Topic : Language and Power
Language Of War
Pikey English
Racial Profiling
The great game of Power
The Language of Migration
The power of naming
Understanding Modality
What’s in a name?
ladies and gentlemen , Today i will be talking about Language and Power. In our studies of language in a cultural context, we can explore the culture of war. Just as every industry has its jargon, every region has its accent and every social group has its slang, so too does war have its unique use of language. We are talking about the kind of language that is used to manipulate people and make them believe in a cause that may not even affect them. We are talking about the kind of language that political leaders use in private telephone conversations. We are
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The texts are all very different in nature because they target different audiences. Comparing and contrasting the different texts will help us understand how audience and purpose affect the structure and content of texts
There is a story. George Orwell, the famous writer, shot an elephant whilst serving in the Indian Imperial Police in Burma. This event forms the basis for Orwell 's essay 'Shooting an Elephant '. Not everyone, however, believes or agrees that, in fact, Orwell really shot an elephant. Amongst the doubters is one of Orwell 's biographers, Bernard Crick. In a meeting in a London restaurant with Orwell 's widow, Sonia Brownell, Crick raised his doubts. In an unequivocal response, strong in profanity, Brownell argued that Orwell had indeed shot the elephant.
Both Crick and Brownell were both interested in truth; that is, what actually happened. Brownell did not doubt her husband. In language, the way we express our views, whether we are very certain, or somewhat less certain, is frequently shown through modality. Modality, and understanding how modality works, is important for Language and Literature students. It is through modality, no least, that writers and speakers express authority, and endeavour to exert power over readers and
The first book that I chose to read for my summer assignment was Water for Elephants by Sarah Gruen. This book was very enjoyable and I’m glad that I picked it! This book opens up in first person point of view of Jacob Jankowski, an old man in a nursing home. In a few days the circus will be coming to town and Jacob is excited because he was in the circus at a young age. This book exists in two settings, one in the nursing home of ninety year old Mr. Jankowski, and the other flashback to sometime in the late 1920s early 1930s where young Mr. Jankowski is in the beginning of the great depression and prohibition.
It’s easy to pick on someone by their action or appearance, but what about when you’re the victim? In the essay the two victims here are both Orwell and the elephant.
Zachary Conners SUNY – Eng. 12 Mrs. O’Malley December 15, 2014 “Shooting an Elephant” is a persuasive rhetorical piece written by George Orwell used to describe Orwell’s feelings about imperialism. Orwell uses pathos, logos, and ethos to convey his feelings towards imperialism and how destructive it can be. Born 1903, George Orwell, novelist, essayist, and critic, was best known for his novels Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty- Four. Son of a British servant, Orwell spent most of his days in India, where his father had been stationed.
Even though Orwell did commit the crime of shooting an elephant, throughout the story he used ethos, pathos, and figurative language to convince the audience if given the opportunity he would never shoot an elephant again because the elephant represents the innocence of people. First and foremost, Orwell establishes his ethos. As stated in Everything’s an Argument, ethos is described as the author's credibility. He establishes his ethos right from the beginning of the story when he states he works for the British but he despises them.
Rhetorical Analysis: “Shooting an Elephant” Contrary to popular belief, the oppressors of imperialism lack freedom. Imperialists are usually powerful and maintain control over the native people of the land they are taking over. It is expected for someone with great power to have choices and freedoms, however, that is not necessarily the case. Sometimes power can limit or restrict the choices one makes.
The purpose of “Shooting an Elephant” was to show that sometimes people do things they know aren’t the right decision just to impress everyone else. The officer felt that,“It seemed to me that it would be murder to shoot him” (Orwell 4). As he shot the elephant he
This narrative piece is an effective expository technique that describes the narrator’s thoughts and tone. Orwell uses oxymoron such as “grinning corpse” and paradox phrases such as “the story always sounds clear enough at a distance, but the nearer you get to the scene of events the vaguer it becomes”. Another paradox statement is shown in “I perceived this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys”. Orwell’s decisions were briskly altered as he was deciding on whether to kill the elephant or not. His mind altered from “I ought not to shoot him” to “I had got to do it” and also to “But I did not want to shoot the elephant”.
Hannah Edmiston Boudreau AP Language Friday 25 September, 2015 Shooting an Elephant Analyzing Rhetorical Devices Shooting an Elephant, written by George Orwell in 1936, describes his experience working as a British officer located in Moulmein, Burma. He writes his essay to reveal the cruelty and disastrous outcome of imperialism he witnesses. Orwell uses strong resource of language such as symbolism, metaphors and imagery to express his disdain for British imperialism. Orwell uses symbolism to connect the character of the elephant to the effects of imperialism.
Would you have ever thought that elephants are much smarter than what they are believed to be? Well, they definitely are because shown in recent experiments, and as shown in the different selections, elephants have had better results than other competing animals. In the video, “Elephants Show Cooperation”, by Discovery Channel the article, “Elephants Can Lend A Helping Trunk,” by Virginia Morell and the passage, “Elephants Know When They Need A Helping Trunk In A Cooperative Task,” by Joshua M. Plotnik. All three pieces of information give the reader an overview about the experiment, while conveying information to the reader in their own unique way.
The Social Contract, by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Animal Farm by George Orwell, has changed the way I look upon the world and more specifically our government. In The Social Contract, Rousseau discusses the contract between citizens within one’s country. Animal Farm is a satirical allegory of Russia’s Communist Revolution, and the dangers and ineffectiveness of communism. Both these books make me think about the power of language. And how it can be interpreted based off experiences.
In George Orwell 's short story titled “Shooting an Elephant” presented an event that changed a countries civilization. George’s life in Burma, and the prejudice placed by the people he oppressed inspired his writing through the uses of setting, style, and theme. In George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” Orwell no specific event influenced this piece rather it was an accumulation of many small events of prejudice and hate by an opposing group of
Both authors show that power can be obtained in many different ways and can be used to corrupt or build up others, depending on how we use our power. Language is power. Without language, a person might not gain power. By the use of language, we can influence, direct, oppress, and manipulate others. Animal Farm discusses on how power is obtained through language and its correlation with education, class structure, and human nature.
In his essay, “Shooting an Elephant” George Orwell describes his experience of killing an elephants when he was an officer in Burma. He explains how the local Burmese hated him and saw him as the authority of the repressive white British. He mentions that he also had the same feeling about the local Burmese. Even though he hated the Thyestean imperialism but he also hated what he called the yellow-faced and evil-spirted Burmese people. One day, he was told that an elephant was destroying the bazaar and killing people.
Orwell also uses a simile to show just how awful the man’s body condition was. The author compares how cleanly stripped the man’s skin was from his body to the hide skinned off of a rabbit. This again just shows how savagely the man was killed. However, now that the elephant has killed a man, the elephant must be put down. This duty lies upon the sub-divisional police officer.
Language is a direct indicator of power; those who are adept in controlling the language are able to exploit the ignorance of those under them and thus assert their dominance. As demonstrated throughout