How To Say Nothing In 500 Words Analysis

In the 1950s, Professor Paul Mc Henry Roberts wrote an essay, named “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words” to explain how to be a better writer and how to make an essay become more attractive to readers. At the beginning, the author told a story about how he finished his writing homework with the article “Why College Football Should Be Abolished?” He gave many reasons to support his opinion, such as the football players liked race horses that must practice every day and had no time for studying. Another reason was the college football has become too commercial, not just for fun like the old days when the high school hired football stars played for its team. The author started his essay in a way most students do, trying to get a 500 words minimum …show more content…
“Slip out of abstraction” is the third recommendation. He wanted the writer gave clearly details or examples, not just lay out the facts. Furthermore, he suggested an essay should be “get rid of obvious padding.” This means the author instead of adding more words to reach 500 words limit, he’d better add extra contents and prove them. He also said “Call a fool a fool.” A simple way to present a matter is to “decide what you want to say and say it as vigorously as possible.” Besides, “Beware of Pat Expressions” is one more thing that the author wanted a writer to try to do. He includes examples of pat expressions, such as “the time of his life,” “to the ends of the earth,” and “took the easy way out …” He claimed that it is hard to avoid them, but the writer should limit their use. Finally, he emphasized the difference and importance of using colorful, colored and colorless words. Using colorful words can help reader imagine the scene with an emotion. While some colored words can have a positive effect, they also have a negative effect when they were used in other