The thesis of this essay can be divided into two portions which co-exist throughout the essay and are frequently used to support each other. In the introduction of the essay Mr. Orwell’s explains that modern English writers have a multitude of malicious tendencies which have been spread throughout all contexts of writing. He offers the opinion that these tendencies can be avoided if someone takes the time to do so. This will result in political regeneration, but must be done by all English writers not exclusively professional ones. Orwell latter goes on to assert that language corrupts thought and vice versa. The slovenliness of our language allows for foolish thinking, and this foolish thinking allows for slovenliness in our language.
This cyclical process is often difficult to break because again bad habits provide us with very convenient and elegant sounding sentence structures. However as he stated early this course is reversible by all writers if they are willing to follow his six rules.Condense.INTRODUCTION. The Intro of the essay asserts the notion that the English language has been disfigured by the human race and is on the residual decline as a resultant. Orwell attributes this downfall to politics and economic causes but goes on to outline his remedy to correct what he refers to as a “reversible” process. George Orwell goes on to cite passages from several prominent essays and articles, concluding on the similarities in their staleness of imagery and lack of precision.
Argument in George Orwell's 'Politics and the English Language' (Quiz) Read the excerpt from 'Politics and the English Language' by George Orwell. Defenseless villages are bombarded from the air, the inhabitants driven out into the countryside, the cattle machine-gunned, the huts set on fire with incendiary bullets: this is called pacification. George Orwell’s essay “Politics and the English Language,” begins by refuting common presumptions that hold that the decline of the English language is a reflection of the state of society and politics, that this degeneration is inevitable, and that it’s hopeless to resist it.
He criticizes the passages, stating that the incompetence and vagueness of such political writings desecrates correct English prose- construction.DYING METAPHORS. George Orwell begins by explaining the difference between newly invented and “dead” metaphors. He then goes on to explain the “huge dump” of worn out metaphors that are commonly used but have lost all power to evocate the reader’s imagination. He argues that many authors use these metaphors out of context without ever knowing and pervert their original meaning without the metaphor’s creator having knowledge of it. Tow the line and Toe the line)OPERATORS OR VERBAL FALSE LIMBS. In this paragraph Mr.
Orwell rationalizes how many writers use extraneous verbs and nouns to pad sentences and create the illusion of symmetry. Instead of effectively using simple verbs, conjunctions and prepositions, many writers will abuse the convenient word placements to create lavish sounding phases such as “deserving of serious consideration”. PRETENTIOUS DICTION.
During this section Mr. Orwell discusses the recurring tendency of bad writers to glorify shorter words with longer but not necessarily correct ones. He explains that this problem is especially prevalent among scientific, political and sociological writers whose constant use of jargon and Latin terminology makes it difficult to interpret yet alone understand their writing. This increased use of such “foreign language” results in sloppiness and vagueness.MEANINGLESS WORDS. In this passage George Orwell makes the assertion that amongst the confusion of long literary or political critiques, the writing often becomes meaningless as a result of improper language and jargon.
The use of such “meaningless” words allows them to be openly interpreted and often abused in political writing. What one might regard as Democracy, another would describe as Fascism, but neither carries a definition in this instance, but merely a positive or negative connotation. In rules 2&3 George Orwell does tell writers to abstain from using extraneous words and “fluff” while writing. However he does also state in his 6th rule that is it alright to “Break these rules rather than saying anything completely monstrous.” Often a euphemism is the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh, or blunt. This is the direct result of either a person’s conscious choice to do so or their inability to articulate the sentence with “milder” vocabulary. For example someone might say “To pass away” while a euphemism for it Read more ».