Mrinmayee Sama (Week 1) - #Confused
Mrinmayee Sama - Week 1
#Confused
A president's speech, teacher's email, news article, peer's essay, and principal's letter. We can all tell the "odd one out" is the peer's essay. What makes this the odd one out? Well... it's the fact that it was written by someone in our age group and someone we most probably know personally. Not only are the writers of these works are what determine this decision, but also the language used in each. All of these writings should be in a formal language, but the vocabulary that is presented may be of different complexity. For example, you might be inclined to pick up a dictionary more often while reading Barack Obama's speech as opposed to your friend's essay. "With great power, comes great responsibility". Nah honeybunch, "with great power comes complex vocabulary" 💀💀. Just kidding lol, but that's honestly what I feel.
The higher of a status you have, the better your communication skills have to be. Presidents meet all kinds of credible people and over time they adapt and improve their communication skills which include vocabulary, intonation, tone, etc. This is a learned skill over time and can greatly impact the negotiations that the president makes for the country. This obviously can't be the case all the time. For example, your friend might have an even complex vocabulary than your teacher or principal does, but the pattern I outlined is mostly for the general consensus. Over the years I kept thinking of the reason behind this and I came to the conclusion that having a complex vocab is done to sound more formal and sound presentable. Of course, the higher you go up the ladder of power, the more people you talk to and the more concise and careful you have to be with your words. To leave you off with a question I'll ask "Do you think this is true? Why or why not?"
Comments
I do think that the status of a speaker greatly influences the effect of their words. I would trust a doctor giving me medical advice over consulting even my greatest friend. Complex vocabulary is more of an additive, but what is most important is knowing your audience. For instance, utilizing advanced vocabulary in a speech to a group of elementary school kids simply wouldn’t work out because they would not be able to fully comprehend it. In the case of the president, I would assume that they would be compelled to make their speeches powerful, yet simple, as it would have to appeal to the general public.
-Angel Susantin
You actually bring up a really interesting point. I never really realized how the higher your status is, the better your communication skills are expected to be. I think that this phenomena is the reason why Americans in this day and age blindly believe the words of their president. I might be a little salty, but I think a clear example of this is Donald Trump and his supporters. Being president, Donald Trump is seen as an honorable and intelligent man by his supporters. Therefore, every single word he says must be true, right? Wrong. I think that we really need to consider which words we can trust and who they are coming from. Doing so will help us get more discretion on our words.
I agree with how you said that with greater power, must come with greater language. In order to obtain power, you must assert your credibility so people believe that you are trustworthy and follow you. Additionally, when people use specific jargon, it makes them appear educated, and therefore more trustworthy.This is why most leaders have good communication and language. In addition, when people have a good understanding of language, they can use appeals, such as logos and pathos, to their advantage in persuading others.
I agree with you on how people with power, such as presidents or government officials often choose to use complex vocabulary or smart-sounding words. Individuals in a position of power have much more impact in the words they say, which explains why they usually write down their speeches before saying it or having someone do that for them. I guess that’s how the most influential and famous presidential speeches are made. Through your blog post, I also realized how individuals with power seem to handle what they choose to say very well, which is something I need to learn from them!
Sincerely,
Faith Tong
This was an interesting topic that you brought up; I really agree that generally the higher you are in the social ladder the more likely that you communicate with people more. I also think that with higher and a broader vocab would people listen to you as a leader. Having a complex vocabulary makes whatever you are giving out more formal and making people more willing to hear what you have to deliver.
Your blog literally made me laugh with the phrase “Nah honeybunch, with great power comes complex vocabulary.” For me, especially in english class, reading prompts and books, utterly confuse me, because of their complex vocabulary and speech. I often feel stupid when I don’t know certain vocabulary, and feel discouraged. I do also believe that having a higher status in language and speech gives you an upper hand. I absolutely despise vocabulary.com; However no matter how annoying it is vocabulary.com has helped me increase my vocabulary, and has given me the upper hand(in my head) and I do intend ton use them on my POAS paper.