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Printed Page 755

American Politics and the English Language

The following eight texts comment directly or indirectly on the role of language in American politics.

Sources

  1. Institute for Propaganda Analysis, How to Detect Propaganda
  2. Michiko Kakutani, The Word Police
  3. North York Women Teachers’ Association, Nonviolent Language (table)
  4. Mike Lester, NCAA Native American Mascots (cartoon)
  5. Geoffrey Nunberg, The -Ism Schism: How Much Wallop Can a Simple Word Pack?
  6. Daniel Okrent, The War of the Words: A Dispatch from the Front Lines
  7. Letters to the Editor in Response to The War of the Words
  8. Frank Luntz, from Words That Work

After you have read, studied and synthesized these pieces, enter the Conversation by responding to one of the prompts on page 778.

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