George Orwell Politics and the English Language
By Hervé St-Louis
March 16, 2013 - 23:12
However, Orwell’s mock example of how modern writers would rewrite a passage from Ecclesiastes does not convince. The metaphors expressed in the original are not easily understood by lay persons and the jargon-filled stale version Orwell decries may offer more understanding to current readers than the one the British writer praises.
Orwell’s prescriptions continue with a list of rules he encourages readers to break. He admits that his writing is filled with the same vague metaphors he denounces. Failing to share examples of great classical English writing, Orwell blames unknown political and economic causes for the decline of written English.
Bibliography
Orwell, G. (n.d.). Politics and the English Language. Retrieved March 16, 2013, from George Orwell: http://www.george-orwell.org/Politics_and_the_English_Language/0.html
Editor's notes: this article was written to help students for a course on the Rhetoric of Communication taught at the University of Toronto in Mississauga where I am an assistant instructor. If you are an instructor and notice that one of your own students has plagiarized this article, this is the original source of the article. No authorizations has been given to quote or use this article in any way.
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George Orwell Politics and the English Language