William Zinnser's "Simplicity"

The quote that I chose was, “Clear thinking becomes clear writing; one can’t exist without the other,” this was said by William Zinnser. I got this quote from the article in the packet called, William Zinnser’s “Simplicity.” The URL is http://www.wowessays.com/dbase/ac2/awo210.shtml.

I chose this quote because when I thought about it, I was able to relate to it. William Zinnser talks about how many people talk and write extravagantly even though to him, it isn’t necessary to do. He says that a lot of people think that writing “simply” is a not a good thing, but writing with a wider vocabulary and phrases in more of a detailed way is better. Instead of being like other writers, William believes that people should write in a more “simplistic” way. To him, having a more complicated sentence isn’t necessarily always a good thing.

This quote is important to me because it says how you don’t always have to write and say things in complex ways for people to think that it is good. Sometimes even the simplest phrases can be very good because everyone can understand what you are trying to say. Zinnser thinks that too often people talk in a certain way that is hard to understand, it’s just a bunch of important sounding words that sound somewhat good together. I agree with this statement because there are many times when I am reading things such as articles or books that I can’t really comprehend what they wrote. Also, because people try to write in a more complex way, they tend to write things that make sense to them, but seem like gibberish to the people that are actually reading it. William thought that bigger was not always better, he wanted people to be able to understand his writing easily without putting a lot of effort into it. Even though reading a passage with tons of big words in it makes the author sound smart, I agree with William because sometimes they best way to say something is to make it sweet, simple, and to the point.

To me, simplicity is the act of being simple. To be simple, you don’t need to have expensive things to live a happy and fun life. Also, when you are being simple or have a simple life, you are easy to understand. There wouldn’t be a part of you life that would make people have to think more about you for them to understand you. Just like life, William Zinnser thinks that writing simplistic is good and easy to understand.

Homework

Read the simplicity packet
Choose an idea from the packet and write about it
Be sure to quote the article or passage you are referring to and make sure you cite your source
3 paragraph minimum
Grammar and mechanics must be correct

This I Believe

I believe in multiple things, but the most important thing to me is to be yourself. You shouldn’t be anyone you’re not just to please others.

When I was younger, I was always told not to be something just because everyone else was. Throughout my life, I would sometimes want to do and wear the same things as others just because it was the ‘cool’ thing to do at the time. Eventually, I realized that it’s important to be different and to be yourself. Also, even though you and your friends aren’t exactly the same, it’s okay because you should have a variety of friends. You shouldn’t be someone you’re not just because your friends are. Be yourself because if they’re true friends, they’ll love you no matter what.

My mom was probably the person who instilled this belief into me the most. Whenever I would say I want something either ridiculous just because my friends had it or not so ridiculous, she would ask me, “If they were to jump off a bridge, would you do it too?” Whenever she said this, I would understand that it’s another way of saying be yourself and don’t follow others, you should just be unique. I’ve grown to understand that I should be myself, but I still sometimes want to do things just because others are doing it, like when I was younger. Even though I’ve gotten older, it doesn’t stop my mom from saying the same thing to me that she would say when I was seven. My mom has taught me a very valuable lesson in life, to just be yourself.

During my life, there wasn’t any specific time that stands out to me that my belief were tested to its limits. Of course there were times when I was younger that small things would happen and I had to remember that I should stand out in the crowd in my own special way. Other then that, there was never a time where my belief was badly shaken and I hope there is never going to be one. If I ever think that I should be something other than being myself, I hope I will be able to get past it easily without many problems.

Being yourself and not letting other things get in the way of it is very important to me. Just because others might think you’re better one way, you shouldn’t always listen to them. You should do what you think is right no matter what anyone else thinks.