Friday, February 27, 2015

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. You may also mention any differences or similarities to you or your group's opinions on Friday.

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

36 comments:

Brad said...

Rules, Rules, Rules

Good organization makes for good writing. (structure)
--includes grammar, transitions, also typical paragraph structures (what teachers expect); beginning, middle and end

Content is required before writing effectively.
--includes imagination for materials; if we have more materials, then more details, then more interest; imagery or sensory writing. Authenticity and uniqueness appears here.

Diction is important to your successful writing
--be sure of meanings; use strong and useful nouns, adjectives and verbs; use precise; comprehensive vocabulary

Hook the reader.
--Use various rhetorical tricks to get the reader on your side. Do not BORE them if you can. Don’t use all your ammunition and run before the end. Always this requires your personal knowledge of people.

Plagiary is a sin.

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 (besides being one of the largest ever!). Although the student rules created in class do not exactly match Zinsser’s, they do still sometimes reflect his ideas. Your focus seems quite sophisticated and, in particular, one of your rules—diction is important—includes a bit of both his third and fourth rules about nouns and verbs. 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.

—199 words

Unknown said...

Different people have different criteria for a good English writing, so do my group members. After our discussion, we found some common rules are applicable no matter where we come from. First of all, we all believe a well organized structure is a skeleton to a good writing. With a logical organization, the audience can easily understand and follow your idea, thus they can get what they expect to read from your writing. As William Zinsser mentioned, “It is the thinking” that is the hard part of the writing, a clear logic is “endlessly riveting” which link up your sentences no matter how elegant they are. Next, whether your writing interests your readers or not depends on if you choose an interesting subject -- which you are passionate to talk about and which you own enough information to share. Subject is the soul of your writing. “Be yourself,” Zinsser said so, your readers want to perceive your personality instead of that of someone else; otherwise, your writing cannot impact your audience unless it moves you at first. With strong structure(skeleton) and amazing subject(soul), it is not difficult to accomplish a good English writing.

- 199 words

Unknown said...

I agree to some extent about the good english writing by William Zinssers and the rules were discussed in class. I like one of his idea using simple sentences, that i used to do in my early schooling period. Before i had no idea to use adjectives in writing, but when i started to attend the class here. Then i learned about the appropriate use of adjectives. I realized if i can describe something in more specify way, by using a adjective, then why not? Also i liked his idea and the group discussion that i have in class by using the active voice instead of a passive voice. For example : " I saw Sam " is a example of active voice, where as " Sam was seen by me " is a passive voice. Why do we make the sentence more confusing and inappropriate. It takes more words and is not that clear. I further admire his " Four Golden Rules." Which became i best friend as well like "clarity, simplicity, brevity, and humanity." Writing clear is very easy to understand, simply is good, short is always better and most of all, "one should never try to write which doesn't depict one own they say there are."

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Unknown said...

I think I agree with most of the rules Zinsser brings up in his talk. In my group we did get one rule right, which was keep it short and simple, a rule that I also agree with. Reading the examples of good writing in Zinsser’s talk really surprised me; most of the words had one or two syllables, and it was very detailed and got the story moving forward without saying too much, plus I liked the idea of having one thought per sentence. Reading this paper made me believe that it might be possible for me to write a good story, although I am still not sure that I would be able to write paragraphs or essays well. In the group we agreed that what makes good writing is an intriguing title to get someone to read it, brain storming ideas before putting them on paper, and to know how to properly use words. After reading William Zinsser’s paper I am inspired to try using these rules in my own writing.

-173 Words

Unknown said...




