Reading response - Politics and the English Language

Sheila Olson
English 102
Christy Vance
10/27/09
Reading Response – “Politics and the English Language”

George Orwell is trying to make the point that a writer should say what they mean in the simplest terms possible. When writing a paper using similes or metaphors is a great way to explain your meaning to a reader, but only if it makes sense and really paints a picture of what you are trying to say. Using similes or metaphors that just happen to be the current catch phrase does not add value to your writing if it doesn’t directly pertain to what you are saying.
While reading Orwell’s sample passages, I was not able to understand much of what the author was saying, so I really liked his following statement, “The writer either has a meaning and cannot express it, or he inadvertently says something else, or he is almost indifferent as to whether his words mean anything or not”(2). His sample passages may have had more meaning if we had read them in their entirety, but his samples were very good examples of how wordy some writings can be.While writing my own upcoming argument paper I will be sure to keep in mind to say what I mean in a way that my readers will be able to understand what I am talking about. Oftentimes writers do tend to think that adding words or phrases that are unnecessary make a writer seem more intelligent, but isn’t the point of writing a paper being able to express your ideas in a way that your reader can understand and visualize exactly what you are trying to say?