LANGUAGE AND ITS POWER: As Critical readers/thinkers, we must understand that language can be used or misused to give it power, the power that authors need to lead us in any direction that they wish negative or – positive, weak or strong, good or bad. As citizens and consumers, we are influenced by words and their denotative and connotative meanings. First, we must look at and denotation connotation. Denotation is the is the specific object or act However, our daily that a word points to – in other words the dictionary meaning of a word. language consists of connotations or all of the positive, negative, and neutral images that we associate with words. We must also look at such language tricks as: Vagueness unclear meaning of a word – Ambiguity when a word has more than one meaning – Doublespeak using language and words to pretend to tell the truth – Weasel words using a word to evade making a forthright statement – Spin the use of words to make a behavior seem positive or minimize a negative reaction – Reification a word takes on more power than it really has – Jargon use of technical language – Gobbledygook use of or inflated language to confuse or overwhelm – Euphemism describing an event person or object by using more acceptable language – Romancing the product associating a product with something bigger, better or more – interesting As critical thinkers and critical readers, we must understand the power of words used to clarify or obscure particular issues. We must understand that language has a persuasive impact on us because of the images that we associate with words and phrases. This impact comes through the use of connotation. Always remember that the meaning of words is in us, the people. 9
LANGUAGE AND ITS POWER: As Critical readers/thinkers, we must understand that language can be used or misused to give it power, the power that authors need to lead us in any direction that they wish – negative or positive, weak or strong, good or bad. As citizens and consumers, we are influenced by words and their denotative and connotative meanings. First, we must look at denotation and connotation. Denotation is the is the specific object or act that a word points to – in other words the dictionary meaning of a word. However, our daily language consists of connotations or all of the positive, negative, and neutral images that we associate with words. We must also look at such language tricks as: Vagueness – unclear meaning of a word Ambiguity – when a word has more than one meaning Doublespeak – using language and words to pretend to tell the truth Weasel words – using a word to evade making a forthright statement Spin – the use of words to make a behavior seem positive or minimize a negative reaction Reification – a word takes on more power than it really has Jargon – use of technical language Gobbledygook – use of or inflated language to confuse or overwhelm Euphemism – describing an event person or object by using more acceptable language Romancing the product – associating a product with something bigger, better or more interesting As critical thinkers and critical readers, we must understand the power of words used to clarify or obscure particular issues. We must understand that language has a persuasive impact on us because of the images that we associate with words and phrases. This impact comes through the use of connotation. Always remember that the meaning of words is in us, the people. 9
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