Preview

Orwell Practice Essay

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2905 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Orwell Practice Essay
The Essays of George Orwell are a personal anthropological and cultural artifact, serving as authorial cathartic metalanguage that is ‘essentially communicative’ of omnipresent themes [John Donne, Metatempsychosis, 1601]. Such are indicative in ‘Why I write?’, ‘Writers and Levithan’ and ‘Politics and the English Language’, which are perpetually and contemporaneously relevant through Freudian ‘Ontological Pastiche of Experience’, as changing milieus offer new interpretations, producing continual fascination evidenced through Jungian conception of ‘collective unconscious’. Textual accessibility is forged through probing at political reflections, through reading perspectives, concerning the moral erotesis representative of his oeuvre, ‘for how is political writing art?’ [George Orwell, Polemic, March 1984]. Through his skillful manipulation and use of form, Orwell highlights his concern pertaining to the misuse of language amongst writers, to achieve political agendas. Such is indicative of his context, through influence to Jingoism, intelligentsia, and democratic socialism, as ‘all knowledge of cultural reality is always knowledge from particular points of view’ (Weber, 1949, p.81).

The essays of George Orwell are the artifacts of comprehensive contextual influences, representing to the responder the composers concern regarding the power of language. Orwell articulates that language has the capacity to shape ones sense of reality, conceal truths and even manipulate history. This concern for the misuse of language was particularly pertinent in light of his context, where the political upheaval throughout and following the Second World War, shaped the course of politics in modern history. During this period, Europe witnessed the rise and fall of totalitarian governments in Germany, Italy and Spain, as well as the spread of communism throughout the Cold War. Orwell acknowledged that the subject matter of a writer ‘will be determined by the age he lives in’, which he

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Goerge Orwell, in “Politics and the English Language”, demonstrates how to effectively express oneself with written language. To do so, Orwell states the “dos” and “don’ts” of effective writing. Because the rules for writing effectively are so complex, Orwell utilizes parallel structure to make the body structure of his essay more cohesive: “… it has nothing to do with archaism… it is especially concerned with the scrapping of… It has nothing to do with correct grammar… it is not concerned with… Nor does it even imply… though it does imply…” (Orwell). Orwell interlaces multiple parallel structures to give the body both unity and a back-and-forth feel that keeps the audience on their toes. If he had not done so, his arguments would have quickly become repetitive and monotonous. Although Orwell specifically states that “correct grammar and syntax… are of no importance”, one can see that he has gone to great lengths to achieve an engaging effect through syntax. The back-and-forth action of the body paragraphs and his self-contradiction alludes to a rule he introduces later in the writing: “Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous” (Orwell). He then goes on to break a number of his previously stated rules, some more blatantly than others: “… send some worn-out and useless phrase… into the dustbin” (Orwell). He also uses polysyllabic diction at some points, though he expressly states to “Never use a long word where a short one will do”. His contradiction of himself may at first leave some readers puzzled, but ultimately establishes the concept that a writer should not be afraid to break conventions to make a…

    • 278 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    George Orwell Essay

    • 883 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In the story “On the Rainy River” a 20-year old named Tim O’Brien is about to be given the freedom to go anywhere in life until he receives a draft notice requiring him to join the army in the Vietnam War. Tim O’Brien is tested both physically and mentally. He has the option to flee to Canada or go to the war. Each option would result in abandoning family, friends, and fond memories. In his essay “Shooting an Elephant,” reminisces about a bad decision he made earlier in life, just like Tim. Reflecting on his experience, Orwell has also identified the reasons why he did it: “I could get nothing into perspective. I was young and ill-educated and I had to think out my problems in utter silence,” Tim O’Brien also dealt with his problems alone, “ I felt isolated; I spent a lot of time alone.” Both Tim and George are struggling to deal with their problems and it’s eating away at them.…

    • 883 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    American Fat

    • 654 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In George Orwell’s passage, his tone was more critical and serious and his style was specific and formal. In his writing he used many references and details to support his ideas in the passage. He wrote about how the English language has progressively gotten worse because of people using too many sophisticated words in order to sound smart, but resulting in losing the meaning in what they are trying to say. In order to prove his point by researching passages that are guilty of using unnecessary words. For example, on page 541 he stated, “These five passages have not been picked out because they are especially bad – I could have quoted far worse if I had chosen – but because they illustrate various of the mental vices from which we now suffer. They are a little below average, but are fairly representative samples. I number them so that I can refer back to them when necessary:” This shows the amount of research he did and the amount of thought process put into his work. In addition, he separates his passage into and organized list of topics that are commonly used wrong in the English language such as Dying Metaphors, Operations or Verbal False Limbs, Pretentious Diction, and Meaningless Words. This shows he organized his thoughts to clearly get his point across to his readers in a well written passage. All of these examples show that…

    • 654 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Injuries in the Nfl

    • 992 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Orwell, George. “politics and the English Language.” The McGraw-Hill: Issues Across The Disciplines.11th edition. Ed. Gilbert Muller. New York: McGraw-Hill,2011. Print. 106-116.…

