University of California, Berkeley

ASSIGNMENT 1

COURSE: EnglishX13-033
NAME: Igor Luis Pereira e Silva
Reading: WILLIAM, Zinsser. On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing
Nonfiction. Harper Perennial; 30 Anv Rep edition, 2016. Kindle Edition.

AUDIENCE

An audience is an encounter. Its something beyond the knowledge. A question

of belief because there is always a mystery between the author and your people. We
may imagine the audience as an incomplete puzzle. The pieces are dispelled on the
table, lying about the meaning. We may put everything together, but no one can foresee
the whole picture and its missing parts. The author cannot avoid getting scared of a
stranger.
Willian Zinsser wrote for the writers or at least who pretend to be inclined. The
ones who desire to write well. The chapters compose the writing skills, step-by-step: the
tangibles and intangibles that produce good writing. Although the process changed over
the years, nothing has replaced the writer: He or she is still stuck with the same old job
of saying something that other people will want to read. (Zinsser, 2016, l. 53)
This passage is appropriate for the intended audience: Thinking clearly is a
conscious act that writers must force on themselves, as if they were working on any
other project that requires logic: making a shopping list or doing an algebra problem.
Good writing doesnt come naturally, though most people seem to think it does.
(Zinsser, 2016, l. 206). A writing tool specific statement has potential to engage the
writer, but wouldnt work so well for a broader audience. For example, people who only
wants to improve their grammar skills.
On Writing Well is an excellent book to move up a beginner. Zinsser (2016, l.
318) is proficient and makes his words sing. This passage is a translation of his purpose:
Readers want the person who is talking to them to sound genuine. Therefore a
fundamental rule is: be yourself. No rule, however, is harder to follow. It requires
writers to do two things that by their metabolism are impossible. They must relax, and
they must have confidence. Writing for me is about simplicity, truthiness, and
inclusion. Zinsser helps me to achieve this goal. I am grateful for that, and I want to be
thankful. After all, life itself is a writing process, an emotional journey to death.