Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Orwell and school
In Orwell's essay he has taught me to do what every previous teacher has taught me to do. They called it simple-mindedness, but he calls it using the english language the way it should be used. I've always agree to this and this is probably why I liked the AP History Essays, because you only gave what was needed, and didn't use big words. Using the longest words has always been respected and even competed to get, but Orwell says to use the easiest and most direct words we can. I especially liked when he explained how the government uses long words to disguise gruesome events like the A-bombing. But I'm not sure if it is to disguise the event or to be politically correct or if they are the same thing. The hard part for me to understand is the use of Latin root words, and how can you know what they are. I was also confused when he said he used techniques he said not to use. Could somebody point out some examples for me please.
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In modern day political speech, especially in times of war, we hear pundits and talking heads use phrases such as "collateral damages" to mean, "oops, we accidentally bombed something we didn't mean to bomb." It's not just political correctness; it's a way to make an ugly truth sound like the cost of doing business.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the Latin/Anglo Saxon roots...this is not my area of expertise. We need a linguist on staff, like Phinizy. Occasionally, I will see an good example and immediately know the difference, but nothing is springing to mind, Joseph. When an example presents itself, I will point it out.
Finally, could you quote the line where Orwell says he uses techniques he warns against in his essay?
The English language is full of beautiful, subtle words, and Orwell is not saying we should write and speak like a bevy of third graders. In a language as strong and powerful as English, we use the words we must to express nuance and shades of meaning. What we must avoid is hiding behind big words and using inflated language in an attempt to sound smart or sophisticated. Poor writers famously use words incorrectly, perhaps working with a thesaurus beside them, thinking that the big word will be better, when in fact there is a connotative meaning that makes the usage wrong, even funny. "Purple prose" refers to those writers who just trot out every adjective and adverb they can find in an attempt to sound deep and beautiful. The effect is the opposite; instead, the writer just sounds foolish.
I do appreciate a terse style, but as you will see, this does not mean "simplified" or "dumbed down," or that the human voice or a particular point of view is absent.
"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." I might be misinterpreting it, but it is about the 14th paragraph down, (not including quotes.) I also see what you are saying when you talk about how teachers have taught to use better, not bigger words, and I agree, especially with vocabulary sentances, but, especially in grade school, we were pushed to use bigger and bigger words. Also I have no idea how to distinguish from a Latin/Anglo-Saxon word, so thank you in advance for pointing them out.
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