Zinsser questions

Answer the following questions in preparation for class discussion:
1. What exactly does Zinsser mean by "clutter"? How does he believe we can free ourselves of clutter?
Unnecessary and meaningless words, slang or statements. We free it by stripping it to its cleanest form
2. Identify the main idea in each of the 13 paragraphs. How is each paragraph related to Zinsser's topic and purpose?
1)Corporate lang. uses clutter to confuse.
2)Stripping the lang. is cleaning the clutter.
3)President’s English was a lot of meaningless jargon.
4)To achieve freedom from clutter, clear the clutter.
5)The reader attention span is short. Simplest form, cleanest form is more interesting.
6)Clutter in readings make it uninteresting.
7)The reader thinks he is the one missing something, when there is too much going on.
8)The writer has to remind himself ”what am I trying to say” so there is no unnessicaries.
9)A cleared head makes for better writing.
10)Writers have littered sentences, when they can’t through things away.
11)Change your process, think before you write.
12)Wrighting is hard a clear sentence is no accident.
3. In what ways do paragraphs 4-6 serve to illustrate the main idea of paragraph 3?
That the more simple and clean, the more understanding.

4. In paragraph 11, Zinsser says that writers must constantly ask themselves some questions. What are these questions, and why are they important?
“What am I trying to say” ”have I said it” ”is it clear” These are important to understand the meaning/topic of the writing.

5. How do Zinsser's first and last paragraphs serve to introduce and conclude his essay?
It introduces us to his topic ”clutter in American writing”, and the writing concludes with the solution.

6. What is the relationship between thinking and writing for Zinsser?
You must think before you write, so the writing is understandable and interesting.