Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Personal Reaction to Class Activity and William Zinsser's "Writing Good English"

What is your personal reaction to what you learned about writing from your peers and from William Zinsser? Did anything surprise or puzzle you? Do you strongly agree or disagree with any suggestion? Explain why. Answer in a paragraph. Write no fewer than 150 words and no more than 200. 

Due in time for Friday's class. Bring a copy, word processed and double spaced, please.

24 comments:

Brad said...

Writing Good English: Our Master List of Rules

1.Keep it simple. (avoid slang and fancy words; jargon; use words in their natural habitat)

2.Follow proper structure. (Structural rules are there to help your readers follow ideas. Organization makes that possible. Every statement needs to be proven by evidence.)

3.Follow standard grammar for the language you are writing in.

4.Brainstorm before writing.

5.Be interesting and attractive. A hook is one example of an attractive feature; research is required.

6.Edit your work. (making substantial changes, including adding ideas, deleting or adding sentences, throwing the whole thing out . . .)

Brad said...

It has been interesting to compare your ideas with William Zinssers’s and ponder my reactions. Each semester is unique, but this class impresses me by demonstrating a sensible and realistic approach to writing. Although the student rules created in class do not exactly match Zinsser’s, they do still sometimes reflect his ideas. Your focus seems more realistic than some classes in the past and, in particular, your first rule—keep it simple—is an almost exact match to his second rule. As far as Zinsser’s suggestions go, no doubt you’ve guessed that I agree with his advice. It’s interesting to note that, within our communities, there are two such radically different styles: the Latin-filled writing that seems to intentionally confuse us and the Anglo Saxon writing used so effectively by both President Obama and the Bible. But most important for me are a few of the things he says: that there are “words that are in our bones”; that being yourself is the best way to represent your humanity; that “simple is good.” I hope that my students will heed Zinsser’s advice and, as a result, become better (and more human) writers.

—192 words

Unknown said...

"Good English Writting"

The speech “Writing Good English” written by William Zinsser was incredible and powerful. It
made me have a better idea of writing good English. I learned that a good writing must be simple,clear, and properly structured. The simple and shorter the writing, the easier it would be for the reader, as William referred to “best tool is short.” Not only it must be simple but also clear. “If it's not clear you might as well not write it” said William. This is similar to what we discussed in class which makes the reader less confused and no one will complain that one has made things too simple to understand.This speech neither surprised nor puzzled me because it made me learn about Latin and Angle-Saxon nouns. I agree with the rules of suggestion because both William and my rules were similar. Some similarities were: being simple and clear is better than long and confusing which makes the reader have a better image and understanding of the witting, and following proper structure would help reader follow ideas. In conclusion, I found this speech very helpful and I would recommend this to those who are interested in learning about good
writing.
-200 words

Paul Chen said...

Good English writing is a very important issue in the essay writing. The good writing can bring a lifeless and boring story into a vivid life. Therefore, during the group discussion, we all agreed with the ideas of good grammars, good structures, and clear idea explanations, because they were the essential criteria for good writers to communicate with audiences and connect to the audiences’ heart and lives. I do not agree with William who criticized other styles of writing, because different audiences like different means of storytelling. Some readers may like different ways of embroidering sentences and it is hard for us to judge these with our objective views. I do agree William has said, “Writing is learned by imitation.” Truly, we learn everything by imitating what other people have done. “Here I am” was a good example of learning poetry in the first stage in our class. What my wife has shared with me a tip of writing good English was to make the sentences as short as possible. The technic is like what William has said, “Short is better than long.” Not only does the tip help the beginners clearly explain their ideas, but it also help to prevent the grammar errors. The magic of a short sentence is like a sexy girl wearing a mini-skirt. The shorter, the better!

- 222 words

Unknown said...

The magic of a short sentence is like a sexy girl wearing a mini-skirt. The shorter, the better!"
WOW....whole other can of worms just got opened :(

Brad said...

Thanks Selena for your comment here, although, generally speaking, it is better to avoid commenting on the comments I can see your reasons for doing so. We can discuss the power of words in class tomorrow and being sensitive to the feelings of women in our writing. I do believe that no harm was intended; at the same time, it is important to acknowledge how words that may be meant lightly can have other effects that a writer should anticipate. At the same time, we are all adults, so I hope that a short discussion as we begin class can clear the air and make us all feel comfortable

Zelka rizov said...

