George Orwell

HIS LIFE AND BACKGROUND:

WHY DID HE WRITE THIS ESSAY?

What we will learn in this presentation...

We will learn how the era Orwell lived in affected his writings

What ideas and beliefs were held in that specific era

How Politics and The English Language was a direct response to his generation How his essay is still relevant to today. How his life choices and lifes uninterrupted path changed his views and writings.

His birth and small facts

Born in 1903

India

Settled in Henley-on-Thames

Eric Arthur Blair

Started writing at an early age.

I had the lonely childs habit of making up stories and holding conversations with imaginary persons, and I think from the very start my literature ambitions were mixed up with the feeling of being isolated and undervalued.

Early Encounters with politics and violence

1922: Orwell Joined the Indian Imperial Police Force 1927: Resigned after 5 years of service His focus was to become a writer From Politics and the English Language: When one watches some tired hack on the platform mechanically repeating the familiar phrases one often has a curious feeling that one is not watching a live human being but somekind of dummy.

His Works: A window to his life.

He began working low paying jobs, before he became a successful writer.

Worked as a dishwasher

First published book: Down and Out in Paris.

Looked at the brutal living qualities of the working man

Now when thinking about our assigned text:

What had he experienced, to write this cautionary essay to hid generation

From: Why I Write. by George Orwell

I do not think one can assess a writers motives without knowing something of his early development. His subject matter will be determined by the age he lives in at least this is true in tumultuous, revolutionary ages like our own Historical impulse: desire to see things as they are, to find out true facts and store them up for the use of posterity

POSTERITY: Future generations

What Was Going On? George Orwell Timeline

(DATE) (WHATS HAPPENING)

1936 -1937
1939 1941 1943

The Spanish War

WW2 officially begins Orwell begins propaganda work for BBC Orwell resigns from BBC Orwell becomes editor of Tribune (socialist Newspaper)

1946

Politics and the English Language

1949
1950

Orwell is suspected a communist 1984 Published

Orwell dies of Tuberculosis Music from the time period *Vera Lynn- well meet again (1939)*

Politics and The English Language (1946)

4 sings of dull modern language 6 rules to break from dull writing

English Language is dying

Bad habits Obsession with Scientific Language

4 signs of dull writing

Dying metaphor:

Metaphor:

A figurative language, where two dissimilar objects or ideas are compared to bring forth a shared factor:

Example: His tears were drops of water from a broken, glass cup. They were unexpected yet subtle

A dying metaphor is one that is over used, it has lost its meaning and usefulness Where a single word is changed to a whole verb phrase, to simply add syllables and length

Operators or Verbal False Limbs

Examples: 1. give rise to, 2. render inoperative 3. exhibit a tendency to

4 sings of dull writingcontinued

Pretentious Diction

Words that are used to dress up a sentence

Scientific impartiality to biased judgments

Words include: constitute, exhibit, exploit, status quo

Meaningless Words

Words that have lost their meaning through overuse or generality

Dead, human, living, fascism Private definitions:

A generic word can have a private meaning that a writer or a speaker might understand but the reader will not

The difficulty of describing the abstract

Abstract: Pablo Picasso Concrete: Millet

Orwells 6 basic rules

Number Rules 1 Never use a metaphor simile, or other figure of speech that is overused

2 3
4 5 6

Never use a long word where a short one will do If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out
Never use the passive, where you can use the active qq Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an equivalent English one Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous

Why was this written?

Why does Orwell hate political writing, why does he hate writing that is unclear?

What does writing contribute to Wars that guns, violence, and death cannot?
Why would we need to clear up our writing, what do we have to change in our world?

Final thoughts
if you simplify your English, you are freed from the worst follies of orthodoxy. You cannot speak any of the necessary dialects, and when you make a stupid remark its stupidity, will be obvious , even to yourself. Political Languageis designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable. One cannot change this all in a moment, but one can at least change ones own habits, and from time to time, one can even send some worn-out and useless phraseinto the dustbin where it belongs.