Politics and the English Language

Politics and the English Language by George Orwell is a detailed rhetorical analysis over the English language, regarding its faults and problems. Orwell demonstrates his points by giving examples of passages that suffer from the problems of the English language and giving solutions to those problems. Overall, he points out that the modern English prose is vague, confusing, and difficult to read. Regarding the newfound vagueness of the English language, Orwell states, “This mixture of vagueness and sheer incompetence is the most marked characteristic of modern English prose, and especially of any kind of political writing.” This quote is showing how political writings are unclear and contradicting. Some of the ways that Orwell suggests to fix this problem is to never use a long word where a short one will do, cut out words if possible, and use active voice rather than passive voice. Another problem Orwell found was that many writings seem to lack meaning. In his essay Orwell says, “In certain kinds of writing...it is normal to come across long passages which are almost completely lacking in meaning.” His comments are trying to convey that certain writings have confusing meaning due to long passages. The author seems to have no explanation for why they wrote like they did. English writing seems to throw meaningless…

Language is a civilized and friendly way of being able to communicate. Throughout history, this, the language has undergone many transformations in their graphics and sound expressions, due to the direct influence of the evolution of human beings and satisfaction of their needs. In these modern times, we have to communicate a lot of resources, and one of them is what is called "social media through the internet". This feature allows to communicate in a simple, fast, agile, and allows its…

“Politics and the English Language” Analysis In his essay, “Politics and the English Language,” George Orwell states his critical opinions on the deviation of English, especially when it is deceitfully used in politics. Orwell believes that English is deteriorating alongside our “decadent” human civilization. He is quick to point out that one can’t simply blame it upon an individual writer who spread terrible prose, but in fact this occurrence has certain political and economic causes that have…

In "Politics and the English Language" by George Orwell and "The Word of Doublespeak" by William Lutz we can tell that they focus on the meaning of doublespeak. Lutz’s view on doublespeak is seen as a harmless and careless use of words. However, Orwell thoughts are different he criticizes on the features of bad written English in modern prose. Therefore, resulting in bad writing habits which are spread by imitation, and that writers need to rid themselves of these habits by thinking more…

Summary of “Politics and the English Language” by George Orwell Orwell immediately addresses his concern for the decline in the English language. He calls it “ugly” and “stale.” This decline in language induces “foolish” thinking, which, in turn, leads to more ugly language. It is a vicious cycle. However, Orwell suggests that this is a reversible process, considering there is enough people willing to get the job done. He then goes on to explain exactly what the “ugly” modern language is. It…

George Orwell in the article, Politics and the English Language," argues that the "bad habits" of modern writing are influenced by lazy thinkers, especially in politics. Orwell supports his argument by listing passages that "illustrate various of the mental vices from which we suffer now". He believes this crooked way of language can be prevented, but only if six rules given by Orwell are followed. The authors purpose is to point out how bad influences over time has changed the English writing.…

The politics of speaking English well While reading Stephen Grootes’ article, “The politics of navigating the English Language”, I became increasingly annoyed. In a country with 11 official languages why are we overly concerned with how well people speak English? Grootes’ article looks at prominent political leaders and how they fair when presenting themselves in English. The unintended consequence of writing such an article is that Grootes appears to be an elocution “Nazi” rather than a…

In George Orwell’s, Politics and the English Language, he claims that it is hard to write good pros, without out making major mistakes that could potentially lose the interest of the reader. Through the course of his text, Orwell proves that “Modern English, especially written English, is full of bad habits which spread by imitation and which can be avoided” (Orwell 2). With the problems that Orwell identifies as aides in making “Bad Pros”: Dying Metaphors, False Limbs, Pretentious Diction,…

In George Orwell’s work, Politics and the English Language, Orwell makes many points as to why the English language is collapsing, especially in political writing. Impropriety in the English language has been passed about much like tradition and has not seemed to have stopped. Ambiguity in political writing has made it dry with no imagery in the words or metaphors used, which is often done incorrectly. Orwell uses several phrases from other professors and politicians as examples to explain why…

In George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language,” though it was written in 1946 it remains very relevant for modern students use of language. In this essay, Orwell argues that the English language has become very poor and is evolving in a bad way. It is becoming this way because writers are not taking it serious and are writing with foolish intentions. In his essay he gives a list of rules one should not break while writing. The first one is “Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of…