What William Zinsser wrote in his speech was quite outstanding and impressive.
His idea of simplicity and brevity helps me realize that “simple is good “. It is very
similar to what our teacher, Brad is trying to teach us in class, that I highly
appreciate. I like how Zinsser said: “Writing is not something you have to
embroider with fancy stitches to make yourself look smart “. As a person coming
from another country, I always thought writing simple “ will not” make me look
smart. After reading Zinsser’s speech his opinion helped me “open
my eyes” in many ways. Example speeches of some very important people in
our history, like Abraham Lincoln, or Barak Obama, shows wonderful writing
models, it makes me believe how being yourself and simple can still make a
big impression on people. From this experience I will try to implement all these
brilliant ideas into my work. Hopefully it will help improve my writing skills, as
well as my confidence in English language.

__170 words
October 16, 2014 at 6:45 PM

Unknown said...

Good Writing
We all have similar rules about good writing among our peers, such as simplicity, clarity, and attractiveness, but we are not really sure how to realize these. Mr. William Zinsser’s views turn over our opinion about it. At first, his speech about the history of English from Latin and Anglo-Saxon is an idea I have never heard before. His slogan, “Long Latin nouns are the enemy, Anglo-Saxon active verbs are your best friend”, gives me a practical method to write a simple and attractive article. I usually try to use complicated sentences and vocabularies to show off the commanding of English skills. It’s ironical enough that I have the tendency of using long Latin nouns in the past. At the same time, his words bring me some puzzles too. As he recommends the sample sentence, “I went to the woods because I wished to live …, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived”, I don’t know what the reaction of an ordinary teacher would be. It seems grammar confusing to me, and it’s difficult for a reader to understand. In a short, William’s speech brought me a brand new view about good writing, and I strongly believe that it will change my writing style in the future. 211 Words.

Famorshedy said...

Good English Writing
After our group discussion and William Zinsser’s article about “Good English Writing”, I found some interesting points I can use to improve my writing skills. During our group discussion, we all agreed that if we use correct grammar as well as simple writing will improve our writing ability, which was similar to Zinsser’s second rule “ Simplicity”. According to Zinsser we don’t need to be fancy to impress our readers. Sometimes simple writing can have a huge impact on readers, it all depends on how we present ourselves through our words. It was also true when William said, “Your writing will need to be lean and tight and coherent.” Zinsser also mentioned the power of active verbs. I never thought that a simple active verb could have a large impact on my writing. My favorite part of his article was when he said, “ Be yourself. Never try in your writing to be someone you’re not.” Even though sometimes it is quite hard to express your true feelings through your writing, it helps readers recognize your unique writing. I thought Zinsser’s article was informative and promising. I hope that some day I can overcome my writing anxiety and express my thoughts better in my writing.
---204 words

Unknown said...


Reading “Writing Good English” written by William Zinsser

I am shocked when I read “Writing Good English” written by William Zinsser. William said, “No proverbs, please.” on the first page of his speech. This point reversed my concept radically. Usually, the teacher encouraged us to use proverbs to enrich your writing. Especially, when I joined an English training class for IELTS, the teacher said, “Use proverbs in your essay, then your mark could get 0.5 point higher.” Now, I have no idea to use or not to use. The other uncommon concept is use short, active verbs and short sentences. Since I have learned English, I was taught how to write compound sentences and how to use passive verbs and so on. We even required to high light conjunction words and decoration words in each sentences when we handed in our homework in the last semester. However, depending on William’s opinions. I could ignore all of them from now on. I am puzzled and have no idea about what is good English writing. Frankly speak, I couldn’t catch up the long sentences, and sometimes, I couldn’t understand the short sentences either. For example, the famous words, “To be, or not to be. ……” took me a long time to understand it. My feeling is I am totally lost after reading William’s speech.

--214 words

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

After reading William Zinsser's speech, "Writing Good English," I feel satisfied with the knowledge Zinsser shared and how he presented it. Zinsser's speech was not only informative and educational, but also very interesting. Comparing our class' list of Writing English rules to that of Zinsser's, I found some key similarities and differences. One rule we both shared was keeping it simple. On the contrary, Zinsser created an important rule that we did not. This rule was the idea of using Anglo-Saxon active verbs more often, rather than using long Latin nouns. This was a big relief for me to hear that using these long and complicated words in writing should not be the expected way of writing English, even in our modern day society. Something I also enjoyed a lot about Zinsser's speech was the constant use of humour and harmless mockery. An example of this was when Zinsser talks about recieving letters from phone companies in which he jokes, “I try to piece it out like a hieroglyphic.” This shows Zinsser's use of humour in his speech. Personally, reading something that is not only interesting, but also funny is a huge bonus, and drastically improves the quality.

-198 words

Unknown said...