"Simplicity and clarity are both important to good writing", William Zinsser said; this is
similar to what we talked and agreed upon in our group; short, simple, and precise.
What we didn't talk about was the importance of plain Anglo-Saxon verbs (active verbs
in particular) that Zinsser mentioned - one of the best tools in writing. I've noticed that I
write using mostly passive verbs- now I won't. " Writing is not something you have to
embroider with fancy stitches to make yourself look smart." I totally agree with Zinsser.
I've come across many types of reading materials where journalists use a lot of
cliches or jargon words to make them sound important and intelligent; they write to
impress, not to express. Who would have thought that William Zinsser, an American
writer, editor, literary critic, learned to be a good writer by studying other writers' work-
that is impressive! Just like him, I have a "Bulllshit File" as well; it's frustrating that the
entire context of my Collective Agreement for work is hard to understand (mostly
consists of Latin words). Amazingly, I learned that there are a lot of rules in writing that
I could live without.

197 words

Jovie Via said...

It was an interesting experience hearing from my group in such different ways of how to learn in “Writing Good English.” Our techniques are the same such as: good organization, proper use of vocabulary, (nouns, pronouns, verb, adjective). I have also learned from my peers that diction and preciseness is important especially when writing a story, novel, or journal. Though our writing share similarity with Latin; as a second language person; it is inevitable way of learning these techniques that sometimes confuses the readers specially when we are trying to impress or use fancy words. The writer Henry David Thoreau; one of Zinsser's favorite writer whom he admire for his writing gave example of how to use simple words and that Zinsser thinks that “Short is always better than long” which always works in the world of writing. As Zinsser's advice “ be yourself; never try in your writing to be someone you’re not” is a very effective way to be use since often people in second language try to sound more impressive. As a student, it is important to know about these advice from William Zinsser and be more aware of the usage of the words and accomplish good writing.

----200 words

Unknown said...

In my group, we all learn to write in different ways, but we all agreed that good organization –include structure, grammar, content, proofreading—are the key to being a good writer. After reading “Writing Good English,” by William Zinsser I didn’t like when he mentioned that Spanish “comes with a heavy load of beautiful baggage that will smoother any journalist,” maybe it is truth, but the point is not to translate from one language to another. As a native Spanish speaker (I didn’t take this personally) I adore my language in the way it is. The controversy is that many people have influence of latin nouns because they are --musical, ornamental, vibrant—and they forget that for writing good English, we have to be plain,(simple) because plain is strong. I agreed with Zinsser when he says, “clarity, brevity, and sequential order will be crucial to your success.” Keep it simple, short and clear with no too long sentences is crucial in English writing. I will keep in mind the suggestions from my peers, Brad (my teacher in English 12) and Zinsser’s article, hoping that one day I can manage to write good English.
194 words

Zahra said...

I found “Writing Good English” by William Zinsser very beneficial. I strongly agree with most of Zinsser’s rules and my group members and I discussed these in the class. For example, Mr. Zinsser mentioned, “short is better than long.” Mr. Zinsser is right. If we make our sentences short, our audience will understand our messages much better. In fact, they don’t feel tired when they read our writing. Moreover, another of Mr. Zinsser’s rules that I totally agree with is being clear in our writing. For instance, be specific and have a clear idea about what we wish to communicate. In addition, Mr. Zinsser astonished me by his words about passive-voice sentences. Mr. Zinsser made me realized that using passive-voice sentence in our writing is not good English writing. Using active-voice sentences is much better than passive-voice because it doesn’t have too many extra details. In summary, I concur with Mr. Zinsser’s advice because I discovered it to practical and sensible.

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Unknown said...

I had many reactions and agreements with my classmates and William Zinsser when learning about good writing. I was very surprised with what my classmates believed in on the subject. Using correct grammar and organizing your paragraph is good. It’s what the teacher expects of you. I truly enjoyed reading Zinsser’s work on this subject because it was a new learning experience for me. His information was also very easy to follow. I believed his advice was going to be hard to follow. The one piece of advice I agree with from my classmates was the use of correct vocabulary which was similar to what Zinsser talked about when he mentioned “Anglo-Saxon active verbs.” After reading his suggestions I found myself agreeing with some of them. My two favorite tips from Zinsser are that “short is better than long” and “simple is good.” In my past writing I was known to write run on sentences. It’s good to know that when writing a sentence it can be short. I also never knew that being simple when writing can be a positive thing. I had several feelings and agreements with my classmates and Zinsser about good writing.

