Assignment #6 Devrani Brahmanand

    Orwell’s thesis’ argues the effect that politics has on the degradation of the English language. He further believes outdated jargon should be neglected, as he calls for original and critical thought that emerges from claiming power in language specifically in political expression. He challenges the notion that there is little possibility of avoiding the intellectually corrosive effects of political expression, nor the lies produced for political purposes by highly abstract language. Orwell identifies a type of indoctrination that arises when individuals in political speech use common turns of phrase. People pantomime a group line rather than thought critically. One of his key points is that repetitions arise from unoriginal thought that thus contributes to repetitions. One quote I found intriguing was “A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more completely because he drinks. It is rather the same thing that is happening to the English language”. This analogy encompasses the concept that Orwell believes the language becomes unattractive and inaccurate as it withdraws the deeper meaning and quality of one’s personal thoughts. Orwell also focuses on medicine to cure the English language, by first fixing the political process. One category of language that Orwell disapproves of is “Never use a foreign phase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent”. Examples of this type of language are very common nowadays. Many strategic writers tend to lean towards words that sound more sophisticated to make their work sound more advanced and appealing to readers. However, you don’t want to further complicate explanations, it’s better the reader understands and acknowledges your individual or personal ideas. Generally, my writing does exhibit this language use. Nevertheless, I do tend to steer towards a more direct and communicable way that is effective and understandable. I do find his critique to be valid because I’ve read so many essays where my peers utilize strong vocabulary to make their work sound more effective but it ends up becoming more insufficient and unable to comprehend. Furthermore, language use and politics intersects for me in some form or another. The most significant thing in the lives of all beings is language. We use language to articulate inner thoughts and feelings, to make sense of complex and abstract thinking, to learn to connect with others, to satisfy our wishes and needs, and to create rules and to conserve our culture.