I learned the most important element of a good writing is simplicity after this exercise. It does surprise me. In China, teachers encourage us to use adjectives to decorate our sentences. However, William Zinsser said, “no proverbs”. I exactly agree with that. The shorter your sentence is; the less mistakes you made. Just like we said in discussion, “keep it simple” is an important rule for a good writing. He also said use the words “express the fundamentals of everyday life”. It’s interesting. Before I read the article, I thought it was better to use some unusual and professional words. It would make your reader feel more formal and authoritative. I realize it’s wrong now. Simple words are easier for your readers to build imagines and to relate with their personal feelings and memories. It brings more connections with your readers. They prefer a mental conversation rather than some “horrible long Latin words” when they read your writing. As a result, “simple is good” is the most necessary rule for a good writing.

189 words

Unknown said...

Good Writing
The speech on “Writing Good English” written by William Zinsser was really impressive. His writing has pointed out that clarity, simplicity and brevity is what good writing needs. Good writing is simple and right to the point; it will let your audience understand what you want to say in a more effective way. Zinsser has also mention that “your best tools are short, plain Anglo – Saxon verbs” I have learned that having this qualities in my writing would really improve my writing. During our class discussion we have agreed to be able to write in a proper structure, and keep it simple, which was similar to what William Zinsser wrote. Zinsser also mentions that “Writing is not something you have to embroider with fancy stitches to make yourself look smart” I totally agree with him as I'm always confused when I received fancy official letters. Those letters have long Latin words which really confuses me. Overall, I've learned much more about good writing in Zinsser's speech.

Unknown said...

My personal reaction to what I learned about writing from my classmates and from William Zinsser's ariticle

Comparing between William Zinsser, other students and I about the definition of Writing Good English, I found that the majority of people has the common opinions about it. From the class, six most representative opinions were been raised, and I thought either of them are the vital factor on Writing. Among all of it, I strongly agree with the opinion; keep words and sentences simple. As the main reason of it, I think a complex word or sentence have more possibility for the reader to misunderstand what the writer wants to talk about. From William’s talk, I learned many of his definition about Writing Good English, and I was able to convince it by reading all of his examples. What was the most impressive for me was when he said “The hard part of writing isn’t the writing; it’s the thinking.” It’s because when I recall my memory of writing, I realize I’ve used more time on deciding the structure, contents and the word to use than the time to write it all down, and always read it repeatedly. In conclusion, I define using short simple sentence and familiar word is the basic of Writing Good English.

-197words

Unknown said...

William Zinsser‘s suggestions and our class rules are helpful on my English writing. I used to write many details in sentences to express my ideas. As a result, my sentences seemed too long and complicated. Our class rule—keep it simple—surprised me, yet awakened me. People get tired of reading my writing. The long sentences confuse them. Simple makes readers easily understand. It matches William Zinsser’s suggestion “Simple is good.” His writing principle, “Brevity,” advises me to write short sentences, and use short words. Don’t add any word that is not necessary into sentences. The “simple, short, infinitely”
Anglo Saxon words are able to “make contact” with readers. They could form a vivid picture
into readers’ minds. President Obama used “plain words” to create a living “boy” into his
writing. The life makes writing become interesting, and William Zinsser says active is better
than passive. The life would be taken out of the passive sentences. Active helps a story to be lively. I think a lively story is good writing. I will renounce my long sentences, and use these rules to write better in English.
--187 words

Emma He said...

My Reaction To “Writing Good English”

I found some interesting issues from our group discussion and William Zinsser’s speech about “Writing Good English”. First, I am so surprised that I was the only one in our group mentioned “brainstorm” as a rule for good writing. On the other hand, I am so pleased to finally found the “thinking part” at the end of William’s speech. In my opinion, Thinking is more important than writing. “Logic thinking” is the true “hard part of writing”. That’s why I always spend a lot of time on brainstorming and making an outline before start writing. Logic thinking can help us figure out the main ideas clearly, and make a “linear and sequential” structure -- not just “follow proper structure”. A good writing is based on good organization. Even the grammar, vocabulary, and punctuation are all must be well organized. We choose them, because they are good “tools” for “storytelling”, not because they are the “rules” or the “fancy decoration”. I think the reason William put the “thinking part” at the end is that he thinks thinking is the most important element of writing. I strongly agree with that.

-- 188 words

Unknown said...