196 words

Unknown said...

In William Zinsser’s writing, there are several suggestions and rules that I strongly agree with. When I first read William’s writing, I felt uncomfortable since he pointed out some inappropriate behaviours that I have previously followed. In order to become a good writer, William states using proverbs, passive tenses and different dictions are unnecessary. The more and more I read his writing, I start to understand the reason behind “No proverbs, please,” and why he kept insisting an active voice. It is because a good writing consists of simplicity, clarity and humanity according to the passage. Employing complex vocabulary words and structures may distort an author’s purpose of the writing; thus “simple is good” and “short sentences are better than long sentences.” In William’s example of comparison between an active and a passive voice, a sentence with an active verb was more “exact” than the one with a passive verb. Specifically, “JOHN SAW THE BOYS” contains more clear nuance than “THE BOYS WERE SEEN BY JOHN.” Well-organization also helps increasing clarity. Moreover, Keeping a humanity is another William’s principle that I agree with. If an author’s works are written with somebody else’s style, it will interrupt in cultivating a deep communication between the author and his/her readers. Overall, improving writing skills is not just learning luxury dictions and fancy sentence structures. It should more simple and clear to deliver writer’s message directly to the readers without losing humanity.
- 239 words

Paul Chen said...

A good writing is to express your ideas or comments clearly in the writing. After discussion, our group has summarized some outcomes of what is a good writing: brainstorming, good grammars (structure or organization), grabbing readers’ attention, providing some examples to support the main idea, and so on. After reading William’s “Writing Good English”, like a swift lighting striking into my heart deeply although I have read it before, I found it interesting and useful to re-read the article. There are some similarities between our discussion and William’s points of view. We mentioned good structure and grabbing readers’ attention in the writing as pointed out by William about “short sentence” and “using only active verbs” in his article. I was also impressed as William commented “how you write is how you define yourself to people who meet you only through your writing.” In truth, a lot of people try to “embroider with fancy stitches” in their writing to show their talents off. On the contrary, complicated sentences drive away readers’ attention and make reader misunderstand the messages you want to pass on. I would keep in mind of what William has indicated about good writing rules - “Short is good” and “simple is good.”

- 204 words

Unknown said...

I was shcoked about the huge difference between languages and concepts about good writting. It's hard to believe than simple and plain its better, when sometimes there are no words that can explain or describe a lot of feelings. Think that latin words (from my fisrt language) are consider the “enemy” when writting and the Anglo-Saxon (plain words) are the best.
I'm still thinking about that. And then it's when I realized all the mistakes I've been making during all these time. I feel like English is cutting a part of my personality by doing this change on my writting. It's sad to think that all those beautiful latin words, are not consider like the best choice when writting.
Every language has different rules to follow and if that is what is required in order to write good English, there is nothing to say but that I will do my best; following the English rules.


160 Words

Unknown said...

I agree with most of the opinions of William Zinsser and other classmates about good writing, especially that the words you use in your writing should be precise and comprehensive. Like we said in group discussion, diction is important. Some people may think that some unusual and professional words make readers feel formal and authoritative, but it’s hard for readers to build images and relate with their personal feelings and memories. Generally, readers may lose interests shortly. Zinsser says that use the words which “express the fundamental of everyday life” as well. The imagination- which readers build “consciously and also subconsciously” when they are reading your writings- brings more connection with their emotion. Readers can be touched and affected easily. However, it doesn't mean that daily conversation words are encouraged. Avoid using slang, like kid and totally, is also necessary. It’s too informal. Try to find more proper words, such as child and completely. As a result, the vocabulary you use can affect the quality of your writing a lot.

180 words

Unknown said...


