FORMS AND USES OF LANGUAGEIntroductionThis unit is from our archive. It is an adapted extracted from the course An Introduction to the Humanities (A103) that is no longer in presentation, although other courses in this topic are availale to !tud".In this unit #e #ill consider ho# language can e used in di$erent #a"s for di$erentpurposes. To do this #e #ill use the theme of memorial and commemoration. After rie%" discussing the life of the poet !iegfried !asoon #e #ill examine oth his poetr" and prose. Through this #e #ill see ho# he conve"s meaning in di$erent #a"s for di$erent audiences using di$erent forms. &ollo#ing this #e #ill discuss more generall" ho# di$erent meanings can e conve"ed using prose and poetic language.'earning outcomes(" the end of this unit "ou should have) an a#areness of ho# language can e used for di$erent purposes* an understanding of the importance of form and #ord choice #hen addressing di$erent audiences.1 !iegfried !assoon) a case stud"1.1 IntroductionApart from #riting poetr", !assoon +ept a diar" during his #ar "ears, and after the #ar he #rote a semi,autoiographical novel. These #ritings are an example of ho# a #riter can use language for di$erent purposes and di$erent audiences, #hile expressing the same theme - in this case, opposition to #ar. (efore #e loo+ more closel" at !assoon.s #or+, #e need a fe# more details aout his life.1./ The earl" "earsHe #as orn in 1001 into a #ealth" famil". After eing educated at home until he #as 13, he #as sent to a prominent pulic school, 2arlorough. Although he had egun to #rite poetr" at an earl" age, his expectations - li+e those of man" "oung men of his generation - #ere that his privileged life #ould continue #ithout the need for him to do much more than indulge his hoies of golf, hunting and socialising. He continued to develop a poetic st"le and " 1314 had pulished some poetr" and prose. &ollo#ing his horse,riding interests, he enlisted in 1315 in the 6eomanr", and #as sent to the front in &rance in earl" 1311. In 2a" 1311 he #as engaged in a attle #here he sho#ed great raver". and #as a#arded the 2ilitar" 7ross. 'ater he #as #ounded, and #as sent home on sic+ leave.1.3 The realities of #ar - a protest8hile he #as on leave, his conviction gre# that those at home had little idea of the realities of #ar, and that the #ar #as eing delieratel" prolonged " the politiciansand generals #ho had the po#er to end it. He #rote a po#erful statement to this e$ect, and sent it to his commanding o9cer. He also hoped that his protest #ould e read in the House of 7ommons, though full" recogni:ing that the punishment for this #ould e the enormous disgrace of a court martial and even prison.(ut his protest failed. His commanding o9cer turned a lind e"e to it. and his friends #ith in%uence in high places made sure that it #as not made pulic at that time. !assoon himself #as sent to 7raigloc+hart, the medical hospital for shell,shoc+ed o9cers. He activel" sought to e returned to the front, and #as considered su9cientl" recovered to do so in 1310. His medical case sheet (&igure 1) is signed " ;r 8.H.ced.Hn ehalf of those #ho are su$ering no# I ma+e this protest against the deception #hich is eing practised on them* also I elieve that I ma" help to destro" the callous complacence #ith #hich the maGorit" of those at home regard the continuance of agonies #hich the" do not share, and #hich the" have not su9cient imagination to reali:e.(!assoon, Duoted in (ar+er, 133/)1.1 !assoon.s .=rotest.) exerciseExercise 1'oo+ ac+ at !assoonBs iographical details to see #ho the intended audience for his A=rotestB #as, and Got do#n "our comments on the #a" !assoon has used language here, in comparison #ith his approach in AThe CeneralB. Has he suited #ords to audienceI Thin+ aout #hom he is addressing and ho# he uses #ords and sentences to get his point across.;iscussion6ou ma" have noticed some or all of the follo#ing)1. In his A=rotestB there is onl" one AcharacterB - !assoon himself, #ho addresseshis audience in the >rst person. Jver" sentence except one (the one that egins the last paragraph, #hich is all one sentence) egins #ith I, presumal" ecause #hat !assoon #as tr"ing to conve" so passionatel" #as his motives, his eliefs, his identit", his experience. He also conve"s that his decision to #rite a protest #as his alone./. His identi>cation of his audience is less precise than his identi>cation of himself. He conve"s a strongl" accusing tone, #ithout sa"ing #hom he is accusing. &or example) Athe purposes for #hich I and m" fello# soldiers entered upon this #ar should have een so clearl" statedB (" #homI)* Athe political errors and insincerities for #hich the >ghting men are eing sacri>cedB (" #homI). AI ma+e this protest against the deception #hich is eing practised on themB (" #homI). He does not sa" )ho is sacri>cing >ghting men or practising deception on them. Instead he refers to Athose #ho have the po#er to end it Kthe #arLB and Athose at homeB. He resorts to convoluted sentences in order to avoid apportioning lame. 7onsider ho# he might have expressed himself if he had allo#ed himself to lame the politicians or the militar") AI elieve the #rime Minister should have stated the purposes for #hich I and m" fello# soldiersMB and AI ma+e this protest against the deception the C*inet nd the Generls are practising on themB.3. The language is much more formal than that in AThe CeneralB and the proportion of #ords of more than one s"llale - indeed more than three s"llales - is much higher.4. The formalit" is achieved partl" " the complex sentence formations mentioned aove, ut also " the repeated choice of #ords that are AthingsB (nouns) - for example, Aauthorit"B, AdefenceB, AlierationB, AaggressionB, AconDuestB, AconductB, AerrorsB, AinsinceritiesB, AcomplacenceB, AcontinuanceB. This use of astract nouns is another device !assoon uses to avoid having to pin the lame, or sa" #hose errors, insincerities, complacenc" and so on he is critici:ing. (Astract nouns are things that do not exist materiall") "ou cannot see, hear or touch them.) In AThe CeneralB, he can lame Athe generalB for ever"thing) Athe generalB, after all, is >ctional. If "ou loo+ ac+ at the poem, "ou #ill >nd that there is onl" one thing there "ou could call an astraction - Aplan of attac+B.5. !assoon uses repetition) the most freDuentl" used #ords are A#arB. AsoldiersB and Asu$eringB (and similar #ords are also used, adding to the impression of repetition) AtroopsB, AmenB, AagoniesB). ttest thing for me to do is to go ac+ and share their ills.(fromletter tht Sssoon )rote to his friend /dy 0ttoline Morrell+ 11 0"to*er 1911)Feither of us had the ha:iest idea of #hat the politicians #ere reall" up to M Fevertheless #e argued as though the secret confaulations of 7ainet 2inisters in various countries #ere as clear as da"light to us, and our assumption #as that the" #ere all #rong, #hile #e, #ho had een in the trenches, #ere far,seeing and infallile(Sssoon+ 1912)Ho# clear do "ou >nd !assoon.s meaning hereI Ho# does his use of language compare #ith the language he used in his A=rotestI Is his choice of #ords in%uenced" his audienceI Ese "our noteoo+ to record "our reactions.;iscussionI imagine that "ou #ill have found the language in oth !assoon.s diar" and his letter more direct and straightfor#ard than in his A=rotestB, and noticed that he uses a greater proportion of normal, ever"da", even slang #ords. His meaning seems to come through clearl". 8e ma" not get an exact picture of #hat he thin+s Aproper,loo+ing o9cersB ought to loo+ li+e, ut #e get a clear idea of his lo# opinion of the o9cers he descries in his diar". !imilarl", although #e cannot clearl" identif" the Athe"B that !assoon descries to 'ad" Httoline 2orrell, #e can tell that he respects their po#er over him - if not either their Gudgement or their motives. =resumal" !assoon felt ale to e open and honest #ith his single reader in each case - himself in his diar" and 'ad" Httoline in the letter - and felt no need in his attac+ to introduce the oscurit" that he used in his A=rotestB.In the third extract !assoon stands ac+ slightl" to put his vie#s into the mouth of his >ctional character, Ceorge, ut #hen he #rote this in 1330 there #as no need toe cautious, even in a pulished #or+./ Esing language in poetr" and prose/.1 Esing poetr") exerciseExercise 38e have seen that #riters ma+e di$erent choices of #ords, and #a"s of using them,according to #h" the" are #riting - and to #hom. =eople often li+e to use poetr", or Apoetic languageB, #hen the" are #riting in commemoration of someone or something. 8e #ill no# consider this point.Fote do#n an" further reasons #h" "ou thin+ #riters might consider poetr" particularl" suitale for memorials.;iscussion=eople often consider poetr" a suitale form for ma+ing a pulic statement of feelings. It ma" e ecause a poem can seem more complete than a prose statement. !ome people might see a poem - perhaps Atied upB #ith rh"mes - as a neat verse pac+age, li+e a gift) others ma" associate poetr" #ith a sense of occasion. Hr perhaps people >nd it easier to use poetr" as a vehicle for conve"ing feelings. &eelings are di9cult to pin do#n, ut in poetr" "ou can suggest meanings more sutl" and oliDuel" than "ou can in the plain statements #e associate #ith prose././ 7onve"ing meaning through prose(ut prose, too, can conve" much more than the sum of the meanings of individual #ords. The poet