1. Newspeak & Doublespeak

2. Newspeak The official language of Oceania
Was designed “not to extend but to diminish the range of thought” (p. 300)
Expected to supersede Oldspeak (standard English) by 2050
Intended that when Newspeak was completely adopted, any thought diverging from the principles of Ingsoc “should be utterly unthinkable” (p. 300)

3. The Grammar of Newspeak
An almost complete interchangeability between parts of speech
i.e. – “think” stands for the noun and the verb, “thought” doesn’t exist
Add –ful to get an adjective and –wise to get an adverb
“speedful” and “speedwise”
Negate a word by adding un-
“ungood”
Strengthen a word by adding plus- or doubleplus-
“doublepluscold”
All past tenses of verbs end in –ed
“stealed”, “thinked”
All plurals end in –s
“mans”, “oxes”, “lifes”

4. A Vocabulary Words needed for the business of everyday life
“All ambiguities and shades of meaning had been purged out of [the vocabulary]” (p. 301)
i.e. – no connotations, only denotations
Expresses one clearly understood concept

5. B Vocabulary
Consists of words deliberately constructed for political purposes
Designed to impose a desirable mental attitude upon the person using them
All are compound words, welded together in easily pronounceable forms
Not so much a way to express meaning as it is a way to destroy them
“crimethink” = honor, justice, democracy, morality, science, religion, etc.
None are ideologically neutral
“joycamp” = forced labor camp

6. C Vocabulary Supplementary to the A & B Vocabularies
Consists entirely of scientific and technical terms

7. It’s a real thing…seriously:
Doublespeak is a language which pretends to communicate but really doesn’t. It is a language which makes the bad seem good, the negative appear positive, the unpleasant appear attractive, or at least tolerable. It is language which avoids or shifts responsibility, language which is at variance with its real or purported meaning. It is language which conceals or prevents thought. Doublespeak is language which does not extend thought but limits it.
William Lutz, professor at Rutgers University

8. More by Professor William Lutz…
Doublespeak is not the product of careless language or sloppy thinking.
“It is the product of clear thinking and is language carefully designed … to mislead … to distort reality … to corrupt the mind.”

9. Some actual Doublespeak language uncovered by the National Council of Teachers of English
Front-leaning rest exercise
Push-up
Preemptive counterattack
Invasion
Downsizing
Laying off workers
Portable, hand-held communications inscriber
pencil
Wood interdental stimulators
toothpicks
Collateral damage
Civilian casualties
Tactical redeployment
Retreat
Large potentially disruptive reentry system
Nuclear bomb

10. Your turn:
Please write a 10-word sentence about something that happened in a class you had either yesterday or today.
Use Oldspeak
Pass your sentence one person to the back.
Now, re-write that sentence using the principles of Newspeak.

11. Your assignment:
Find a real news article (or part of a longer one) that is between 100 and 150 words.
Rewrite it using the principles of Newspeak found in the Appendix (pages in the Signet Classics edition)
Due Wednesday, 5/04