Writing Good English



I was extremely surprised about how much I learned about good English from my peers and reading William Zinser`s talk. I really enjoyed reading William`s piece and especially liked his rule about the Latin and Anglo-Saxon based words. I tend to really
agree with this because I also have trouble comprehending what people who write like that mean even though English is my first language, as well as the fact that I typically find writing with Anglo-Saxon words more enjoyable and fun. I was extremely surprised in Zinser`s piece when I read how he changed Henry David Thoreau`s short article. It made me realize how much good adjectives and nouns really mean. I couldn’t believe
the complexity when he changed it, and how much simpler and more powerful English can be when you use it properly. A few choice words can really be the difference between a good piece and a bad piece, even if your idea stays the same. I also agree with the structure in writing and that it`s very important. If you have your good words, and can`t put them together in a sentence or paragraph properly, then your piece just wont flow properly. So there you have it, structure and good words make for good writing!

210 Words

Henry Young said...

The most surprising thing I learned of writing from both sources was simple sentences and words are better than long and complicated ones. Not only did that fact surprised me, but I was also really puzzled at first. The reason came to my mind was as William Zinsser described, that it might be a "cultural" (paragraph 5, Writing Good English, William Zinsser) problem. I have a Chinese background (not to be specific), and I grew up studying ancient Chinese poems, which the writers delivered their feeling through short but complicated words or phrases. For example, a Chinese poem might have 24 words, but with explanation of 240 words or more due to the vase meaning of adjectives. Hence I used to believe any good writings must consist of complicated adjectives -- I received low marks every time. Later I started to doubt myself, but could not locate exactly what was wrong. Finally, now as I am studying in adult learning centre, I learned and know what is considered in a good English writing (funny but sad that they do not teach this in high school, at least mine): "Clarity, Simplicity, Brevity, and Humanity" (paragraph 25, Writing Good English, William Zinsser); a standard that is visible and achievable.

-206 words; 192 words excluding referrences.

Unknown said...

Efficient Writing
I was impressed to what I learned about English writing. From my peers I gained general facts however, from William Zinsser it was specific and definite. In fact, we discussed in class several ways to improve our writing such as: good organization, structure – introduction, body and conclusion- diction and content. In the same way, William Zinsser targeted the problems facing students in writing and clearly solved it. I was surprised by the fact that good sentences were composed of old Anglo-Saxon nouns and active verbs. Indeed, I realized how efficient our writing would be when we use clear and simple sentences. Furthermore, Zinsser explained the weakness of passive sentences and emphasized the use of active verbs. For instance, the famous speech of Abraham Lincoln in 1865 has active verbs and specific nouns. While the writing of President Obama is so clear and organized. Also, I strongly agree about Zinsser rules that became slogans at the end of his speech: “Short is better than long, simple is good…” Through this explanation, I clearly pictured the most confusing puzzle in English writing and admitted that Zinsser’s ideas were beneficial and led to improvement.

193 words

Unknown said...

Use short, simple nouns and active verbs in short sentences? Use a period instead of a comma? I can do that! I have felt relieved after I learned about writing good English from my peers and William Zinsser. I thought that good writing was something unachievable to me. Frankly speaking, I would look for some adjectives or adverbs to decorate the sentences and to make them long because I didn’t like short and simple ones (thought only kids did). Yet, Zinsser’s four principles - clarity, simplicity, brevity, and humanity - of writing good English inspired me with confidence about writing. What surprised and interested me is that he mentioned the origin of English words (I’ve never known) in order to explain why we need to use the Anglo-Saxon words. I’d better not use Latin words making my writing dead. Again, I fully agree with Zinsser that it is time to be humble in writing. Writing is one type of communication (sorry, it’s a Latin word) with people, which means it is based on mutual understanding. I was lost for a while, but now I am clear where I am supposed to go proudly.

- 193 words

Unknown said...

