Response To Harold Evans Defends The English Language

In the article “Should English Be the Law?” the author Robert D. King tell us about several civilizations that were influenced by all different types of language. The point is there are countries out there that don’t want a singular language. Some countries such as India in their constitution nineteen different languages are recognized. But then other countries like America a bill was passed in 1996 making English the national language. Truth is every country is different some want a national language and some don’t I feel no one should be forced. The government should just do as the people request.

1. In the opening paragraph, Baldwin establishes his ethos by connecting himself to his audience as a fellow citizen and fellow American, someone who loves his country and wants it to be whole and healthy. Though he identifies the chief fear of his audience as the fear of Communist, he proposes that the ore fearful aspect of American society of the early 1960s is the “bad faith and cruelty” of generations. Baldwin builds credibility with his audience by recognizing teachers as powerful people who “deal with the minds and hearts of young people.” His audience senses that he as a deep respect for what teachers do each day. He

George Orwell, in an essay from Shooting an Elephant and Other Essays titled “Politics and the English Language” (1950), argues that the English language, through a cyclical process of sloven language and foolish thought, has become “ugly and inaccurate.” He supports his argument by using expert opinion, metaphors, and historical context. Orwell’s purpose is to demonstrate the debasement of the English language in order to prompt writers to make a conscious change in their writing . He adopts an informal tone (“Look back throughout this essay, and for certain you will find that I have again and again committed the very faults I am protesting against”) for writers in a time of political turnover and rising superpowers.

Professor of English and linguistics at the University of Illinois of Urbana-Champaign and published writer, Denis Baron proposes in his essay, “Don’t Make English Official - Ban It Instead,” to not allow the English language to be spoken in the United States of America. His idea sprung from Congress considering passing a law to make English the official language of the United States. Baron’s purpose for writing the article was to put forth his opinion about the debate on if English should become the official language. He adopts a caustic tone while giving all perspectives and examples in order to expose the absurd arguments of others to his wide range audience.

The English language is particularly complex in almost all aspects. Many of the words in the English language have different meanings for the same word. This is not unlike the definition of the different levels of usage. McCrimmon defines the three levels, formal, moderate, and colloquial, by their sentence structure, diction, and tone (McCrimmon 193). ¹ Using McCrimmon’s definitions, authors can determine what type of writing is applicable to each of the three levels. For the formal writings, an adequate example of where readers can find it is in a professional journal, and an appropriate place to find an example of the moderate level is in a weekly news magazine. Also, the best place to look for an example of the colloquial level is in certain sections of the newspaper. All of the levels of usage apply to these different types of writings and assist in defining what each level involves.

George Orwell’s essay, Politics and the English Language, first published in 1946, talks about some “bad habits”, which have driven the English language in the wrong direction, that is, away from communicating ideas. In his essay he quotes five passages, each from a different author, which embody the faults he is talking about. He lists dying metaphors, operators, pretentious diction, and meaningless words as things to look out for in your own writing and the writing of others (593-595). He talks about political uses of the English language. Our language has become ugly and the ugliness impedes upon communication. Ugly uses of language have been reinforced and passed down in the population “even among people who should and do know

In the book excerpt by Firoozeh Dumas, “The F-Word”, Dumas uses several techniques to hook her readers and keep their interest in her piece. It was her style, however, that did most of the work. Dumas' article has a very strong single argument that she works toward throughout her entire piece. She claims that the English language could do with a bit more “spice”, as she calls it (Dumas). Though this argument is only listed only twice in the excerpt, it is the underlying foundation of every humorous story as well as every painful moment. Throughout the excerpt, Dumas has paired together the use of her style with how she builds ethos in the reader's eyes. This creates a very good way to convey the argument, however it still lacks certain strengths. Had she written in a slightly more formal tone and included more evidence, she could have kept her humor and continued to build on her ethos by appealing to a more professional group. The use of an easy going conversational style in Dumas' excerpt helps to portray her claim in a way that most readers will be able to identify with, however, the style does not work well in appealing to a professional setting due to the lack of empirical evidence.

“There is more pleasure to building castles in the air than on the ground.” This quote by Edward Gibbon illustrates the intensity of writing and what gratification it can hold. When one writes, they are not confined to one certain formula. A person is able to express their thoughts and feelings in any way they choose. Language is a border for many people in that some cannot comprehend a certain language, understand how to use it, or recognize what is being said to them. On the other side of the border, they are not viewed as equals or as important compared to those who are not competing with this barrier. In his essay “Coming into Language,” Jimmy Santiago Baca uses his personal experiences to demonstrate how much

The written communication form has changed and developed over a long stretch of time. Man has always been in the business of changing things no matter how good it might be working just to see if they can make it better not only for themselves but for the whole world. In an essay by Christine Rosen titled “In the Beginning Was the Word”, she states “The book, like the wheel , is merely a technology, these enthusiasts argue, and thus we should welcome improvements to it, even if those improvements eventually lead to the book’s obsolescence (205). Like the wheel the book is open to changes until the end of time. There is no limit on how many times or how many ways that it can be changed because with man’s imagination there is no restriction on what he can do with anything in this

“Does Texting Affect Writing” is about Michaela Cullington, the author, comparing two opposing perspectives. The perspective is whether texting hinders the formal writing skills of students or not. Millennials are a population that cannot go a day without looking at their phones so, due to the “increasing use of mobile phones, concerns have been raised about its influence on their literacy skills. No matter if it is sending or receiving a text or checking social media sites, technology has taken over the lives of the young generations. The essay “Does Texting Affect Writing?” in They Say, I say exposes how the significant action of texting and using textspeak, i.e. abbreviations and symbols, may be hindering the writing skills of teenaged students. People communicate using textese to “more quickly type what they are trying to say” (Cullington, 2017, p. 361). Textese is a “register that allows omission of words and the use or textisms: instances of non-standard written language such as 4ever” (Van Dijk, 2016). When these people use textese often, it can become habitual and transition into their school assignments. Michaela Cullington constantly repeats words and uses comparisons and abnormalities for the concerns about textspeak, the responses to the concerns, methods and the discussion of findings on the topic to be analyzed.

The English language has evolved substantially since its beginning. It has evolved from sign language, to Shakespearean, to modern English we speak today. This evolution has also created a standard of writing, known as the SWE or standard written language. David Foster Wallace’s essay “Authority and American Usage”, addresses the function and importance of a writing class. Wallace finds many of these classes to be troublesome due to the lack of correct usage of standard written language. Most of Wallace’s points and opinions come from his own experiences with his writing class and his experience as a writer. I find that replicating and correctly implementing a style and format of writing that is acceptable to Wallace to

Using the English language effectively can be difficult at times. You must consider many factors: who your audience is, what kind of tone you wish to convey, the message you are attempting to get across, and any kind of lasting effect wished upon a reader’s mind. After reading through two essays, Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language” and Brockenbrough’s “Does IM Make U Dum?” each reveals different mindsets about the advancement and usage of the English language. On one hand, Orwell seems to advocate the simplification of speech and writing. Rather than seemingly sagacious phrases, useless terms, and

Has our “text,” language ruined our actual language? The author of 2b or not 2b is written by David Crystal. Throughout his article Crystal argues about the benefits of texting and how texting is not a new thing. David Crystal uses two rhetorical strategies to prove his argument, one being humor to compare two types of poems that were sent through text message, the other using analogy to compare schooling, and texting, and the last his using analogy to compare abbreviations that are used today, were used in history.

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.

Language is important because it's one of the main ways to communicate and interact with other people around us. It keeps us in contact with other people. English language is an example for the importance of a language because it is the international language and has become the most important language to people in many parts of the world. It is most widely used in communicating around the world, Also it is spoken as the first language in many countries. English is playing a major role in many sections like education, medicine, engineering and business. There are many reasons that makes English is the most important language in the world.