George Orwell wrote this famed essay to explain how horrible the English language has gotten and what we need to do to stop it. He gives alot of examples of what he considered really bad English. Most of the examples showed an author using big words and too long of sentencdes to express a simple idea. In the end he gave 6 simples rules to consider while writing so that we do not continue the cycle of bad English writing. Those six simple steps were:
1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never us a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
6.Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
While I was reading this essay at home I was really overwhelmed with Orwell's own use of the English language. To me it felt like he was breaking his own rule and could have used a lot more simple, shorter words to express his thoughts. I know when we write we must go into further detail so our reader can understand where we are coming from but with Orwell I was just lost. I think he could have just simply stated his six rules with simple explanations from the get go.
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perhaps, like we discussed in class, orwell used the words that precisely covered everything that he was trying to say?
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