Essay about The Power of Words

Power is gained in many ways throughout the text. Text I has been written, primarily, to persuade an audience to share their (bwag) views on the new Sainsburys being built in their “medieval heritage” town of Bishops Waltham, therefore it is aimed at residents of the town who are old enough to write a valid letter of complaint – age 18-70. Firstly, imperatives are used to be assertive right from the beginning of the text. The word “write” in “write a letter today” immediately sets a forward and confident tone to the text, making the matter seem important. As Bishops Waltham is a town without a superstore, this suggests it is small. This also suggests that the bwag group is also small therefore may not be well known to

Language plays a significant role in defining who we are. It is a method of communication in a structured and conventional way. “Language reinforces feelings of social superiority or inferiority; it creates insiders and outsiders” (p. 242) states Robert MacNeil (2012) in his article “English Belongs to Everybody”.

The short story “Two Words” by Isabel Allende is a tale about a girl who went by the name of Belisa Crepusculario. She had extreme desire to be the best at selling words, since the first time she saw words in the sports section of the newspaper. Belisa learned to read from a priest for 20 pesos and read the dictionary until she knew it cold. She went from the top of blistering cold mountains to scorching hot coasts selling her words in markets and fairs. Belisa’s words became popular fast and everyone knew who she was. People waited for her from year to year to hear her words.

Communication embodies the ability for one to convey a message through the use of verbals (words) and non-verbals (behaviours) in a process to compare, transmit and interpret messages. Garside and Kleiner (2007) portrays communication as sharing thoughts and feelings with other people. For this process to be effective the message should be transmitted with "maximum accuracy and minimum effort" (Garside and Kleiner 2007) with "mindfulness" (Burgoon, Bieger and Waldron 2002) from both parties. Mindfulness requires the sender and receiver to be alert to "the content, situation and sequence of verbal messages, as well as the paralinguistic cues, gestures, facial expression, body movements and cues produced by the physical environment that

Words have the power to change the lives of millions, people who take a stand speak for others and fight for what they want. Words have the power to provoke action, calm negative emotions and can inspire change as the following passages will elaborate that words have the power to change people. Events that go into history start with powerful speeches that persuade listeners to fight with them.

Blaise Pascal once said: “Kind words do not cost much. Yet they accomplish much”. The same could be said for harmful words. One word could change someone's entire day, whether that be kind or harmful is all up to the speaker. Words can hurt and they can repair, but they can never be forgotten. Words are powerful and can be used numerous different ways. Words can dictate how we are perceived, they can be used to persuade, they can be used to evoke emotion, logical sense and credibility as well as how a person’s daily life plays out.

Language is an incredibly powerful tool for communication and the words we use control the

Words are all around us. Words define the way we describe the way we articulate, one such example being this very paper, the way we interact with others, and most importantly, the way we feel or think. Adjectives: the words that give our world emotional meaning beyond the literal definition; that is connotation. Connotation is most evident in words to which we associate our most extreme emotions. Whether it is witnessing the greatest of fireworks, an elaborate collection of lights and sounds, or seeing truckfuls of babies being dumped into a blistering hot fire, the word we would use to describe these two events, fire, will forever be emotionally seen differently by whomever witnesses it. A word can develop in meaning, once meaning one thing to then mean something completely different. In fact, In Elie Wiesel’s “Night”, Elie’s definition of the word ‘fire’ changes from that of a danger to one’s self to that of destruction and revenge.

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)

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”.

Audience. Just one word yet it stirs frighteningly confusing images of perplexing thoughts in my mind. The word alone is strange, but when put in context of an essay it leaves me baffled and frustrated[d1] . The questions; “What is Audience?” “Why do I need it?” and, “What purpose does it serve?” are important to my finally some day understanding the concept of Audience, but at this point I can’t answer them fully[d2] . I can grasp the understanding of all the other aspects of writing an essay, although I may not incorporate them well in my paper at least I see why they are important. Audience, to me, is not so easy to understand.

We use words every day of our life, yet we don’t seem to realize how much power or influence they can really have on us. In the book thief, Markus Zusak uses words to create a sense of comfort and sanity in a time of chaos and war. Words are used to strongly influence people and their decisions. When Liesel learned to read she was more intelligent and had more power to influence; “once words had rendered Liesel useless, but now, when she sat on the floor, with the mayor's wife at her husband’s desk, she felt an innate sense of power” (Zusak 147). In Nazi Germany, Hitler uses words to control the people. This is one way words can be used to hurt people. Liesel and Max both come from broken homes and can’t read. When they learn to read they have power. Liesel didn’t

Many argue that throughout Aenied, Virgil develops Aeneas to be a boring and unheroic character; always acting as he should with apparently no power to act in any other way. Occasionally sidetracked, Aeneas is prodded and redirected by the gods toward his destiny. Aeneas’ mother, Venus, constantly interjects to lead Aeneas toward his fate. It is she who leads him away from the fallen city of Troy “ I had twice-ten ships, and my goddess-mother showed me the way.”(I, 541-542) Mercury also sets Aeneas straight from his deviating course by telling him to leave his love Dido “What are you pondering or hoping for while squandering your ease in Libyan lands.” (IV, 362-363) Mercury criticizes Aeneas for ignoring the importance of

In Bryce Courtenay’s The Power of One, the main character, Peekay the majority of his friends by means of a violent and unexpected death. “Death was violent and ugly like Grandpa Chook and Geel Piet, or even a macambre like Big Hettie. Death, as I had come to know it in Africa, had no gentle slipping awayness about it, no dignity.” Depending on your faith, death can bring about new life, or an end to everything. If you choose to believe the latter, as it can be assumed that Peekay did, these powerful things called loneliness birds hatch their stone eggs inside of you. “…laid stone eggs deep inside of you until you filled up with heaviness and despair. “

From my readings to research from Edutopia to literature courses, I have gained a deeper appreciation for language. In order to understand what one is speaking, a person needs to spend time listening to one’s language and before responding must reflect and analyze what the other said and how to respond. If a person wants to love another person they have to listen to their language in order to speak their language, and the core part of learning another language is by listening. According to Joan Blaska, author of The Power of Language: Speak and Write Using “Person First” the language people use shows one’s bias and prejudices.  Beliefs and another’s performance fall under the influence of language. Blaska claimed “ the degree to which children are able to perceive themselves as competent and worthy, or the opposite, is heavily influenced by the verbalizations used by their teachers...Studies have found that labeling of students does affect teacher expectations which in turn affects student progress”. People have heavy influence with their words, because of this, our language must be intentional in a way, that breaks down negative stereotypes and helps one gain empathy as well as seeing others capabilities. Communicating and reading others comments and inquiring others has helped me to accept