    • 992 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    George Orwell writes his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four not as a story of fiction but as a warning about the dangers of totalitarian control. The concepts of free enterprise and individual freedom no longer exist in 1984, all of the power is split into three groups Eastasia, Eurasia, and Oceania. In his novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell uses certain literary devices, introduces new linguistic concepts and uses propaganda techniques to suppress freedom, controlling the people and forming a totalitarian society. Orwell introduces two new linguistic concepts in 1984; newspeak, and doublespeak. Newspeak is used by the Party to reduce and limit thought, and simplify the english language to the bare minimum. Doublespeak, on the other hand, which is commonly used by Party members to distort the actually meaning of words, and use the words against those who do not understand what they mean. George Orwell uses the propaganda tactics of “plain folks,” as well as the use of the Big Brother posters to achieve the idea of suppressing freedom. By utilizing propaganda techniques, introducing new language concepts and using literary devices, Orwell successfully warns us about the potential dangers of totalitarian control in our society today.…

    • 1818 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    As it is mentioned in the beginning of "Politics and the English language " that "George Orwell (1903-1950), one of the most brilliant social critics of the twentieth century...", Orwell states that English Language is losing its identity. He illustrates six solutions to improve language and the language usage for explanation is manipulative. In "Politics and The English Language", George Orwell is trying to tackle the issue of English Language decline due to bad language usage, but the six solution that Orwell stated are being broken by him that weakens his argument on English Language destruction that leads an individual to have sense of manipulation.…

    • 422 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Goldstein, Philip, “Orwell as a (Neo)conservative: The Reception of 1984.” The Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association, Vol. 33, No. 1 (Winter, 2000), pp. 44-57 Midwest Modern Language Association…

    • 2554 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    My first point is the fact that Orwell admits to using the same bad language that he writes about! In the essay Politics and the English Language George Orwell says, and I quote, “Look back through this essay, and for certain you will find that I have again and again committed the very faults I am protesting against.” Now this sounds just like a high school girl if you ask me. They argue a point, argue it again, and then apologize and admit to being hypocritical. Some people out there will say that even though Orwell was a hypocrite, he was very qualified to write this paper. I agree with you on that. He was very, and I mean VERY, qualified to write this essay but that alone does not make hypocrisy okay. That’s just like saying that its right for the KKK to lynch black people and then write a book about how people should be…

    • 657 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The power of language in this novel is one of the most potent forces that exists and as a result, the Party goes through great lengths to influence and control language. Language is one of the most important ideas that George Orwell includes in Nineteen Eighty-Four. It is of central importance to human thought because it structures and limits the ideas that people are able to express. “Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. […] The whole climate of thought will be different. In fact, there will be no thought, as we understand it now.” (Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, 55-56) Orwell proposes that if the Party, the main form of government in this novel, is able to control language, then they control the loyalty to the Party and the thought of the population. The Party manifests its control of language by implementing the language of Newspeak, created to replace English. Altering the very structure of language, the Party makes it impossible to think disobedient or rebellious thoughts, because there would be no words with which to think them. The Party is constantly refining and perfecting Newspeak, “in the final version of Newspeak there'll be nothing else. In the end the whole notion of goodness and badness will be covered by only six words – in reality,…

    • 1103 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    1984: Oppression of Truth

    • 1597 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Cited: Harris, Harold J. "Orwell 's Essay 's and '1984 '." Twentieth Century Literature 4 (1959): 154-161.…

    • 1597 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Orwell sent this essay into New Writing which is highly anti-fascist and anti-imperialistic, which causes the readers to be against ruling over another country by force. This cause George Orwell’s writing style to differ in some aspects. He speaks of how he hates…

    • 388 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is as much a reflection of the political climate in which he was writing as it is an exaggeration of it. From the beginning of the 1940s the worldwide political climate was shifting heavily in what appeared to be negative ways. From the outbreak of the Second World War on the 4th September 1939 (with fighting not really starting for several months, leading to a period known as the ‘Phoney War’) events spiralled continuously, it seemed, out of control. With the establishment of both Nazi Germany and Communist Russia both in the early part of the 20th century, Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is both a warning against and a parody of these methods of thinking.…

    • 1206 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Clarity and simplicity, the only two factors that keep it real; at least the only two factors that help the readers understand the truth. Politics is always a tough thing to talk about, to follow, to express and even to educate yourself about. In the essay written by George Orwell “ Politics and the English Language” he deliberately expresses that writing of today isn’t the same writing of yesterday. In other words, George Orwell expresses his thoughts; today we have developed habits both bad and good, which can challenge truth behind the text and can manipulate the reader’s understanding.…

    • 505 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    George Orwell's Writing

    • 119 Words
    • 1 Page

    Orwell suggests many things to help get people prevent themselves from ending up like the people in 1984. In his Politics and the English Language, he often mentions to be aware of what you writing and not to take shortcuts. Writers, by thinking about what they write and making sure that they’re understandable; helps to eliminate other influences trying to invade their mind. Everyone should follow these rules, because writing mirrors thought and if one is filled with meaningless garbage so is the other. Luckily working to fix one will help the other, so improving one’s writing also helps them to reclaim their mind. A few other things that Orwell suggests is to be able to connect with what…

    • 119 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Over the past few years, the English language is seemingly getting worse as each year passes by. Through George Orwell’s essay, Politics and the English Language Orwell gives us insight to the ongoing problem in the English language, although the essay was published in 1946, it is still an evident problem today. Additionally, Orwell talks about how the English language can become “ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts” (Paragraph 2). Over time, the English language has overall, not improved, Orwell points out in his essay that writers use meaningless words to evoke meaning into their pieces of writing, political writing now “consist largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer…

    • 519 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics