James Baldwin's 'If Black English Isn' T A Language

As George Orwell wrote in his essay “Politics and the English Language,” “One ought to recognize that the present political chaos is connected with the decay of language.” In his essay, Orwell stresses the corruption of language, especially when used in politics, and urges readers to be aware of the ways politicians manipulate language and rhetoric in order to brainwash voters into allocating their support. The misuse of language is evident in the battle between presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton who, in the presidential debates, have demonstrated the political manipulation of language George Orwell exposes in his essay.

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.

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

Authors often use literary devices and writing techniques in their works. During the past block, we studied texts that exemplify the power of discourse. Each text uses the literary device and writing technique of labels. Authors utilize labels to influence their readers’ understanding and to construct reality. Jaswinder Bolina and George Orwell adopt the technique of labels in their stories “Writing like a White Guy,” and “Politics and the English Language”, respectively. Both authors incorporate and discuss this device and its roles in literature and a reader’s perception. Bolina, in his piece, addresses how often times the writing style of an author is wrongly associated with the race of the author, as readers associate incorrect labels about him and his writing. He elaborates on how language, race, and poetry relate to each other in regards to an author and his writing style. Bolina is an English writer who moved to the United States in 2002. A major influence for Bolina was his father. His father originally immigrated to the United Kingdom from India in 1965, more specifically Bolina Doaba, Punjab. His dream was to become a writer and a poet; however, his father warned him that he would not be welcomed into the literary world with the name that he has. On the other hand, Orwell argues that writers take advantage of their audiences and use writing styles to deceive and sway opinions. Orwell highlights the ability of language to impact politics and political beliefs to be

In the civilized society that everyone lives in today, all languages and culture should be equal. That is the main idea in both Gloria Anzaldua’s essay, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, as well as James Baldwin’s “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?”. The authors in both these texts support their argument in various ways, and in doing so, manages to effectively persuade their audience. The ways that each author approaches their argument is different in their appeals, evidence, and styles. Similarities also exist between the texts of the two authors. The rhetorical strategies that Anzaldua uses makes her argument much stronger than Baldwin’s argument.

James Baldwin author of “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?” believed that though “white Americans” were adopting bits and pieces of Black English and using it as their own, they would never be able to understand the true meaning behind the language. Baldwin argues that Black English is a Languages and not just a dialect or form of slang, and he believes that because Black English was used as a way for slaves to evolve into their own culture. Baldwin has a very powerful section in his piece that talks about how even if white Americans attempted to look inside themselves and challenge their inner-bias, motives, actions, and character they wouldn’t be able to handle what they were seeing. ““He cannot afford to understand it. This understanding would reveal to him too much about himself, and smash that mirror before which he has been frozen for so long”(264). Baldwin believed that the white Americans will never be able to understand Black English because they will never be able to look inside themselves and challenge their opinions long enough to realize that the problem lies with. James Baldwin also brings up how the lack of Self-Reflection among the adults back then wasn't going to help future generations prosper and build a mutual understanding for each others cultures. “The brutal

I believe James Baldwin ideas about the importance of language as a “key to identity” and to social acceptance is somewhat understandable on the account that when he explains that “language is a political instrument” he is correct. Many use their voice as a statement, a question. When you first meet someone, their first words to you, the vocabulary they use, their accent, everything you hear and perceive from them in that moment determines to you who that person already is, what their life must me be like, etc. Although James Baldwin makes valid points in the way society perceives people based on their speech, people still believe that the opposite is true, and that society tries to not make assumptions about people’s character. Such as when Baldwin claims that when you open your mouth you have confessed “your parents, your youth, your school, your salary, your self-esteem, and, alas, your future.”

Politics in today's day and age is slippery and redundant. Terms like "fake news" and "alternative facts" have been used to describe the manipulation of language. George Orwell's essay "Politics and the English Language" analyzes many examples of literature and explains why they are bad, why they are influential, and how easily language can be manipulated. Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" touches on the interaction between the ignorant and the wise. Referring to Orwell and Plato's writings, this essay will analyze the current political state. Language is being used in a negative connotation which is frequently occurring in today's politics.

In the article, If Black English isn’t a language, then tell me, what is, James Baldwin talks about the use of language. He breaks down the use of language to serve two audiences. He emphasizes that, “language evolves to describe or control a circumstance” (Baldwin, 1979). There may be a common language, but how people dictate the vocabulary is what makes it distinctive between communities. Black English serves the same purpose as any other language. It supports, evolves, and protect community or culture it serves. Baldwin also hints that without the funkiness of African Americans, the American culture wouldn’t be as powerful as it is. It is important that we understand that Black English helped shape the English language and has affected our

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

James Baldwin, in his essay, "If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me What Is?", wants to send and confirm to everybody that: Black English is a legitimate language. Several things he expressed in his essay demonstrated that is true and Black English need to be more accredited than it is. Firstly, this is the language stepped on from Black's slavery in the past many years ago, they came from many trials and that time, they met together, they were disposed and they underwent some racism. Thus, they form a language to connect each other, this language has rules, it can convey similar things with the others different language in the world. Secondly, the language of White American now would have gone on different way, if there was not

1.Throughout the essay, Orwell talks about many of the problems in English language and how they all contribute to its downfall. One reason for its decline is the use of dying metaphors. A dying metaphor is one that has no impact on the reader, it has no meaning, and doesn’t enhance the readers experience. Another reason is the use of verbal false limbs and pretentious diction, which are used to make single words or short phrases into unnecessarily long and complex phrases in an attempt to sound smarter or more sophisticated. They also use words that are from Greek and Latin language. By bringing in another language into our own, we begin to break away from our origin of the English language. Next, meaningless words are also a problem

Most dystopian novels contain themes of corruption and oppression, therefore in both ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ and ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ language is obviously used as a form of the states control, enabling dystopian leaders to remain in power by manipulating language to restrict free thought. Orwell and Atwood have utilized language as a key tool of oppression throughout their novels. The use of language is mostly repressive, language can also be seen as liberating, and used as an act of rebellion, which the state wishes to eliminate.

George Orwell, the writer of many highly regarded literary works, is extremely interested in the power of language, mainly how it is abused. By analyzing two of his works, 1984 and Politics and The English Language, it is clear that Orwell is using his writing to bring awareness to the dangers of the manipulation, misuse, and decline of language. In 1984 he demonstrates how language can be used to control thought and manipulate the past. This is proven throughout the novel by examining the language of Newspeak and how it is key to controlling the totalitarian state, and how using language to alter and manipulate history can shape reality. In his essay Politics and the English Language Orwell

In the totalitarian world, which Orwell describes, language is the most significant and effective approach to maintain the rule. From Orwell’s perspective, everything including language, which is particularly powerful, belongs to political measure. In fact, language is the fundamental motivation of creating a nation or a tribe. It is also the foundation of thought because Human’s thought must rely on the language expressing. Then it could be deduced by analogy that controlling human’s language equal controlling human’s thought. Except expressing, it has the ability to build facts. The Party controls citizens’ thinking through controlling the language so that the Party applies euphemistic words to mislead public and prettify its policy. It is unimaginable that language contributes to the rule. The totalitarian utilize every language method to hold the dominant position.