts is easily able to show his purpose of telling students how to write an effective essays by explaining it in an effective list.
This essay was composed to address issues the author perceives as common among amateur writers in general and college students in particular. It is written in a way that is charismatic and humorous, selling it to the reader like a used car. Such a sugary coating merely serves as the patina (HAH. Fancy words.) for what is, or at least really should be, a dire and ominous subject indeed- bad grades in english class. Though procrastination and distraction are touched upon as obstacles to writing it should still be clearly understood that all the preparation and early starts in the world will still not magically write an english paper with content, style, originality and quality befitting the ever-elusive grade of 'A'. To this end, the author eventually gets around to bringing up several points meant to improve one's writing skills and discusses them in detail. I find the content of this essay to be fairly dubious, however, and personally choose to put relatively little stock in the author's advice.
ReplyDeleteTo begin with, there is clear conflict between some of the chosen points such as 'Call a Fool a Fool' and using 'Colorful Words'. Do you mean to tell me that I should write plainly about my thoughts on a subject yet also be sure to use expressive verbiage that creates a vivid image? One might even craft a thought exercise wherein they successively applied the key points of advice in this essay to an example written statement in order to transform said statement. Such literary witchcraft would likely resemble the horrific love-child of college mathematics and the script from an episode of the Teletubbies. It is my slightly-less-than humble opinion that this essay has several pieces of disparate advice that are each absolutely best suited to completely different styles of writing that utilize specific techniques for specific audiences. While I will concede that the majority of points are solid, experience dictates that only a specific few can be used more generally: 'Get Rid of Obvious Padding' and 'Colorful Words'. Oh, and 'Take the Less Usual Side' if you happen to be bored.
The purpose of this essay is both helpful but funny. While it does tell what goes through a college teens mind when writing an essay the idea is on point,and it ends up getting to the main points of writing a successful essay. The author highlights the point of the essay topic being tough, the reason being because information on the topic was so bare and uninteresting. But the author shows the main purpose of his writing by giving the reader a tip. The tip being that the readers job is to make any topic interesting, that the only reason to write is to inform with great detail and reasoning. He gives a list of tricks and ways to help you turn your terrible written essay into a true masterpiece while blending in humor. His main point was that no essay could be interesting unless the author makes it that way. This gives the reader a whole new perspective on writing and how it should be done. The purpose of the essay is to help the reader learn how to write a credible and interesting essay for future purposes.
ReplyDeleteThe author uses many ideas to help the reader convey the whole idea. All the tips and tricks provided in this excerpt stand as points. The main idea getting across is that you must make a essay or topic sound interesting in order to cause attention to a reader. He uses the essay topic of if college football should be abolished as a basic example, the bad grade the student receives shows that the student should have written a completely new essay.That’s also a key point, that with a basic and boring topic new steps/measures have to be taken in order to create a good essay.The author does seem to have a particular goal in mind and it is to do nothing but help the reader. By the awesome tricks and help given this essay of “nothing” is a great read for assistance in writing. The awesome blend of humor makes it more captivating to the reader also. I do see some parallels in this essay compared to myself, like how the author thinks of each word written as another word closer to the end of the essay. I find that relatable because I catch myself doing the same thing also. This essay was really funny and helpful, it shows that a essay does not have to be serious to be informative, after all who likes to be serious?
he general subject in"In how to say nothing in 500 words" is why college football should be abolished. The writers main point is that college is bad for both the university and the players. It's bad for the players because they are so busy practicing that they have no time to focus on their studies.he then continues on saying that players practice from three in the afternoon to six leading the player to be exhausted enough to fall asleep after dinner. He then goes to his classes unprepared causing him fail because he didn't study for the test last night. Its also bad for the university because not that many students get to participate, only 75 or a hundred plays out of ten thousand. College football is more watched than played, which makes it commercial. It becomes a "big business". Instead of people playing football for fun like in the "Olden days" now they play to get paid. The writer brings up an article written by Mr. Hutchins that states that coaches go to high schools offering large salaries to come play at their college. He highlighted a specific case where a student was offered a convertible. The writer's purpose is to inform the audience that college football is bad because it doesn't allow players enough time to study, and not that many people play, which makes college football commercial. The closest experience I have to this is when I used to go to boxing practice during my middle school years but I usually try to do my work and study at school or at home before I go to practice because it started like at six in the afternoon so it's not quite the same, I was never a student athlete so I have no parallels to this.
ReplyDeleteFrom Tristan Myrick:
ReplyDeleteWhat I have learned from reading "How to Say Nothing in 500 Words", is that when you are writing a paper you shouldn't write exactly what its about. You could give a sentence that states " Football should be abolished because its bad for students" but that really just explains the whole story in that little sentence but if you added more words and stretched the whole thing out and make it longer it would help you reach your goal of 500 words. For the nine words that I just stated you could change into 50 words to achieve your goal. The way this essay has been setup makes me feel like he wants to entertain the audience and also to inform you that you shouldn't write something that is so bland that takes the whole subject and explains in one sentence. But to expand the it into multiple possibilities that could go into that subject. The particular purpose of this writer is tell you that things you write shouldn't be so brief or gray instead have colorful words to make the reader bring his/her focus to the essay and make them want to read the passage. The writer is showing that you can write a big essay with more words or more ideas than just writing down what the obvious subject of essay is. You should write different ideas down that not everyone else can think of, usually this is called "think outside the box" which is really cliché.
In my high school years I have participated in Baseball, Football, Basketball, and Track. But I was decimated to my studies because my parents have always told me that if you have good grades that you will get to participate in sports. If I didn't have good grades that they wouldn't let me do anything in school so I pushed myself to work hard in my sports or my activities but to work harder in my studies. Going to class the next was really hard because I was so tired and wanted to skip the class or just sleep in the class but if you have dedication to your studies you can push through practically anything that stands in your way of goals.
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ReplyDeleteFrom Rachel Valenzuela:
ReplyDeleteIn “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words” the author, Paul McHenry Roberts, teaches students how to turn their assigned, boring, ordinary essays into something more. Roberts mainly focus on the point of how standing out from your peers will make you and your essay more interesting. In short, terms, take the road less traveled. Robert supports his ideas by using an example essay titled “Why College Football Should Be Abolished”. He first shows the example essay at its boring “original” form. As Roberts’ essay progress, so does example essay. Roberts advises students to avoid the obvious at all cost. In these types of essays we are assigned to write our opinion, therefore she should use our OWN opinions. Roberts points out the use of “colored, colorful, and colorless” words and its effects on the essay. He uses the example essay once again to show the effects. Roberts essay fulfilled its purpose of being informative while being expressive to the given audience.
Back in high school, I did everything. Sports, Band, UIL, and Theater, you name it. It was stressful. Juggling between all these activities left me tired as a dog. Even now, with the little free time, I do have is now dedicated to my studies or to the theater. I even see student-athletes, who go to classes all day, and practice right after class, struggling with their studies the second week in. I found that, even with 60+ year difference, time hasn't changed a thing!