Propaganda

Propaganda: It's here to stay When the word ‘propaganda’ is used, negative connotations are generally brought to mind. People think of politicians using propaganda to force their agenda on others or to slander their opponent’s name as in the new election coming up between Obama and Romney. Yet is this all propaganda really is? Or is there something more that is never discussed about propaganda? This essay will be summarizing and discussing three from Orwell, Lutz , and Woolfolk about propaganda and the English language. The reader will gain a better understanding about what propaganda really is and how it is used and how to avoid getting tricked by it. The first article by George Orwell is out of his book of 50 essays entitled “ Politics and the English Language.” George Orwell is an English journalist and novelist, who wrote such famous books as 1984 and Animal Farm. His article begins by talking about four parts of writing that are misused in the English language. The first topic discussed is dying metaphors. Orwell says, “A newly-invented metaphor assists thought by evoking a visual image, while on the other hand a metaphor which is technically "dead" has in effect reverted to being an ordinary word and can generally be used without loss of vividness.” If someone does not understand a metaphor because it is one that is not used anymore, it loses its effect and should not be used in writing or in propaganda (Orwell). A perfect example is the metaphor of the Hammer and the Anvil. When this metaphor is used most people think it means that the anvil gets the worst of it, when really it is the hammer that always breaks on the anvil. It is a metaphor that has lost meaning because hardly anyone uses an anvil anymore, causing this metaphor to be technically “dead”. The next subject discussed is verbal false limbs. Orwell says verbal false limbs “save the trouble of picking out appropriate verbs and nouns, and at the same time pad each sentence with extra syllables