After reading Writing Good English, written by William Zinsser, I have a new light on writing in English. I always believed fancy words and complicated sentences could show good skills in writing, so I always worked on it( but usually I failed). However, William tells us simple is better, and short is better than long which subvert my cognition of writing that I believed. Good English writing prefer plain but powerful words to fancy but weak words. William tells us active verbs are better than passive verbs; however, I thought a passive-voice sentence containing unusual order made the writing more special and attractive while Willam feels it's longer and weaker. I get so many new information and knowledge about what good English writing is. I strongly agree with the rule we talked about in class,”Diction is important to your sucessful writing.” William has the same idea in his article,”It has a huge vocabulary of words that have precise shades of meaning.” Choose proper words in writing is my shortage; I have to keep working on it. William's article and the discussion in class give me fresh ideas about writing. I will try my best to improve my writing.


--198 words

Irina said...


My Opinion

My personal point of view on this topic is different from my group and from most of the class. I don’t completely agree with some of the discussed criteria that stands for good English writing. For journalism or business communication– I agree – language supposed to be plain, sort, understandable, easy to follow. Since English is international language, it is easier for people with different background, vocabulary and knowledge to comprehend newspapers’ articles and business letters, instructions and manuals. It is different story (and different English) when people want to read English literature. In this case, in my opinion, they are looking for ways to enrich their lexicon, to push their mind working on grammar examples, be able to “touch, smell, taste, and see” the picture. English literature, as well as literature of other nations, should teach people how to use words and their meanings in different contexts. It should make people think about hidden message that author is trying to send by choosing “long Latin nouns” instead of “Anglo-Saxon active verbs”, for example. In short, I agree with my group, my class, and with the William Zinsser about “writing good English” only in terms of journalism (or business writing), otherwise not.
Words: 201

Unknown said...

Marzeah
Eftekhari
The Best Tips To Write Well.
Everyone defines a good writing based on his/her own experience of a language that they are comfortable with. when it comes to write in English we are all suffering from similar problems for example, organization ,content of our story or lacking of words. After I read William Zinsser’s perspective of a good writing I found out many interesting Ideas that would help anyone with English. For instance, he recommended us to use active verbs instead of passive verbs, to give our writing “clarity and warmth”. I have never thought that replacing passive verbs to active verbs would make such a difference in writings. For the first time I found out that this challenging language has two main source which are “Anglo –Saxon” known as easy to use, and “Latin” the enemy of the writers. I loved how clearly he recommend us to know the type of our writing, and find a model to direct our writing toward it, since other well-known writers had models as well. Although as a class we came up with some amazing rules to enhance a good writing, I admire William Zinsser’s proficiency as a good writer, and his valuable tips to improve our writings. “Simple is good”, “One thought per sentence”.

Words 207.

Nazek said...

My personal reaction to what I learned about writing from my peers and from William Zinsser was mostly reaffirming. It was especially interesting that everyone agreed on diction. However, while I strongly believe that one needs to be clear in order to communicate ideas and information effectively, I don’t necessarily agree that Anglo-Saxon words are always the way to go! I find Anglo-Saxon words and Latin word, each have their own use. For example, if you want to inform or explain something, Simple Anglo-Saxon words might a good idea. However, sometimes, in order for you to express yourself using precise words, might mean using Latin words (remember diction, which is a Latin word in itself). Especially William Zinsser comment that “words that are in our bones”; that being yourself is the best way to represent your humanity. What if using Latin words is what represents you? What if you want to criticise or intimidate someone? Then Latin words are your best friends! (I think). I think simple Anglo-Saxon words are good for journalism people because they want to convey ideas clearly, but not good for all writers. In conclusion, Anglo-Saxon words and Latin words, each have their own use, and they should be used in their own effective manner.
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Unknown said...

During the reading this article I opened a few things for myself and it is surprised me.
Intuitively, I knew that the using of simple words makes content more
comprehensible, especially for those who seek to be understood by others. Meanwhile, I always
tried to find the beautiful words “more impressive or “literary” instead of the simple nouns
and active verbs. On the other hand the using of the plane words in writing and
speaking is interfere the development of language, there is no way forward. But,
according to the author, there is a risk to use complex words in the wrong way if we can not
understand the meaning of the words or phrase clearly. Another important thing
from William Zinsser for me is having a plan of writing, follow it, and make a logical connection
between sentences. As he says:” The hard part of writing isn’t the writing; it’s the thinking.
You can solve most of your writing problems if you stop after every sentence and ask: What
does the reader need to know next?” In my opinion, the basis of good English writing is the
observance of the main rules: be specific, but simple, follow to format and structure.
-202 words

Serena K. said...

