1984 by George Orwell The Use of Deceptive Language in the Text and in the Modern Day Due Date: March 21, 2014 Peer Editing: March 17, 2014 (body paragraphs) Peer Editing 2: March 19, 2014 (Entire Essay) The NCTE Doublespeak Award The NCTE Doublespeak Award, established in 1974 and given by the NCTE Public Language Award Committee, is an ironic tribute to public speakers who have perpetuated language that is grossly deceptive, evasive, euphemistic, confusing, or self-centered. “Doublespeak is language that pretends to communicate but really doesn’t. It is language that makes the bad seem good, the negative appear positive, the unpleasant appear attractive or at least tolerable. Doublespeak is language that avoids or shifts responsibility, language that is at variance with its real or purported meaning. It is language that conceals or prevents thought; rather than extending thought, doublespeak limits it.” -- William Lutz, from his work entitled DoubleSpeak Lutz breaks doublespeak down into four major categories: euphemism, jargon, gobbledygook, and inflated language. • He describes a euphemism as being “...an inoffensive word or phrase used to avoid a harsh, unpleasant, or distasteful reality.” He makes an immediate distinction between euphemisms that are not doublespeak and those that are. o Saying someone has “passed away,” for example, is not doublespeak because it is said out of concern for someone’s feelings and out of these types of euphemisms are common knowledge: everyone knows that “passed away” means “died.” But when a euphemism is used to deceive, it becomes doublespeak. Lutz cites an example of how the State Department announced it was replacing the term “killing” in its future reports with the phrase “unlawful or arbitrary deprivation of life” in order to avoid or minimize discussion on CIA-sponsored terrorist groups in Central America. • Much like the euphemism, jargon – the specialized “trade” language within a professional group – also has its acceptable and unacceptable forms. If the jargon stays within the specific professional group, for instance if doctors discuss medical terminology among themselves, it isn’t doublespeak because they all understand the terms. However, if jargon is used outside of that group it becomes doublespeak because the intended audience won’t be familiar with these terms. He mentions how jargon is deceptively used to “...make the simple appear complex, the ordinary profound, the obvious insightful.” The act of smelling something becomes “organoleptic analysis,” while if your house is broken into it or destroyed it suffers an “involuntary conversion.” • Lutz mentions that gobbledygook, also known as bureaucratese, is unacceptable in any shape or form. Gobbledygook is probably the easiest type of doublespeak to perpetrate on an unsuspecting audience, because all that’s needed is to endlessly pile on words and overwhelm whomever is listening. This way the person in question can give the appearance (a key word!) of authority and creditability of a subject and intimidate his or her audience into submission. Awkward, contorted syntax and the use of unfamiliar technical terms impede the communication of specialized (particularly scientific, academic and professional) knowledge, both to specialists in other disciplines and to the general public. o For years, Alan Greenspan a former Nixon official and current Chair of the Federal Reserve, has been doing just that. For example, in answering a question during a Senate committee hearing, Greenspan once stated, “It is a tricky problem to find a particular calibration in timing that would be appropriate to stem the acceleration in risk premiums created by falling income without prematurely aborting the decline in inflation-generated risk premium.” • The fourth type of doublespeak, inflated language, is perhaps the most common and is the opposite of the euphemism. Inflated language is designed to “...make the ordinary seem extraordinary; to make everyday things seem impressive.” In relatively harmless settings, this is where garbage men might refer to themselves as “sanitation engineers,” or where used cars are called “previously distinguished vehicles.” Lutz then points out the more nefarious uses of inflated language, such as when a fire in a nuclear power plant was described as a “rapid oxidation.” The Assignment: For this project, you will write a thesis essay that … • discusses how The Party in 1984 has “perpetuated language that is grossly deceptive, evasive, euphemistic, confusing, or self-centered.” • proposes a modern-day nominee for The NCTE Doublespeak Award. • compares the use of deceptive language in 1984 to your modern-day nominee. Your essay must … • have an introduction that o opens in an engaging fashion – Avoid opening with a question. o mentions the title and author of your primary text (1984 by George Orwell) o mentions your modern-day nominee for The NCTE Doublespeak Award. o concludes with a strong thesis statement that explains HOW the use of deceptive language in 1984 compares to your modern-day nominee. • use at least two pieces of textual evidence from 1984. • use at least two pieces of textual evidence from your research. • craft a strong conclusion that o synthesizes the analytic aspects of the body paragraphs. o leaves the reader with something larger and profound to think about.

