In George Orwell’s essay “Politics of the English Language”, Orwell argues that the English language is in ruins. What is to blame for the collapse of the English language? The answer simply lies within technology. Technology in many ways has a adverse effect on the English language. Young kids are now allowed to carry cell phones with texting being their main source of communication. Often times these kids butcher the English language through their text messages. They use improper grammar and often times do not punctuate at all. Technology such as texting, facebook and instant messaging work hand in had in the destruction of the English language. Technology has not made people more efficient, but rather has made them lazy. Text messaging is a technology that contributes to the great decline of the English language. The English language is often butchered through the use of text messaging. In Orwell’s essay, he states “An effect can become a cause, reinforcing the original cause and producing the same effect in an intensified form” (446). Main stream society is too lazy to correct any grammar and punctuation in a text message, leading to the assumption that it is not important, after all it is only a text message. Thus, this shows the English language is in decline, when society is to lazy to take a few extra second to correct spelling and punctuation errors . One would not be able to write the same way in an academic essay as they would in a text message. If one would do so, that student would receive an F. No English teacher, or for that matter any teacher, would be thrilled nor impressed reading an essay filled with these common texting erors. Another way society is contributing to the deterioration of the English language... ... middle of paper ... ...ine because of technological advances. As Orwell states in his essay “Modern English, especially written English, is full of bad habits which spread by imitation and which can be avoided if one is willing to take the necessary trouble. If one gets rid of these habits one can think more clearly” (446). These bad habit are speaking in text speak instead of proper English. In past centuries we have fought great battles, now we unite against new enemy, the enemy of improper English. Works Cited Brockenbrough, Martha. “Does IM Make U Dum.” The Concious Reader.Ed. Caroline Shrobes, Michael Shrugrue, Marc DiPaolo, Christian J. Matuschek. Longman: Boston, 2006.148-151. Print. Orwell, George. “Politics and the English Language.” The Concious Reader. Ed. Caroline Shrobes, Michael Shrugrue, Marc DiPaolo, Christian J. Matuschek. Longman: Boston, 2006. 445-447. Print.
Orwell presents the view that ‘language is of central importance to human thought because it structures and limits the ideas that individuals are capable of formulating and expressing.’1 In his novel1984 he maintains a keen focus on language and how it is restricted and manipulated by the regime in order to achieve complete control over the thought of the Party. This inspired Atwood - who considered Orwell a ‘direct model’2 - to similarly explore language as more than just a literary form, but a mutable tool used
1) The device Orwell uses to introduce his thesis are chiasmi. The first chiasmus is “A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more completely because he drinks” and the second chiasmus is “It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts.” Both sentences are examples of chiasmus since they reverse key terms in their clauses, the key terms being “drinking” and “failure” in the first, and the state of the language and “foolish thoughts” in the second sentence.
Orwell’s article on the English language is on point because it defines how people have become lazy in how they communicate with each other. This type of “slovenliness” is part of the problem in terms of why the English language is often misused by the speaker: “The slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts” (Orwell para.2). Due to the speaker’s laziness, the language becomes confused, and the person begins having “foolish thoughts” that do not have very good accuracy. This mental process is one way that Orwell defines the importance of language as a tool for clarity of thought, which is important when conveying a message to another person or group of people. Certainly, this is an
In the essay “From Ancient Greece to Iraq, the Power of Words in Wartime” by Robin Tolmach Lakoff, Lakoff discusses the fact that words are a tool as well when it comes to wars. She talks about the differences between our natural want and ability to kill things, and the mental training soldiers receive to make it easier for them. Lakoff talks about the practice of dehumanizing the “enemy” through nicknames that make us feel superior then our foes, and the repercussions of using this type of language. In the essay by George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language”, Orwell talks about the decay of the English language, especially in political writings. He discusses the fact that when it comes to writing, political being the main focus, it’s
A few years back, there was some concern over the fact that texting may be affecting the writing composition of teenagers. John McWhorter from Times Magazine wrote, “Is Texting Killing the English Language” on this very phenomenon, with the rhetorical aim to persuade people that this wasn’t the case. In the article, McWhorter refers to historical texts to persuade his audience, middle-aged
Orwell argues that society is completely oblivious to the constraint that is involved in every day life. There is no individual in society and that everyone remains the same. “Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought?” (46) Not only does a limiting of words show society that by controlling methods of co...
... to communicate as an individual instead of just a generic drone. The totalitarian utopia of 1984 perfectly exemplifies the through the destruction of language the one’s in power can control the powerless into being “equal”, “identical” conforming subjects. The power of words is what gives a person the strength and the voice to stand up against the enemies. Some people says that “ignorance is bliss,” but according to Orwell “ignorance is strength” –strength for the party (Orwell, 1984 2).