Reading “Writing Good English,” I found how structure and clarity work together well. William Zinsser carefully organizes his points with strong examples, so he shows what he means exactly. William kindly changed Thoreau’s active sentence into a passive one; how different! Another interesting view is that using easy Anglo-Saxon words. He simplifies as “Dominican families… can’t pay the rent” instead of a long paragraph. I suddenly realize many words such as “Facilitation intervention,” and “minimum-density zoning” fill our Newspaper every day. Also, he pointed out that giving a “picture” to readers makes readers to create a connection with the topic. I remind of Irina in my group commented that Russians write long descriptive paragraphs to give a picture to a reader—same word of “picture,” but different. I thought I know about writing; however, there’s strong impact and new learning in the article and group discussion to wake me up again.(151 words)

Unknown said...

During the assignment, I had some different ideas with my group member; but these ideas are similar to those that William Zinsser came up in his work. For example, William Zinsser and I both prefer short, simple words instead of long and more complex words. My group member, on the other hand, argued that short and simple word may be too genial and they think that precise words-not simple words-should be use .However, there things that my group member and I all agree upon. We all think that grammar and structure is essential for good writing in English. Nevertheless these points were not mentioned by William Zinsser; maybe this is not a problem for his reader since they are professional journalist who already get over the grammar problem. Finally, despite all our different thoughts about what is good writing, we come to the same conclusion that a good writing should be clear and done in passive, just like what we expect from great speech.

Unknown said...

I am surprised, yet I strongly agree with William Zinsser’s approach and my peers’ rules. I needed a model, and here I found it (thanks to Brad!). Most people tend to write English in a complicated way so that William put an end point to their concept. William expresses that using simplicity (in your writing) not only improves it but also makes it stronger—which is hard to believe, though. I found his approach quite interesting and handy. Canada is a multicultural country; since people from all over the world come here with different languages and accents, William Zinsser’s approach seems to be helpful in long term. People—by using this method—would understand each other better. Ever since I started learning English, those long Latin words were like an obstacle in my way towards good English writing. Now I can proudly express my ideas in a simple way. Besides, my peers pointed out some innovative approaches towards good English writing—using precise and comprehensive vocabulary and choosing a theme—which in some ways totally agree with Zinsser. I hope I could follow every single advice of Zinsser in order to write plain and strong English.
--196 words

Unknown said...

USING SIMPLY WORDS IN GOOD WRITINGS

I strongly agree with William Zinsser’s suggestions about writing good English. His ideas of simplicity has challenged and changed my paradigm. While reading this article, I remembered my history teacher when I was at high school. He would give the highest mark to the students who could answer in long sentences. So, since that time I thought the long writings is better than the short ones. However, after reading Zinsser’s writings, I changed my mind; “Short is always better than long,” more effective and efficient. Not only that, this article has also revealed the reason why I (and many people) tends using the sophisticated words and long sentences; afraid of people would think “I’m stupid.” By knowing that some of the greatest writers (Bible’s writers, Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama) also used simply words effectively, I am not afraid anymore of simplicity in writings. I will always keep in my mind Zinsser’s suggestion, “Don’t say anything in writing that you wouldn’t comfortably say in conversation.” This article is really helpful to me to become a better writer.
-176 words

Unknown said...

