The Concept and the Grammar

Introduction

This paper is in response to my reading assignments this week. I will be writing about "the Concept and the Grammar" found in the textbook Keeping the Concept found on pages 97 - 108.

The Concept and the Grammar

As I read the chapter of the Concept and the Grammar, it made sense to me regarding what George Orwell stated in his writing of 1984. Coming from a home where Spanish was the primary language and then learning English going to school, I have always struggled with my vocabulary. I dropped out of school in the 9th grade because I didn't think I was smart. My wife has encouraged me to go back to school, because she has helped me understand the difference between not knowing the right words to say compared to not knowing how to say them. I believe that is what this chapter is talking about. Kids in today's society are not being taught to think analytically anymore. In the way that George Orwell stated that citizens will be rendered helpless to the propaganda of a totalitarian government, this is what I see happening with today's youth.

Later in the chapter of the Concept and the Grammar, it talks about Jesus being associated with the power of language. The Gospel of John says "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God". This chapter talks about how God uses the metaphor of language as the creative voice of God. This chapter also talks about the Tower of Babel and how this emphasizes the importance of language when it comes to social order. Throughout the Bible we can find many examples of the power of language or the written word. I did not understand until reading this assignment how simple yet very powerful God's written word is. Reading this chapter opened my eyes to understand why learning is so important so that I do not become lost in a "totalitarian government's propaganda".