¶ … Politics and the English Language" by George Orwell
George Orwell's discourse on the political and social significance of the modern English writing is the primary theme shown in his essay, "Politics and the English Language," written in 1945. In this discourse, Orwell discusses the faults of modern English language regarding the gradual spread of vagueness and "insincerity" in the meaning of prose text. Furthermore, Orwell analyzes how certain writers of the English language committed this fault, wherein the meaning the writers tries to elucidate is lost behind the numerous phrases that are vague in meaning and inappropriately chosen with relation to the thought that they want to express. A commitment of this fault creates an ineffective form of writing in prose form, lacking clarity and conciseness.
To solve these problems of vagueness and insincerity, Orwell proposes explanations wherein he relates the improper use of the modern English language in the political and social realm of American society. For Orwell, thought must definitely determine language, and not the other way around. This means that there must first be clarity and sincerity of thought before effective writing will take place. This way, problems of vagueness will be avoided, an element of writing that results to insincerity. This means that the use of elaborate explanations to express a feeling or thought is an ineffective way of explaining and describing these thought, and Orwell suggests that long and elaborate sentences must be replaced with short, concise ones, where meaning will become clearer to the audience. While avoiding an imposition of definite rules in English writing and composition, Orwell enumerated and discussed the common mistakes and faults that prose writers commit in expressing their thoughts on important issues, especially those that are political and social in nature.
In order to comprehend Orwell's sentiments regarding modern English language and writing, a literary piece in the form of speech will be analyzed and discussed in accordance to Orwell's discourse. This speech will be Abraham Lincoln's "The Gettysburg Address," delivered in 1863 as the President's reaction...
Politics and English Language POLITICS AND THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE George Orwell in his essay 'Politics and the English Language' discusses the flaws and degeneration of English language. He believes that since the language is clearly losing its focus and direction, it is rapidly becoming unclear and vague giving rise to literary pieces that make little or no sense at all. Many people share Orwell's observation and feel that for some odd reason,
Orwell Discussion on George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair, who is better remembered by his pen name, George Orwell, was one of the most influential authors of the twentieth century. He is one of the few modern day individuals who has fostered the creation of a new word -- "Orwellian." This word itself could be the subject of an entire book with many modern day examples. This has led many people to believe
It is a work that seems to be eerily familiar to what is happening in many areas of society today, and that is one aspect of the novel that makes it exceedingly frightening to read. References Abdolian, Lisa Finnegan, and Harold Takooshian. "The U.S.A. PATRIOT Act: Civil Liberties, the Media, and Public Opinion." Fordham Urban Law Journal 30.4 (2003): 1429+. A secondary source that gives useful information on the U.S.A. Patriot Act.
Just as foolish thinking produces sloppy language, orthodoxy in thinking produces dull and unoriginal language. 13) Political leader defend the indefensible by making vague and cliche connections between the indefensible event/practice/policy and some far vaguer principle or goal. Though the situation has become almost cliche itself, the invasion and occupation of Iraq as a mean of bringing freedom to the region is a solid modern example. 14) No answer. 15) Insincerity by definition creates a
Language Deliberately deceptive language manipulates the audience. This is as true for the use of propaganda for nefarious political purposes, such as voter manipulation, as it is for good old-fashioned maintenance of prejudices via the proliferation of stereotypes. Advertising is replete with manipulative language constructed to sell products and services. Language can be used to distract, impress, persuade, and achieve goals other than the direct communication of thoughts and ideas. Specific
Lying: Deceit in Language Tools, such as hammers, have no inherent intent to deceive or malign. Only in the hands of its users do morals come into play. Lying is relative and in some instances the best of choices. Introspection accompanied with reasoning skills will help those receiving language signals to properly classify, and then act upon or ignore, these relations. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relative
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