Language has power. It can be used directly as an instrument of power to give commands, to condemn, or to pardon. It can also be used to exercise power indirectly through the effect it can have on the feelings, attitudes, and opinions of other people.It is with this indirect influence that we are mainly concerned here. The writer's relationship with his or her readers was dealt with explicitly in the previous chapter. But throughout this book, in examining the nature of effective writing and good style, it has been taken for granted that the writer's basic aim is to speak to the reader, to convey information, emotion, and opinion to the reader. The techniques that have been advocated are intended to make the conveyance of information, emotion, and opinion to the reader more effective. Inevitably, therefore, we have been talking about ways in which the writer can influence the reader, sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly.Another way of putting that is to say that this book deals, at least in part, with the writer's use of the power of language to sway the reader. Yet, where there is an exercise of power, there ought also to be an exercise of responsibility—and that is where the ethical dimension comes in.
|
Email
Print
Save
Citation
Record URL
