Momo: Finding the Right Tone

I love reading books with originality. Just about any book, essay, speech, or lecture can be made interesting with originality.

One of my favorite novels, Michael Ende's Momo, has excellent examples of originality. Ende uses tone to make the reader feel a certain way. I feel that Michael Ende's writing is strongest when he uses a conversational tone. Some of his most memorable passages are when he addresses the reader as if speaking to them in person. 

In this passage, he is describing how a street sweeper, Beppo, goes about his work:

“...it's like this. Sometimes, when you've a very long street ahead of you, you think how terribly long it is and feel sure you'll never get it swept. And then you start to hurry. You work faster and faster and every time you look up there seems to be just as much left to sweep as before, and you try even harder, and you panic, and in the end you're out of breath and have to stop--and still the street stretches away in front of you. That's not the way to do it.

You must never think of the whole street at once, understand? You must only concentrate on the next step, the next breath, the next stroke of the broom, and the next, and the next. Nothing else.

That way you enjoy your work, which is important, because then you make a good job of it. And that's how it ought to be.

And all at once, before you know it, you find you've swept the whole street clean, bit by bit. what's more, you aren't out of breath. That's important, too.." 

Michael Ende uses the word "you," even though he is talking about Beppo. The reader the automatically relates to passage. He asks questions as if he is speaking to you in person. "You must never think of the whole street at once, understand?" He could have easily said, "It is important not to sweep the whole street at once." He gave the phrase a unique twist that made it sound more natural. The easy, conversational tone makes the story more relatable.

This week's grammar error was at the Davis Campus Waldo's. This sign was hanging up:

The mistake made here is pretty basic. "Salad's" should be changed to "salads." The apostrophe isn't needed, since the salad isn't possessing anything.