English Language Essay

[trav]

can someone please please please please read my english langauge essay and comment it? i would really like to know if im on teh right track or how to make it better! THANKS

Language has the power to shock, offend and incite emotion. How have recent stories in the media shown this to be true? Refer to at least two subsystems of language in your response

Modern Australia has transformed since federation. Our ideals of egalitarianism and larrikin identity have blossomed and are reflected in the dynamic nature of language. Language change is a representation of society’s culture and values. Australian’s notion of ‘fair go’ aims to eliminate taboo language which, in turn, produces a plethora of euphemisms and politically correct language. Evidences through various headlines indicate that a disregard for language use can have the power to incite emotion, intentionally and unintentionally.

The linguists’ greatest concern is taboo language and its offensive nature. Acceptable language is bound up with the ideas about etiquette and the ‘right’ thing to say according to context. People are often offended by certain semantic choices in describing people. Recently, singer Brian McFadden has been condemned for suggesting that “a man should not be wearing pink”. “Pink” has the semantic connotations associated with girls, thus implying that a man wearing pink is considered homosexual. His statement upset men and women alike. Similarly, the controversial Sam Newman has been constantly criticized for his use of language. Recent media frenzy has been related to his statement: “We couldn’t get her on could we?” Although this statement seems neutral, the lexical ambiguity of the lexeme “on” has outraged audiences. “On” means both the neutral preposition and the negative sexual connotation. With both the Footy Show context and Newman’s history, audiences have assumed that Newman intended the latter. Thus, a poor usage of language naturally offends people.

[cara.mel]

Is there more coming?

If not
- your essay should be at least twice as long
- should have a conclusion
- how does language shock and incite emotion, you've told me how language has the power to be offensive (Do all emotions have to be negative?)
- why is the fact australia has transformed since federation relevant (and most of the rest of the introduction)

Edit: It is a good start though that you are using original examples (and probably recent, I don't pay attention to RL too much but they look like they would be recent )

[trav]

ahaha yeah sorry i havent finished the essay yet. im procrastinating...

thanks heaps!

btw. i agree that my introduction has no relevance to the topic, but i dont know how to start. do you have any suggestions?

[AppleThief]

Here are some random brief points off the top of my head that may or may not be pertinent (your essay definitely needs to be longer)

- Recent media story: Gordon Ramsay. His language shocks, offends and incites emotion > Senate inquiry > However, it peaked at 1.6 million viewers nationally, so it obviously doesn't offend everyone

- (this was one of the topics on the exam last year). Apparently, many students mentioned the Chaser's eulogy song, which massively offended, so it would've been good to talk about, and was super-recent at the exam time

- discriminatory language offends, including negative + gratuitous labelling, stereotypes, etc.

- negative labelling example: (2007) a man was fined for yelling "Go Nazis" to a Jewish man; prejudice not tolerated in Australian society.

- offending through pronouns/false generics

- Sue Butler, editor of the Macquarie Dictionary, argues that the word "fat" causes more social ripples than swearing

Etc. Make sure you have real examples to back everything up.

EDIT: Oh yeah, check last year's assessment report. Starting from the end of page 7, it has samples, and other ideas of what you should've talked about: http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vce/studies/englishlanguage/assessreports/2007/englang_assessrep_07.pdf

[trav]

it was last years exam?!

thanks heaps again