Technology is not killing our ability to write, but it is reviving it and pushing our literacy to new directions. Andrea Lunsford, from Stanford University, conducted an experiment to scrutinize college students way of writing. Her results were alarming, "I think we are in the midst of a literacy revolution the likes of which we haven't seen since Greek civilization." Lunsford discovered that only 38% of students writing occurred within the classroom, the rest was written in their own free time. Most of our socializing now takes place online and always involves text or writing. Before the Internet, most of our communication was verbal. The only time Americans wrote was for a school assignment and if their job required writing. Otherwise most people didn't write another paragraph once they left
...e exists a popular saying, “write what you know.” John Grisham, writer of The Firm, effectively wrote a novel about lawyers because he practiced as one. People communicate what they interpret as the truth, but this habit is not limited to writing. Along with writing drenched with bias, members of the society must be conscious of the biases of those they associate with; this is due to the likelihood of those biases affecting themselves subconsciously. For a society to progress, it is vital that its members do not have their course of life and decisions influenced by the biases others formed due to their personal experiences. English is global; with numerous variations of the language making Orwell’s statements inapplicable; however, an open minded approach to the essay can be constructive seeding intelligent thoughts into society, as Orwell hoped for it to accomplish.
“Our generation doesn't ring the doorbell. They text or call to say they're outside,” this line is from one of the well-known social networks, Tweeter, which shows how the way of communication has change in this modern life. According to 2013 statistics by Business Insider, in United States alone, smartphone owners aged 18 to 24 send 2,022 texts per month on average — 67 texts on a daily basis — and receive another 1,831 texts (Cocotas). Nowadays, technology such as text messaging has practically replaced traditional face to face communication among the society primarily in young generations because texting allows messages to be sent fast and effortless. In order to quickly type what they are trying to say in text messaging, people are frequently using textspeak; the language created by using abbreviation rather than complete words. Based on this phenomenon, David Crystal, an honorary professor of linguistics at the University of Wales has published an article entitled ‘2b or not 2b?’ in the Guardian on July 5, 2008 comes out with the research and studies that state texting can actually improve the literacy of children and create creativity of writing. However, by observing more critically, texting do decrease a person’s ability to switch between textspeak and the normal rules of grammar and adversely affect formal writing and conversational skills.
Nothing ever stays the same for very long. As time passes, people, places, and ideas develop and change in a variety of ways. The english language is spoken and written so differently today that you probably could not speak understand its earliest incarnation. English has evolved and continues to evolved due to a multitude of reasons. The english language has changed and developed over time due to the way the lanuguage is used, the way the language is spread, and the development and advancement of new technology.
...t know what George Orwell would have to say about English now. We are in a largely technological age and, with text message slang and emoticons blanching all color from thought and emotion, I believe the English language is in even more trouble now than in George Orwell’s time. I imagine the English language as a lonely working class dog that has strayed far from home. I realize, in reality the lonely dog is right by our side. It’s not lost, just poorly trained. English should be seen as “an instrument which we shape for our own purposes” (591). We must ask ourselves, what is the use of having a poor quality tool if it doesn’t work? We have, through abuse and neglect, shaped “man’s best friend” into the sad form it is today. Should we grab the shot gun and take poor, old “Yeller” back behind the shed? No! We should take the steps to fix what we have done.
George Orwell was one of the most famous British writers of the twentieth century who wrote the best-selling books, 1984 and Animal Farm. Orwell believed that, “the way people use language..., is a result of the way they think as well as an important influence on their thought” (Orwell 234). He discovered that there was a decline in the English language that was triggered by political causes that became reinforced (Orwell 244). In an effort to reverse the effects of the decline, he created guidelines on dying metaphors, operators or verbal false limbs, pretentious diction, and meaningless words, to prevent English language users from being incorrect and improper. His guideline on dying metaphors requires that we no longer use metaphors that do not give a vivid image to the receivers (Orwell 237). People have become lazy and unoriginal in coming up with new metaphors and use old metaphors instead of making their own. Another guideline is operators or verbal false limbs. This means that we use larger words in a sentence to make it look better (Orwell 237). When available, it is better to use a smaller word than a larger word or phrase with the same meaning. In addition, it is...
In the sources that I found about text message and teen literacy, it showed and also informed me on how teens take the next talk to the classrooms in schools and how it creates bad grammar among themselves. During my research I found out that many kids and kids use shorthanded text and it affects their literacy in so many ways. We as teens don’t think that our findings will benefit anyone unless they want to have a short knowledge in grammar. As teens we don’t really see how doing something wrong can harm us. Such as texting shorthanded, and with silly faces. It affects our literacy by not knowing how to correctly punctuate their words, grammar and speaking. In the research that I looked up, that teens send about one thousand eight hundred
These teens tended to score lower on literacy tests than those that did not (Plester, Wood, Bell 143). It was also observed that high texters scored lower on verbal and non-verbal reasoning than those who do not text and minimal texters (Plester, Wood, Bell 140). Results from studies on texting indicated an overall negative effect on literacy test results (Verheijen 595). It has been suggested that students are not distinguishing between informal and formal environments and are texting at the wrong times and places (Verheijen 587). The general message that the media sends about the effects of texting tend to be rather negative overall. For example, texting and driving is considered very dangerous due to a distracted driver. Many teens are involved in accidents due texting and driving. It was elicited during a study that participants took longer and made more errors when they had to read text messages as opposed to reading Standard English (Kemp and Bushnell 18). Thurlow is quoted saying that texting “signals the slow death of language” and is “a threat to social progress” (qtd. in Verheijen 586). Texting has more of a negative effect on teens’ literacy and could possibly cause the English we use today could become