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Theologie

Sinarmas World Academy Tangerang Indonesia

2012

Nadine F. ©

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Language Essay

Word Count: 115

Essay question: Words are more deceitful and powerful than we think


Intro

-Different ways to use language

-Euphemism

-Effect on language towards people

-Verbal abuse can be as bad as any other abuse


SP1

-Certain ways of saying things can make a difference:

-How you talk to someone with higher authority and to your friends

-Words can make a situation better or worse during arguments

Evidence

-Jay Z talked differently when Oprah interviewed him than when he got interviewed by casual TV host, like Jonathan Ross.

-It’s like saying the glass is half empty and half full

CC1

-Words might change how people see the situation but doesn’t actually change the situation

Response

It’s more about words affecting how people see the situation rather than how it changes the situation.


SP2

-Some people accept politically correct language because it sounds more respectable

Evidence

-African Americans are very sensitive towards the word black; they prefer to be called African American

-Nowadays instead of saying stupid, school uses the word developing or minimally exceptional

CC2

-People are sometimes are deceiving themselves with PC language, thinking that just because they changed the word, it makes the situation better (George Carlin)

Response

Words that are considered offensive started off as a descriptive word, but it has been used over and over again in a negative context.


SP3

-Media plays a big role in how people see different languages

Evidence

-Britain’s poster on war advertisement

CC3

-People are more aware of propaganda, songs are written to rebel against it

Response

-No matter how aware people are with propaganda, the majority still falls for it


SP4

-Verbal abuse is as powerful as physical abuse nowadays, especially with teenagers

Evidence

-Teenagers are committing suicide because of cyber bullies

CC4

-People believe that traumatic physical experiences can cause more disorder

Response

Both types of abusing can be bad, but since now social networks are developing, it’s easier to verbally abuse someone, especially when you’re online, you can’t see the other’s person facial reaction, so they tend to say meaner things than they would say in front their face


Conclusion

-Words holds more power than people think

-It can be empowering or letting people down


Draft

They say sticks and stones won’t break my bone but words will never bring me down. Could they possibly be underestimating the power a word or language holds? We should be aware that the language we use matters. That’s why we address things differently to different people and different situation. There are different factors in which language played a big role in. Those factors are euphemism, propaganda, and verbal abuse.

The line between talking to someone with higher authority or power and someone among us is very clear. When you’re talking to someone with higher authority, obviously you use formal languages, like when I’m writing this essay and comparing it to the texts that I’ve sent to my friends. It doesn’t matter who it is, this rule applies to everyone, even one of the biggest rap star, Jay Z showed his respect more to Oprah, but when to comes to his casual interviews, he let himself loose and show more of his personality through his language. He used all sorts of curse words and it’s fine, because he’s not trying to present himself in a way that he would with people above him. Also during arguments, language can decide whether the situation is going to get better or worse. Everyone can tell that arguments with a lot of yelling and hurtful words wouldn’t end pretty, but arguments that are calmly talked about could end up solving the problem. It’s like saying the glass is half empty and the glass is half full. It might not change the fact that it’s half the amount, but it changes how people look at it and how people take it. There’s a difference between changing the situation and how people see the situation and sometimes they just get mixed up, thinking that how people say it can actually change the situation. It’s more about words affecting how people see the situation rather than how it changes the situation. Although from this you can see how much power words contain.

Some people accept politically correct language because it sounds more respectable. Because words that are originally not offensive have been used in too many offensive context that people started to look at the word as an offensive word, even though they are normally a description word like ugly or fat. Also wording plays a big role on racism. African Americans are very sensitive towards the word black; they prefer to be called African Americans. Why isn’t black acceptable? It is after all the color of their skin and people’s races have been classified as the skin tone they have, like Asians are considered yellow and Caucasians are considered white. It didn’t start off as something to offend a certain race. Now looking at it in a real world situation. Nowadays instead of saying stupid, school uses the word developing or minimally exceptional. What’s the difference does it make? The students will still have the same brain capability as they have now, but somehow with the word ‘developing’, it seems like the students in a way got smarter. Sometimes people take the PC language a little bit too far, especially in the government who turned simple basic words into a wordy vague sentence. Personally, I think PC language is turning into something people use to deceive themselves. Though politically correct language may be notorious, it started off with good intentions. It gives more sensitivity towards the others, but again if the PC language is going used in a negative context, years from now it’s going to be considered an offensive word, and there’s going to be another PC word and it’s just going to be another cycle.

Media plays a very big role in the way people look at different language. It seems like there’s always this stereotype for different types of language; when there’s a bunch of spoiled girls, they normally talk with the valley girl accent and whenever we hear someone on TV speaking in a New Jersey accent, we automatically link them to Jersey Shore and shallow orange people. It just shows how much control media have on our minds. Not only they planted stereotypes in our head, they also changed the way we see things using language as the weapon. Looking back in the past, Britain made a poster to advertise war by using a role model to point and tell them that they he wanted them. Through this poster, everyone felt like they are chosen and the fact that the poster says “I want you” gave them a sense of pride to take responsibility towards their country. On the other hand people have started to identify propaganda and go against it. One example is a song sung by Green Day called American Idiot. It’s about how American society is going down the drain because of the media and propaganda that controls how we think. Though no matter how aware people are towards propaganda, the majority of people still fall for it. Even without our realization, media always have ways to get into our heads, no matter if it’s through advertisement, TV shows, or movies.

Another thing that teenagers are going through lately is verbal abuse, especially cyber bully. It has become more popular than physical abuse, which kids back in the days experienced more. For example, there are a lot of kids committing suicide because they were being bullied. This has become a very serious issue and one movie called ‘Cyber Bully’ is made to raise awareness. The movie is based on a real event. It’s about a girl who was cyber bullied to the point where she committed suicide, but fortunately she was saved and from then on she fought hard to battle cyber bully. Even though verbal abuse has grown into a huge issue, people believe that physical abuse can cause more traumatic disorder, but personally I think both types of abusing can be bad, but since now social networks are developing, it’s easier to verbally abuse someone, especially when you’re online, you can’t see the other’s person facial reaction, so they tend to say meaner things compare to what they would actually say in front the other person’s face.

I think people underestimate how much power a word can hold. All of my statements above are just some of the examples of different languages used in different situations and how they could either be empowering or used as a weapon against the others. This is why words are more deceitful and powerful than we think.


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