Personal reaction to class activity and Mr.Zinsser,s view
Priyadarshan Dhungana
Date: 17th October 2014
It has been fascinating to match the class activity with Mr William Zinsser’s. After reading Zinsser and learning class activity, I got the idea to improve my writing. One of the six rules from class activity was similar with Zinsser’s, both accepted the rule of simplicity in writing. I strongly agree with Zinsser’s view. He has four principals of writing in which clarity, simplicity, brevity and humanity make writing good. He emphasizes on active verb. He suggests, “Active verb give momentum to a sentence and push it forward”. Furthermore, the use of one active verb to another pushes the meaning alone. Also, president Obama and the bible both used Anglo-Saxon verbs or active verbs. All the suggestions of Zinsser have motivated me to learn good writing. Before reading his talk I was in confusion. I had learnt to use more proverbs and decorative words to get a higher score in IELTS. I am now convinced and in agreement with Zinsser’s views. I should not use proverbs and complexity to improve my work but focus on clarity and simplicity instead. Lastly, I feel that this has been a great lesson for me, which I had never learnt before on my path of learning English.(203 words)

Unknown said...

I greatly enjoyed reading “Writing Good English” from William Zinsser. Especially, how he puts so much value in other languages stating that he “can’t imagine” comfortably writing in a second language. He also shows the “ugly” side of Latin words which are mostly used by official authorities to manipulate perceptions of a situation.
William Zinsser has strong opinion that using “plain and simple” or anglo-saxon words give “life” to the sentence unlike latin words. I agree with William Zinsser as I always imagine complex ideas but end up not being able to express them on paper. Part of the reason I fail to write about what is inside my mind is that I am eager to use latin or non-everyday language. Other reason is that I have limited vocabulary which is why sometimes I don’t truly know the meaning of a word and how it should be used in sentence.

- 150 words

Unknown said...

The speech by William Zinsser was very fresh to me. He challenged our common beliefs of good writing, explained how they spoil our written conversations, and encouraged us to get rid of them and also equip with the new principles: clarity, simplicity, brevity, and humanity. While I was pondering these principles, I agreed with his main viewpoint that we are the product of our culture that influences our thought and writing. In Korean language, there are a great number of rich adjectives and adverbs that can easily make a very long sentence. Koreans are proud of that and usually look down on a short sentence if it is not a form of poem. Indeed, I has been struggling to make a longer sentence connecting many words by various conjunctions and relative clauses. As my sentence became longer, the subject and main idea turned out to be more vague. In that case, I normally added some more sentences to explain the exact meaning-what a waste! I did not know this cultural baggage until I read the speech. I literally repeated after him with loud voice, "Short is better and simple is good."
- 191 words

Unknown said...

William Zinsser’s speech “Writing Good English” was quite impressive and very informative.
While comparing Zinsser’s speech with the master list of rules for good writing that formed in
class it is clear the majority of the students agree with his teachings of simple writing. In the
past I have been taught to always incorporate new words and use synonyms in my writing.
However, Zinsser’s method makes sense to me now. Keeping work basic and simple makes
a piece of writing more enjoyable to read when you don’t have to have a dictionary beside you to
translate the “fancy” words. He states: “Writing is not something you have to embroider
with fancy stitches to make yourself look smart.” Implying that you can keep the reader engaged
without deliberately trying to sound smart. I hope that after reading this advice from William
Zinsser, combined with our in class discussions that my writing will improve with all of his
advice, and this simple rule of “keeping it simple”.


Selena Gingrich
-174 words

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Personal Reaction to class activity and William Zinsser,s “Writing Good English”




In class activity we learned that a good writing should be attractive and interesting. It should have no grammar error,spelling should be correct. The students said that it should have different structure. It should be simple and clear. Clear means main idea should strongly be supported. The Writing Good English should be our “Master of Rules.” We have to keep it simple. We have to avoid fancy and slang words.
We have to use words with natural habitat. Every statement needs to be proven by evidence. The hook is one example of an attractive feature, research is required.William Zinsser writes”Writing Good English” is a certain principles which nobody ever told the students, and the anxiety could be avoided when explained in advance.
William Zinsser wrote “And What is Good English?” English language is based of two main sources.One is Latin and the other is Anglo- Saxon, the plain language of England and northern Europe. This Language use in government, businesses, and education, health care, and social work. He writes that we must use good nouns like house, child, sea, and sky that are in our bonse.
I accept with whatbthe students said, and what William Zinsser wrote.

Unknown said...

the speech “Writing Good English” written by William Zinsser was incredible and powerful. It
made me have a better idea of writing good English. I learned that a good writing must be simple,clear, and properly structured. I defiantly agree with Zinsser as he is absolutely right. Good writing should be clear and easy to read, not like those long essays full of words that I cant even understand, and never understand why the put words that nobody knows, the only way that it could you is by making vocabulary better.