In today's world many people are impacted by society, either by language or physical movements. Writers use language to inform the problem and needs in society, and how they have been affected by it over time. Writers and authors spread the word about hate, love, war, discrimination, and other topics through literature; books, art, articles, textbooks, and websites. They have one goal though, that is to inform the reader about the situation or the problem, and inspire the reader to take a stand, The goal is to also persuade the reader to lean on the side they favor or think is better, and to impact their lives by the piece they have made. Language has the power to inform, inspire, and persuade.
Many writers use words to get their point across, but they don't talk, they write. For example, How to Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee displays how problems of society affect individuals and groups at a time. “Mr. Finch, if you was a nigger like me, you’d be scared, too,” stated Tom Robinson. Tom was showing how his group of African-American people had been threatened and wrongly shown guilty for crimes, that he would be scared. The society took them as bad people, and they were thought of this by many others, just because some newspaper or individual said how Negroes were horrible. People believed this, because
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One author, Mark Twain, researches how young minds have adventurous spirits and that adults need to embrace that. “Tom stirred up the other pirates and they all clattered away with a shout, and in a minute or two were stripped and chasing after and tumbling over each other in the shallow limpid water of the white sandbar,” Twain displays how the young children come up with ideas to play and adventure. His use of language affects how people thought of the kids and how they functioned. He reminds the readers of the times they had, and how they, too were once adventurous as
The mighty river flows through the mountains with liquidity and nurture providing life for all those who wish to take a sip from it. Yet the river is powerful in its own force destroying even the largest rocks, crumbling them into small pieces. People may be able to stop the river for a short time or even dry it up but the water always comes back in one form or another, every dam is bound to fail. Some people have been able to harness the power of the river, redirecting the mighty water making it flow in constructive ways. Similar to the river, language is influential. Its true power is not seen by the naked eye but by those who study it, those who use it as their ally in a war of linguistics. In Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter, Birmingham City Jail he is able to use all three rhetorical appeals to prove that demonstrations lead to negotiations and benefit for both sides of an argument.
Words have the power to affect people in many ways from empowerment or to taking upon action. Words are able to make huge changes in the lives of many and can make good or bad changes. In history, people used words in both good and bad function from making a promise to a nation or even manipulating multitudes of people within a nation. Words definitely have the ability to take situations a far distance but despite the fact that evil can manipulate the majority of people, individuals too can realize the true actions and evil buried inside the perpetrator. People can be both ugly and beautiful at sometimes with weapons along their sides. A novel called The Book Thief illustrates the power of words in a multitude of ways, showing the potential
A synthesis essay should be organized so that others can understand the sources and evaluate your comprehension of them and their presentation of specific data, themes, etc.
“The pen is mightier than the sword” (Bulwer-Lytton 1839). Hence, iconic political figures have used language to force individuals to think and act on important issues that encompass society. Activists like Malcolm X and Helen Keller exemplify this power and perspective of language in the realms of approach and progress.
Whether being said or being written, there is always a purpose behind the way words are utilized. Words, oftentimes, educate, inform, or even deceive the minds of individuals, but the true power they derive from has brought about the contribution of others resulting in effective outcomes. Although words hold many different purposes, its key motive is evident when used to sway an individual’s position in public controversial matters. The influence that writing and speech can induce, based on the use of words through diction, tone, and pathos, is what creates change in individual’s perspectives on social views.
Language always conveys a message. Language can convey a message that is full of manipulation. In Robin Lakoff’s essay, “Everybody’s a Politician”, she discusses how manipulation is used in day to day conversations, even if one is not intentionally trying to manipulate. Language can be used to dominate others. In the essay, “the Language of Oppression” by Haig A. Bosmajian, he explains the power of using names to define others. Language can change the way a person thinks. In the same essay, “the Language of Oppression” by Haig A. Bosmajian, he also discusses the way someone thinks can be changed by language. Lastly, language has the power to degrade an individual. In another essay, by Robin Lakoff, “You Are What You Say”, she explains how
For this specific essay that I read it is based on the effects of language and its values. I happened to read the essay called, “Coming into Language,” by a convict named Jimmy Santiago Baca. He was born in 1952 as an Apache Indian with a Chicano relation. Ever since Jim was a young individual he has been in and out of jail and roamed the streets before knowing the basics of right and wrong. From an early age he didn’t ever get a chance to read or understand writings. Because of his poor upbringing he wasn’t able to gain access to knowledge, and did not know that dropping out of the 9th grade could hurt the rest of his life. In the essay, Baca mainly focused on writing the essay to explain his values and beliefs. I believe that Baca wanted to bring his thoughts across to the Chicano decent and to other jail inmates who didn’t understand their upbringings as well. There is clear reasoning for this, stated in the essay it mentions when Baca started showing the Chicano’s and other prisoners, they too were building an interest. The main purpose of this essay is to show that people can change and make a difference. From a person who was given nothing, and dealt with misery for his first half of his life was able to learn to read and write (then later on learned to write poems.)
