The Prose Decline
...a truth to a particular party’s point of view. Orwell perfectly defines Americans’ lack of imagery with his quote “the concrete melts into the abstract and no one seems able to think of turns of speech that are not hackneyed.” Past writings of mine brim with abstract thought that lacks clear definition, and Orwell clearly shows me that I was not saying anything important through all of my meaningless words. Before reading this essay, I constantly added unnecessary large words in hope to create an aura of intelligent writing; and in doing so I stripped my sentences of imagery and precision. I now understand that imagery and precision are more important to the makeup of prose than exercising my ability to use big words not common to everyday speech. When I write my next paper, I will follow Orwell’s four step plan; 1. What am I trying to say? 2. What words will express it? 3. What image or idiom will make it clearer? 4. Is this image fresh enough to have an effect? Step one is most important to the paper because sometimes I lose my idea in a swamp of extra words with numerous syllables that mean nothing to me with the notion that my English teacher will be impressed. I will also add a step five to the process; keep the sentences concise. Orwell uses five passages early on in his essay as examples of the American decline of writing. When I first read these passages, I had a small grasp on what the writers were trying to say, but most of it went over my head. I felt that these writers were too advanced for my current knowledge of the English language, and I kept reading. After a few more pages of...