Identity (Semester 2 | Week 2)

This week, my studies in 11 Ap English surrounded the concept of language, and how it is manipulated by society. Tearing apart different phrases and articles in search of the hidden intent of the speaker was both an interesting and eye-opening experience. The phrase "people never say what the mean", I have discovered, acts as an accurate description for a person's use of language; the intent of the speaker always alters the words they speak. 

One of the articles I analyzed this week, "Politics and the English Language" by George Orwell, has a question that asks 'Does language corrupt thought. Or does though corrupt language?' When this inquiry was first imposed on me, I was uncertain of the answer. However, as the week progressed, I slowly began to lean towards the idea that it is a person's mind that corrupts their language.

A nice example of this was demonstrated by a college professor from Oakland University (who visited my class as a guest speaker on Thursday). He told a story of two very different women -  one based off of a well-loved protagonist for children, and the other an infamous criminal-  with the intention of making the latter's cause seem more justified. In turn, the descriptive vocabulary he used was loaded with words that carried a distinctly positive or negative connotation towards the two women. The professor's objective to steer his audience's favoritism towards one particular person corrupted his use of language. Many similar scenarios such as the one previously described occur in our daily life when we argue, gossip, lie, persuade, apologize, etc.  

However, I believe that being informed and aware of such manipulation is a lovely way to combat it. If people become aware of the times when a story is false, an argument is biased, or a rumor is an exaggeration, they will be likely to fall victim to the manipulation of language.