TOW #1: How to Say Nothing in 500 Words

How to Say Nothing in 500 Words by Paul Roberts, discusses how to successfully construct a paper of 500 words without it being a larger pain than it already is. Paul Roberts establishes his ethos in the paragraph in the beginning, which is specifically about his credibility. He wrote many writing textbooks including, English Syntax (1954), and English Sentences (1962) and is very well versed on the English language. Roberts addresses multiple areas in most papers which can be revised to make the 500 words stand out over the other students exact words and stances on the same topics. The intended audience was clearly to college school students, as he addresses the topics of college football, college classes, and professors. Paul Roberts builds his text off of example pieces of essays from students performing this assignment. He displays through these examples how a majority of the students will approach the task, and how to stand out and refrain from receiving a low grade. Throughout the piece, Roberts utilizes personification and metaphors to show readers how a boring, generic essay comes across to the professor reading it. Also, how the use of colored and colorful words evoke “emotion,” which establishes pathos through the text. Roberts discusses how “such round phrases thudding against the readers brain are unlikely to convince him” (59), this puts an emphasis to think out of the box and present new, unusual topics in your paper in order to stand out in the professors mind and receive that higher grade. Also, Roberts connects the common thoughts of students to “floating in the community soup” (64), putting stress on the concept that all the ideas that come to the mind first, come to all minds first and to branch off the original, basic ideas. I feel that Roberts wrote this in order to show students that the dreaded 500-word essay isn’t so scary if they just “put a little meat on the bones” (55).  Paul Roberts was definitely successful in getting his purpose across to his audience. He provided solid evidence and examples to remind students to think out of the box and elaborate on their chosen topics.