Power Of Language

Language has the power to inform and persuade.A story and a passage may give you the power to do something effective. Language is a strong weapon that is used for and against many people. The article , ”Walking with Living feet,” is a strong brief example of an informative writing .A speech can also be an effective tool used to push people to make a difference at times,for example Elie Wiesel’s speech.

She chooses to use a more formal diction to relate to the serious topic of the essay and chooses words such as terrors, facelessness, torture, and atrocities to describe the treacherous effects of downgrading human beings to mere “enemies.” Lakoff uses mainly cumulative sentences to further elaborate and explain her point. One example is, “The language of war is intended to bring about that change, and not only for soldiers in the field.” Her formal diction and cumulative sentences contribute to her overall serious tone and

Scholar, Gloria Anzaldúa, in her narrative essay, “How To Tame A Wild Tongue’, speaks her many experiences on being pressured on what language to use. She then expresses how the discrimination made her to realize the ugly truth--that people reject languages that aren’t their own. She adopts logos, ethos and pathos in order to appeal toward her audience who is anyone who is not bilingual. One of the perspectives she takes on in her piece clearly expresses the relationship between language and identity and how it creates a conflict between her and the world.

Humans act toward people, things, and events on the basis of the meanings they assign to them. Once people define a situation as real, it has very real consequences. Without language there would be no thought, no sense of self, and no socializing presence of society within the individual. (Socio-cultural tradition)

Language is powerful and can be used to control instead of uplift. An example of language being used to

Language is the inevitable medium which people use as a means of communication. However, how that person uses the language that they have varies. Some view language as a persuasive political instrument and others view it as a means of expression and empowerment. In the essay “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?” by James Baldwin, he was able to illustrate the history of the discrimination of language and how Black English is not accepted as its own language. Baldwin also shows that due to the lack of acknowledgement of Black English, it lacks the power it needs to empower the people who speak it. In the essay “Politics and the English Language” by George Orwell, he was able to break down language and explain how language shapes reality. Orwell states that the he is not considering the literary use of language, but language is an instrument of expression and the promotion of cognitive deliberation and persuasion. Furthermore, both these authors agree that language is a political instrument, however, Baldwin uses this instrument to unite people and Orwell uses the instrument to persuade people.

In the words of George Orwell, “If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.” Language has been spoken for over 350,000 years. It has expanded tremendously, but its power has never changed. The use of language shapes peoples' perceptions and the depth of interactions because it can demean, avoid, portray emphasis, persuade, and conceal from simple phrases such as “I feel like” and “just”.

The power words are limitless. It does not matter in what language one speaks; persuasion is the key to manipulated people for good or bad. “Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill.” Words are a weapon, and when one uses words carefully to persuade people, it can lead to chaos. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Shakespeare portrays a universal theme in which friends and enemies turn to against each other, and a war stimulates out of lies and ambition for power. The usage of old and wise words to manipulated people lead to great revelry.

What is the meaning of language? How big the role of language in your life? Have you ever realize the impact of language in your life? In my opinion, language is not as simple as people seen in general. Usually the way people see language just as a tool for communicating with others. For me, behind the general usage of language, it also has a big role in our life because a language has the power to stand and show each person’s identity. Inside the Gloria Anzaldua’s essay “How To Tame A Wild Tongue” and Amy Tan’s essay “Mother Tongue” claim that language is an identity. Because they show that language which they commonly use to communicate since the day they were born, showing who are they really are. Language as identity is very arguing phrases, it can be approach from a different perspective. This thing is exactly what are both of these essays are trying to do by approaching differently and using a different tone. Their life and experience give an impact to the way they interpret that language is an identity, and it also seen in each of their essays.

Language can cause harm to an individual without even meaning to if you say something that does not relate to that individual. We shape our thoughts and perceptions with language because it helps us criticize people by what they say and how they do things. She mentions a study that asked people if the car that was “smashed” or the car that was “bumped” was going faster. People answered that the car that was “smashed” was going faster. This gives us an idea that this has more power since people perceive it in a different way than a car being

One of the most important themes in this novel is power. The society of Gilead restructures the meaning of words to establish power. Gilead’s new vocabulary reinforces a totalitarian regime by using language to regulate the words and ideas that people can express, similar to linguistic determinism. In Eleanor Rosch’s (1974) article of Linguistic relativity, she identified both a strong and weak version of the linguistic relativity hypotheses, a degree in which language is presumed to influence our thought and behavior. The weak hypothesis is linguistic relativity, where linguistic categories and usage only influence thought and decisions. (Rosch, 1974). However, the Gilead’s use of language reflects that more of the strong hypothesis.

Language is the inevitable medium that people use as a means of communication. However, how that person uses the language that they have varies from person to person. Some view language as a persuasive political instrument and others view it as a means of expression and empowerment. In the essay “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?” by James Baldwin, he was able to illustrate the history of the discrimination of language and how black English is not accepted as its own language. Baldwin also shows that due to the lack of acknowledgement of black English, it lacks the power it needs to empower the people who speak it. In the essay “Politics and the English Language” by George Orwell, he was able to break down language and explain how language shapes reality. Orwell expresses that he is not considering the literary use of language, but language is an instrument of expression and the promotion of cognitive deliberation and persuasion. Furthermore, both these authors agree that language is a political instrument, however, Baldwin uses this instrument to unite people and Orwell uses the instrument to persuade people.

This article, written by Bourdieu focuses on language and symbolic power. In the beginning Bourdieu talks about a concept he calls linguistic exchange, this refers to a transfer of language between two people, one who holds capital or assets and another who consumes the capital (knowledge) given by the speaker. For Bourdieu language is extremely symbolic and to go along with this symbolism are certain rules that people naturally understand and follow. It comes from the belief that language can be a form of power, those with power (capital) in a given situation are perceived as an authority over another because of the capital they hold. The article goes on to discuss what Bourdieu calls symbolic capital, that is the acknowledgment placed upon the speaker that grants them a recognized form of power over others.

Language is a system of communication which consists of a set of sounds and written symbols which are used by the people of a particular country or region for talking or writing. It is considered as an art because when used it able to help a person develop or create a certain picture in the mind. Language being an artifact of culture means that it is an interesting thing that is created by the people. It is an aspect of their way of life of the people. It also helps in development of the people as writers and intellects. As a culture it is a people’s way of life and therefore the impact it has to human beings cannot be under looked.

Language is the most preferred method of communication in our life. It is the tool we use not only to empower ourselves but also to direct our energy. Language has immense power and its impact depends on how we use it. Writers, who know that language has such power, use it to express their ideas and thoughts, whatever be their genre. The novels and other works of writer Imayam exemplify the power and effect language could have on the readers as it has become the medium of his expression.