It was very interesting topic to discuss with my group members about “Writing Good English”, because I have never had chance to ask others opinion of how they analysis it. During the discussion, our members brought very good list of six rules for good writing. One of the idea was to write in simple sentences, and then right below we comment ourselves that long sentence might give the reader confuse (simple is always better). Same as what William Zinsser had talk. I realized that “Writing Good English” by William Zinsser influenced me, and his realistic advices immediately put people in action. I strongly agree with the most of his rules. For example: short is better than long, four principles of writing good English that he made himself, the clarity, simplicity, brevity and humanity, and using the active-voice sentences is much better that passive-voice. Thanks to William Zinsser's advices, I could've get at least a glance of how to write an efficient and well written English.

-165 words

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

In the discussion with my peers I learned many different aspects of writing such as: comprehensive vocabulary (easy for readers to understand), a different approach; being creative (writing in a unique way), and one must read a lot to enhance the quality of their writing (looking up unfamiliar words in the dictionary). In life, everyone has a different outlook on things, and that includes the view on “what is good writing?” Everyone’s theory on writing varies from one another, and so does mine when reading what William Zinsser wrote about “good writing”. It had me at surprise, and I disagree with some of his ideas. I have been taught English as a third language for over a decade by numerous teachers in Canada, and I feel that those teachers would be offended by William’s idea of writing such plain English. In my opinion, it is a lazy way of writing – instead of vocabulary being pointed out as a good thing it is almost criticized. In addition, William Zinsser states that “people in authority write long Latin words that make them sound important”. My question is who established that it was the feeling of importance they wanted to achieve? To me, it is called professionalism and knowledge.

- 206 WORDS.

Unknown said...

After reading the paper, “Writing Good English”, by William Zinsser, I realized how different us, student, are with the professional. Before, I thought for a paper to be good, it needs to have big vocabularies and catching sentences. However, Professor Zinsser suggests that instead of using words with many syllables (derived from Latin), we need to use simpler words (derived from Anglo-Saxon). These Anglo-Saxon words make better connection to reader because they appear in everyday of our life. After a little thought, I feel strongly connected to the idea. Throughout my study of English, I always found that in almost every article I read, the writer just try to overflow me with words I cannot pronounce, sometime never heard it from anyone say it in person. A good writing should not leave reader confused after reading. It should have a clear message with strong, connected, but simple words. The paper open up my mind about writing in English. I used to think that I need to use “impressive” words to make my writing good. Now I know that impressive does not mean hard to pronounce or never used in person but means smartly choose in the appropriate situation.

Sarah_Kudia said...


Writing good English

Good writing is having proper punctuation and having a subject that captures the reader’s attention. Good writing is making your writing easier to read and to understand. Write about something that will give your readers a reaction. After reading William Zinsser “Good writing” I notice we agreed on what I considered good writing. I learned new things. Zinsser talks about big Latin words which is use by official government and business, etc. Which makes it hard to understand what they’re trying to say-but you can avoid those big words by being simple. In one of his list of rules he says “Simple is good”, “Short is always better than long.” And using an active verb describes one specific action; it’s easy to understand active verbs because it gives it “momentum”. I use to think that using “fancy” words will make me look more intelligent and a good writer but Zinsser says I don’t have to and being myself is what important in writing, I shouldn't write about someone I am not.

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Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

Fatemeh Faraji Karimipour
“Writing good English”
I write my idea to William Zinsser’s article. What is good writing? In Arabic is it like Cairo all
proverbs, and in Spanish it is difficult that”smother a Journalist. It ihas long sentences and is melodic.”
William Zinsseris writing that short is better than long , and active anglo- saxon words and sentences are
better than long and difficult latin words.My personal Reaction to William Zinsser’s writing is that he
simplifies the English eventhough he loves the language. What suprises me is that for a Journalist that
Writing is just his work, and he is working with words short is better than long. Long latin words are the
enemy. And “best Anglo- saxon words are essential.” As a doctor I have to say I need some difficult latin
words for my collegueus , and when I write a letter to a chief of a hospital. I am agree with Mr. Zinsser ,
but what suprises me is a journalist should take short Anglo- saxon verbs, but as a physician I need
difficult latin words. I like the article, and I cannot say anything about my group because I had any
group.
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