Style of writing

Introduction

Overall, we can say that Pico Iyer’s style of writing in “Why we need to slow down our lives” is persuasive. He uses examples and facts to support his arguments.

However, there also instances of a more narrative style of writing. Personal stories give the essay a narrative style: “One day I visited Google’s headquarters to give a talk on the Dalai Lama book I’d completed...” (ll. 51-53); “When I left New York City for the backstreets of Japan, I figured I’d be growing poorer in terms of money…” (ll. 278-280).

When talking about an author’s style of writing, you should focus on language elements like choice of words, tone, and sentence structure.

Choice of words

Overall, the choice of words suggests the writer is not aggressively persuasive, but he tries to win readers over by making them feel engaged with his arguments on the importance of stillness.

The language used by Pico Iyer is generally simple and easy to understand, making the text accessible. Exceptions might be Jewish religious references such as to the Sabbath (l. 208) which is the day of rest and to religious texts like “the Book of Numbers” (l. 209) or to the “Torah” (l. 213).

The essay includes only a few descriptive words, because the writer’s intention is to convince readers of his arguments rather than to describe something. The descriptive adjectives and adverbs are often positive: “wise souls” (l. 3), “positively tranquil” (l. 19), “greatest surprises” (l. 61), “bright-eyed, visibly spirited young soul” (ll. 76-77), “clearer thinking and better health” (l. 88), “passionate spokesmen” (l. 112), “light-filled passageways” (l. 291), etc. Such descriptive phrases are intended to suggest that the practice of stillness has a positive impact on ...

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