Television has affected every aspect of life in society, radically changing the way individuals live and interact with the world. However, change is not always for the better, especially the influence of television on political campaigns towards presidency. Since the 1960s, presidential elections in the United States were greatly impacted by television, yet the impact has not been positive. Television allowed the public to have more access to information and gained reassurance to which candidate they chose to vote for. However, the media failed to recognize the importance of elections. Candidates became image based rather than issue based using a “celebrity system” to concern the public with subjects regarding debates (Hart and Trice). Due to “hyperfamiliarity” television turned numerous people away from being interested in debates between candidates (Hart and Trice). Although television had the ability to reach a greater number of people than it did before the Nixon/Kennedy debate, it shortened the attention span of the public, which made the overall process of elections unfair, due to the emphasis on image rather than issue.
Every person on earth has feelings and beliefs that must be expressed, and, of course, there is no one, perfect means of doing this that works for everyone. For some, literature provides a perfect medium to depict exactly what they wish to communicate. As an example, Richard Wright's novel, Native Son, specifically conveys his opinion of the struggle blacks had to face (personified by Bigger Thomas, the main character of the story) in the white man's world of the early 1900's. To create a novel such as this, there are many concepts that must be strung together. Specifically for Native Son, the concepts were: the true nature of fiction, what it means to be black in America, and the challenge of writing the novel.
The power of words is immeasurable. Words help people to voice their opinions and express their thoughts and feelings. Our everyday lives are shaped by communication and in general language. A persons language can often influence success and happiness. America is viewed as a melting pot for numerous different people and their respective languages. Language is so vital in our society that a person of diverse ethnic background can face many tribulations throughout their everyday life.
Despite the world being full of diverse people with varying accomplishments and skill sets, people oftentimes assume the qualities and traits of an individual based purely on the stereotypes set forth by society. Although these stereotypes are unavoidable, an individual can be liberated, empowered and ultimately overcome these stereotypes by obtaining an advanced education.
For example, in John F. Kennedy’s “Ich bin ein Berliner,” he uses words purposefully, claiming, “When all are free, then we look -- can look forward to that day when this city will be joined as one and this country and this great Continent of Europe in a peaceful and hopeful globe” (Kennedy). By stating that not everyone has freedom under communism, he intends to convince the world that communism negatively affects the population in order to motivate his audience to escape from their comfort zones and feel obligated to help make a change. Without people who created speeches like Kennedy’s, citizens would not feel very determined and succeed in overcoming global issues. Kennedy made this speech during the same time period as Faulkner’s—the Cold War era. Although Faulkner’s speech was not actually focused on worldwide issues, his hints toward encouraging the anti-Communist side of the world to stand up for themselves reveal his underlying intentions. While simultaneously describing “the writer’s duty,” he fulfills what he believes to be his own duty by implementing references to the state of the world into his speech. Writers and speakers spread information to a vast number of people without even meeting their audience face-to-face, therefore it is their responsibility to take on a bigger role than simply writing about small, less meaningful topics. Instead, they should write in order to promote motivation in their audience as much in addition to expressing their own ideas. In a world where not many humans earn the opportunity to express their thoughts and beliefs on such an immense scale, writers must use their abilities to spread information that benefits the
Language is a very powerful tool. It is a means of basic communication, and has been around for centuries. Just like any other tool, language can be powerful in a positive or negative way, and can either work to one's advantage or can result in negative effects. Certain words can touch a certain chord inside someone, so they can be easily influenced by the language. A good example of this is George Orwell's Animal Farm, a fable in which a multitude of gullible animals are exploited by a group of power mongering pigs. Words can appeal to a persons basic needs and desires and conjure up hope or even fear in his or her mind. These emotions can be manipulated by others to their own advantage, and clever use of language can be used to cheat, deceive, spread rumors. In Animal Farm, Orwell shows how the pig's use of influential language manipulates and enslaves the animals.
Today, language is used for critiques, wars, and most of all humiliation of someone. Language is the source for the expressions in one’s face because words that are spoken determines where our emotions part ways or stays. For example, when someone tells a gay that he/she is a freak because of this gender identity then that individual fell into depression or in worst case scenario commit suicide. This case language spoken by that person did not only fail but was responsible for the death of that individual. This shows that language is so powerful that what it can do to person is unthinkable.
Literature is rarely, if ever, merely a story that the author is trying to tell. It is imperative that the reader digs deep within the story to accurately analyze and understand the message the author is trying to portray. Authors tend to hide themselves in their stories. The reader can learn about the author through literary elements such as symbolism, diction, and structure. A good example of this is Robert Frost’s poems The Road Not Taken and Nothing Gold can Stay in which he uses ordinary language unlike many other poets that became more experimental (Frost, Robert. “1.”).