1984 by George Orwell

The Use of Deceptive Language in the Text and in the Modern Day

Due Date: March 21, 2014

Peer Editing: March 17, 2014 (body paragraphs)

Peer Editing 2: March 19, 2014 (Entire Essay)

The NCTE Doublespeak Award

The NCTE Doublespeak Award, established in 1974 and given by the NCTE Public Language Award Committee, is an ironic tribute to public speakers who have perpetuated language that is grossly deceptive, evasive, euphemistic, confusing, or self-centered.

“Doublespeak is language that pretends to communicate but really doesn’t. It is language that makes the bad seem good, the negative appear positive, the unpleasant appear attractive or at least tolerable. Doublespeak is language that avoids or shifts responsibility, language that is at variance with its real or purported meaning. It is language that conceals or prevents thought; rather than extending thought, doublespeak limits it.”

-- William Lutz, from his work entitled DoubleSpeak

Lutz breaks doublespeak down into four major categories: euphemism, jargon, gobbledygook, and inflated language.

•He describes a euphemism as being “...an inoffensive word or phrase used to avoid a harsh, unpleasant, or distasteful reality.” He makes an immediate distinction between euphemisms that are not doublespeak and those that are.

oSaying someone has “passed away,” for example, is not doublespeak because it is said out of concern for someone’s feelings and out of these types of euphemisms are common knowledge: everyone knows that “passed away” means “died.” But when a euphemism is used to deceive, it becomes doublespeak. Lutz cites an example of how the State Department announced it was replacing the term “killing” in its future reports with the phrase “unlawful or arbitrary deprivation of life” in order to avoid or minimize discussion on CIA-sponsored terrorist groups in Central America.

•Much like the euphemism, jargon – the specialized “trade” language within a professional group – also has its acceptable and unacceptable forms. If the jargon stays within the specific professional group, for instance if doctors discuss medical terminology among themselves, it isn’t doublespeak because they all understand the terms. However, if jargon is used outside of that group it becomes doublespeak because the intended audience won’t be familiar with these terms. He mentions how jargon is deceptively used to “...make the simple appear complex, the ordinary profound, the obvious insightful.” The act of smelling something becomes “organoleptic analysis,” while if your house is broken into it or destroyed it suffers an “involuntary conversion.”

•Lutz mentions that gobbledygook, also known as bureaucratese, is unacceptable in any shape or form. Gobbledygook is probably the easiest type of doublespeak to perpetrate on an unsuspecting audience, because all that’s needed is to endlessly pile on words and overwhelm whomever is listening. This way the person in question can give the appearance (a key word!) of authority and creditability of a subject and intimidate his or her audience into submission. Awkward, contorted syntax and the use of unfamiliar technical terms impede the communication of specialized (particularly scientific, academic and professional) knowledge, both to specialists in other disciplines and to the general public.

oFor years, Alan Greenspan a former Nixon official and current Chair of the Federal Reserve, has been doing just that. For example, in answering a question during a Senate committee hearing, Greenspan once stated, “It is a tricky problem to find a particular calibration in timing that would be appropriate to stem the acceleration in risk premiums created by falling income without prematurely aborting the decline in inflation-generated risk premium.”

•The fourth type of doublespeak, inflated language, is perhaps the most common and is the opposite of the euphemism. Inflated language is designed to “...make the ordinary seem extraordinary; to make everyday things seem impressive.” In relatively harmless settings, this is where garbage men might refer to themselves as “sanitation engineers,” or where used cars are called “previously distinguished vehicles.” Lutz then points out the more nefarious uses of inflated language, such as when a fire in a nuclear power plant was described as a “rapid oxidation.”

The Assignment:

For this project, you will write a thesis essay that …

•discusses how The Party in 1984 has “perpetuated language that is grossly deceptive, evasive, euphemistic, confusing, or self-centered.”

•proposes a modern-day nominee for The NCTE Doublespeak Award.

•compares the use of deceptive language in 1984 to your modern-day nominee.

Your essay must …

•have an introduction that

oopens in an engaging fashion – Avoid opening with a question.

omentions the title and author of your primary text (1984 by George Orwell)

omentions your modern-day nominee for The NCTE Doublespeak Award.

oconcludes with a strong thesis statement that explains HOW the use of deceptive language in 1984 compares to your modern-day nominee.

•use at least two pieces of textual evidence from 1984.

•use at least two pieces of textual evidence from your research.

•craft a strong conclusion that

osynthesizes the analytic aspects of the body paragraphs.

oleaves the reader with something larger and profound to think about.