The way language is viewed

Orwell, G. (April 1946). Politics and the English Language, 1-8. Retrieved from

http://orwell.ru/library/essays/politics/english/e_polit

         There are two ways that language in writing is viewed, either it look good and can be read properly or it can be "ugly and inaccurate" (Orwell, 1946, p. 1). In George Orwell essay, Politics and the English Language, he used observations of language being "full of bad habits" (p. 1), to write his piece. He begins his essay by telling his readers that he believes "language is a natural growth and not an instrument which we shape for own our purposes" (p. 1). What Orwell is trying to convey is that writers today are not the very best writers of all time since the way words are used in the English language has changed for the benefit of the writer rather than the readers.

          The way that Orwell constructed his 7-8 page essay is by providing different short pieces of writing which each have their own problems that make them "a little below the average" (p. 1). Followed by explaining two mistake that are common and also lists down problems that he finds in the writings such as: "dying metaphors, operation or verbal false limbs pretentious diction, and meaningless words" (p. 2-4). He then spends the next 2 pages going into detail of each problem while using snippets from his examples to back up his argument (p. 2-4). While the next page and a half is spent on counter arguing his argument which gets the reader to think in two different perspectives (p. 4-6). Near the conclusion of his essay, he reiterates guidelines that writers should follow to make a decent piece of writing (p. 7). But restating his points, it allows the reader to reflect back on what they have just read and will have a stronger impact on the reader.

Sources:

Orwell, G. (April 1946). Politics and the English Language, 1-8. Retrieved from

http://orwell.ru/library/essays/politics/english/e_polit

Celebrity in a wave of Fans

Pareles, Jon. (2010). Lavish Worlds, and the Headwear to Match

Writing in the Works, Third Edition, p. 18-19

Jon Pareles's article revolves around Lady Gaga and how she differs from many celebrities in terms of the way she presents herself to her audience, her music as well as her fashion sense. Pareles also examines how the term "celebrity" can be manipulated in a different ways in either their performances or songs to express awareness in certain aspects in their life (Pareles, 2010, p. 18). Pareles explains that in terms of Lady Gaga, she express her excitement with her audience by encouraging her fans to take photos of her in her outfits which is often not all formal dresses. She goes out and beyond by wear outrageous and unexpected outfits which surprises her fans during ever concert. Her unexpected surprises have won over many fans as she seem to strive to see how far she can take the title of being a celebrity without breaking any rules. 

Pareles also looked into the songs that Lady Gaga produces and how the songs are created and the topics which they revolve around. Unlike many singers who writes about love and have other musicians create the background sounds. Pareles explains that Lady Gaga relies on "her own piano playing" (p. 19), in order to create the sounds that she find will fit with her song. Pareles also goes into detail the songs Lady Gaga bases her songs on. He finds that the songs are based of what celebrities often experience in their day to day lives. With the catchy choruses she is able to embody topics such as "sex, money and, yes, fame ... mingles love, stalking and media awareness" (p. 19), into her songs which makes her listeners aware of the daily life of a celebrity which is something not many artists today write songs about. 

The last detail that Pareles looks into with Lady Gaga and the way she plays around with the word "celebrity" is by her fashion sense. As mentioned previously, she wears outfits that her fans would never expect from her. Outfits ranging from a meat dress to  an Egyptian style armour, Lady Gaga surprises her fans know that they would be impressed by her outfit. She goes beyond the expectation of what fans expect of artists. Pareles concludes the article a statement from Lady Gaga, "'When they ask me why I spent all my money on my show, I tell them because my fans are sexy'" (p. 19).


Sources:
PARELES, "Lavish Worlds, and the Headwear to Match" from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/22/arts/music/22gaga.html. Reprinted with the permission of PARS International.