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George Orwell 's Politics And The English Language

Decent Essays

Novelist, essayist, and journalist, George Orwell, in his essay, “Politics and the English Language”, argues that the language we use effects politics and government. Orwell’s purpose is to convey the idea that people must avoid bad habits in written English, especially writing in politics, because people lack thinking their words through, and how political writers mislead people with the decline in the value of the English language. The author creates a serious and dictator tone in order to persuade his audience that he is in charge of his writing and what he is saying is right.
In the first two paragraphs of his essay, Orwell introduces his purpose by pointing out the causes in the deterioration of the English language and asserting that bad habits can be avoided. In paragraph two, Orwell writes, “A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more completely because he drinks” (par. 2). The author uses an analogy to show that many writers may use bad techniques in writing when they feel not sure how to write; however, those techniques do not save the writing, but even worse than ever. Moreover, Orwell claims that “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, and to think clearly is a necessary first step towards political regeneration, so that the fight

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