Verified Document

Goldberg's "Be Specific" In A Brief Yet Essay

¶ … Goldberg's "Be Specific" In a brief yet powerful example of the very type of inspired writing she champions throughout the passage, author Natalie Goldberg's chapter titled "Be Specific," which was included in the compilation Models for Writing: Short Essays for Composition, manages to convey multiple decades worth of lessons learned by a seasoned wordsmith into just a few hundred words. Goldberg, who established herself as the nation's foremost writer of books about writing in 1986 with her debut work Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within, begins her stirring defense of direct, forceful writing by immediately commanding her readers to take the chapter's title to heart. By following this exhortation with an unmistakable example of writing with specificity, telling readers "don't say 'fruit.' Tell what kind of fruit -- 'It is a pomegranate," (299) Goldberg emphasizes the advantages of her...

Parts of this document are hidden

View Full Document
svg-one

For a writer like Goldberg, knowing the exact names of trees, plants and wildlife in a given area has become an obsession, and as she describes her fascination with nomenclature, "I bought a book on them and walked down the tree-lined streets of Boulder, examining leaf, bark and seed, trying to match them up with their descriptions and names in the book" (300). This attention to the minutiae of everyday life is especially important for a writer, says Goldberg, because storytelling, reporting and other variants of the craft are dependent on the author's ability to successfully recreate reality in the mind of the reader.
To reinforce her overall…

Sources used in this document:
Works Cited

Goldberg, Natalie. "Be Specific." Models for Writing: Short Essays for Composition. 8th. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004. Print.

Rosa, Alfred, and Paul Eschholz. Models for Writing: Short Essays for Composition. 8th.

Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004. 299-301. Print.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Realm of Abnormal Psychology: Cluster B Personality Disorder
Words: 2809 Length: 8 Document Type: Research Paper

Cluster B Personality Disorder In this article some of the latest research regarding the Cluster B personality disorders has been given along with their etiology, diagnosis and treatment. Further some research related to the causes, preventive measures and treatments of such disorders has been discussed here as well. The article also presents biblical and cultural points-of-views regarding the disorder. Lastly, various viewpoints associated with the counter transference related to the treatment

Homelessness Intervention Social Work Universally in the
Words: 2616 Length: 7 Document Type: Term Paper

Homelessness Intervention Social Work Universally in the developed world, homelessness is something that communities want to end rather than manage. Co-ordinated social services can come together to create and enhance community-based responses that tackle the threat of homelessness rather than attempting to deal with it on the other end -- after the fact, after people are demoralized by the experience. An important part of any community response to homelessness is affordable housing. But

U.S. Television Sitcoms on Emotional
Words: 1659 Length: 6 Document Type: Essay

One study revealed Berry (2003) found that young children's retention of emotional information was greater in children viewing family sitcom than those who just watch an animated films or moppet program. This result justifies the fact that children are more likely to learn more due to the presence of human characters in family sitcoms as they find these characters more close to the reality than either cartoon or Muppet

Compensation Packages
Words: 2692 Length: 9 Document Type: Research Paper

Morgan Stanley & Goldman Sachs Employee compensations has for many years been seen as a type of job benefit package that did one of two things: either reward people for doing good work (merit) or offer them the chance to make more by coming up with creative new business ideas that made the company money (incentives) (Tropman, 2001). Now, however, the issue has changed on a number of fronts. For most

Elbow, Peter. Writing With Power:
Words: 1858 Length: 6 Document Type: Annotated Bibliography

The story was filled with factual accuracy, while fictional, and vividly rich with images and characters that she and her father could picture with accurate detail. Romano tells us how Mariana finished the story with a young member of the family holding a roughly cut, wooden pony, and how when she gently finished the tale as he was in tears Villanueva, Victor. Bootstraps: From an American Academic of Color. Urbana,

Death Penalty Unsatisfactory Approach To Serious Crimes
Words: 2658 Length: 8 Document Type: Term Paper

Studies consistently and generally show that, all factors held constant, the race of the accused is a critical variable in determining who will be sentenced to death. Black citizens are, thus, subjected to double discrimination. From initial charging decisions to plea bargaining to sentencing by the jury, Black defendants receive harsh treatment and, as victims, their lives are given less value than whites. Most juries still consist of all

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now