Written With Style

“How to Write with Style” by Kurt Vonnegut is an enlightening article with excellent advice for writers of all types.  Vonnegut gives several pointers on developing one’s own writing style, while using his own amusing style of writing.  He takes what could be considered a dry subject and adds his own perspective and twist to pique the interest of his reader.  The article is clear and readable without insulting the intelligence of the audience.

By numbering each example, Vonnegut makes it easy to grasp his points.  There is no ambiguity about what his intentions are; the article is laid out in a digestible format.  One of the more clever examples he gives is the one of not rambling on.   Vonnegut (1980) plainly articulates:  “I won’t ramble on about that” (p. 66).   What more needs to be said?

Another reason that this article is so successful is Vonnegut’s use of well known people and books to paint his picture of how one should write with style.  He mentions Shakespeare, Picasso, Cleopatra, the Bible, and several others that most readers, if not all, will be somewhat knowledgeable at the very least.

What is especially convincing about this article is the fact that Vonnegut takes his own advice, using his ideas to give an example of a stylishly written piece.  It is easy to find Vonnegut’s use of every single suggestion he makes in this article.

Despite the fact that this article was published thirty years ago, it is not outdated in any way.  Vonnegut has successfully written a piece that will be just as useable for many years to come.  I found it an interesting and informative read, and will happily use what I have learned from Vonnegut in my future writings.

What is the most important element to consider as a writer developing their own style?

Vonnegut, K.  (1980).  How to write with style.  IEEE Transactions on

 Personal Communications, 24(2), 66-67.

Pretty Much the Same Thing

Yuki Tanaka’s (2008) piece titled “Japan’s Kamikaze Pilots and Contemporary Suicide Bombers: War and Terror” deals with the Japanese suicide pilots of World War II and “contemporary suicide bombers” (p. 298).  Tanaka enlightens the reader to the possible psychological reasoning behind these suicidal acts of terrorism and explores the similarities and differences between the two.  At the end of the piece Tanaka draws the conclusion that the bombing of civilians by the military are just as much acts of terrorism as the actions of the kamikaze pilots and suicide bombers.  

Tanaka starts off his article with several statistics which sets an informative tone and instils confidence in his audience.  He comes across as well studied and believable.  The tone changes as he moves through his writing to a more emotionally charged style.  Tanaka stops using statistical information; he gives a strong personal opinion which is not wholly based on facts. 

Different “psychological themes” are described for explanation of the kamikaze pilots’ motives for participating in these suicidal missions, such as: “praise and honor to their parents”, “strong solidarity with their flight-mates”, and “a lack of an image of the enemy” (p. 296-297).  This successfully demonstrates a different perspective of a Japanese suicide pilot; one in which we see the human rather than the monster. 

Tanaka’s comparisons of Kamikaze pilots with suicide bombers show several similarities, for example: “In both cases, concrete images of the victims may be lacking in the attackers’ mind, thus the actions of killing others becomes ritualised” (p. 298).  The two acts of terrorism are shown to be on a similar level.

In the last paragraph Tanaka gets his main point across to the reader.  These suicide missions are atrocious acts of terrorism, but so are the bombings of civilians that are considered “legitimate military operations” in countries such as Iraq (p. 300).

 Is it possible that Canada and the U.S.A. commit acts of terrorism?           

Tanaka, Y. (2008). Japan’s kamikaze pilots and contemporary suicide bombers.  

In Ackley, K., Blank, G., & Hume, S. (Eds). Perspectives on contemporary

 issues. (pp. 294-300). Toronto: Nelson. 

A More Prosperous World

Thomas Friedman discusses outsourcing in his 2004 article “30 Little Turtles.”  The article is short and to the point yet gives a fairly convincing argument for the outsourcing of work to other countries.  Friedman uses language and personal stories effectively, pathos being his rhetorical appeal.  As successful as his use of pathos is, the article would perhaps benefit from the use of added factual information.

Friedman (2008) sets a positive tone with his language choices; for example, when he writes about “these incredibly enthusiastic young Indians preparing for their call center jobs” (p. 176).  This promotes the reader to feel that maybe outsourcing is a good thing seeing as these people are so eager.  Friedman uses other words like “pride”, “liberated”, “happy”, “self-confidence, dignity and optimism” to reinstate these feelings of sympathy in the reader (p. 176-177).

Friedman shares several stories of individuals who have been strongly affected by their jobs gained through outsourcing.  He introduces these individuals by name and writes a quote from each of them that captures the feelings of hope and positivity that these jobs have provided.  The personal glimpses into the lives of these young Indians help to convey Friedman’s purpose.  A couple of paragraphs later Friedman discloses a conversation he had with several young Palestinians.  These men have no jobs and are in agreement that they are “suicide bombers in waiting” (p. 177).  Their lack of hope is frightening and such a stark contrast to the optimism of the Indians.

While Friedman makes a good case for outsourcing of work to less fortunate countries, he does not support his own claim that outsourcing will make “a safer world for our own 20-year-olds” (p. 177).  To justify this claim he requires strong statistical information that indicates a correlation between lack of jobs and terrorism affecting American youths.  There is no example of this in his otherwise convincing article.

What kind of negative impacts affect the countries that outsource work to developing countries?


Friedman, T. (2008). 30 Little Turtles.  In Ackley, K., Blank, G., & Hume, S. (Eds).  

    Perspectives on contemporary issues. (pp. 176-177). Toronto: Nelson.