Sunday, March 28, 2010

Chapter 17

In everything you write you should choose an appropriate language. What are you writing about? Is it a report, an essay, a business letter or an e-mail to a friend? Either way you must write your piece in a way that relates to your subject and your reader. Most people do not want to read jargon, which is difficult to read and fills sentences with large, complicated words that are unnecessary. Jargon is usually used by government, the military, and Large businesses. Pretentious language, euphemisms, and “double speak” are other forms of writing that don’t give you the whole truth and they are things written in a nice way to cover up something not so nice. For instance a euphemism would be someone saying they talked about “the birds and the bees” with their child, which really means they talked about sex with their child. “double speak” is using deceptive language and a euphemism at the same time.
Do not use invented words, that one kind of explains itself. Also avoid slang, it is only attractive to a certain group and may be offensive to another. Standard English is the language used in all businesses, schools and professional fields. Nonstandard English is spoken by in different regional heritages, and should also be avoided when writing in formal or non formal way. You will also need to choose a level of formality. Do you need to be formal or informal? Think of the relationship you have with those you are writing for, will it be appropriate? Never come across sexist, it is not a likable trait. And be careful not to use language that offends a certain group by calling them rednecks or dumb hicks. It’s just offensive.
It was a coincidence that this chapter described the meaning of Standard English since it was described in our readings about Lovely and her nonstandard English. I will use this chapter to reflect on how I come across in my writings, does it come across too informal or offensive. Do I use too much jargon?

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