Orwell

I’m finally updating this thing! Be proud! I’m going to try and get in the habit if doing this everyday… hope I can stick to that statement.

Ok, so last Monday we discussed Orwell’s piece ‘Politics and the English Language’ and some interesting issues were discussed, these mainly revolving around the 6 points Orwell highlights at the end of the text which aim to outline the ‘right’ way to write.

The rules are;

(i) Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.

(ii) Never us a long word where a short one will do.

(iii) If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

(iv) Never use the passive where you can use the active.

(v) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

(vi) Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

Although i agree with the general gist of what Orwell is trying to say, part of me thinks that these rules cannot be followed in certain types of writing.

The first two points in particular i think contradict what i have been taught in other modules, such as ‘Writing & The World’ (a Creative Writing module) where we explored how to write in greater depth to help emphasize any points we are writing about. I do believe however Orwell is right if talking about a striaght forward news bulletin produced for t.v or radio, but when it comes to writing a detailed article? I think its clear to say that that something extra is needed.

Advertisement