How to Say Nothing in 500 Words contains the synthesis of an English Professor's views on the proper way to construct prose. Roberts does so via an informative and succinct organizational structure, in which his beliefs are introduced and enlarged individually. He makes excellent use of illustrative, humorous examples as well. The authors credibility is confirmed via a blurb prior to the essay, which explains who the author is, and defines his noteworthiness for publishing "clear..helpful" (54) textbooks.
As an author noted for his composition of textbooks, it would only make sense that the intended audience is an English student either at the high school or undergraduate level. This assumption is confirmed when Roberts directly addresses the audience, stating "it's Friday afternoon, and you have almost survived another week of classes." on page 54. This sort of writing is meant to directly empathize with the feelings of the audience, and engage them in Robert's writing. This technique, in which the author deliberately empathizes with the feelings of high school and college students, is an effective means of relating the authors message, and is just one of the defining rhetorical techniques of this essay.
As an author noted for his composition of textbooks, it would only make sense that the intended audience is an English student either at the high school or undergraduate level. This assumption is confirmed when Roberts directly addresses the audience, stating "it's Friday afternoon, and you have almost survived another week of classes." on page 54. This sort of writing is meant to directly empathize with the feelings of the audience, and engage them in Robert's writing. This technique, in which the author deliberately empathizes with the feelings of high school and college students, is an effective means of relating the authors message, and is just one of the defining rhetorical techniques of this essay.
500 Words' rhetorical techniques are heavily informed by the authors purpose, and by the context under which someone would be reading Robert's text. Robert's purpose, as the author of an English textbook, would obviously be to inform students of the English language of the correct way to synthesize prose. To suit this, he adopts a casual tone, and laces his essay with humor. The intended purpose of this sort of language, which is relaxed to the point of breaking the rules of grammar, is for the author to truly connect with his audience, and avoid adopting a condescending or authoritative tone, as so many textbooks do. Instead, he wishes for the audience to view the text as approachable, friendly, perhaps genuinely funny.
It is clear to me that Roberts succeeds in achieving this purpose. Even from a 21st century perspective, I still find the essay to be relatable, approachable, and bear many applicable ideas. I found his anecdotes on the difference between "colored words" and "colorful words" to be both apt and intriguing, as I'd never considered the difference between various types of associative phrases. I found phrases like "most modern readers would say "Good grief" and turn on the television" to be humorous, and I can certainly understand why a high school or college student of the mid-20th century would find that phrase genuinely hilarious. Overall, I feel that Roberts succeeds in achieving his purpose of informing the relatively uneducated reader of the proper ways to construct prose, due to the text's approachable nature, and the genuine usefulness of the lessons that the text contains.
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