Critiquing English Literature Roxana Hosseini College

There are a countless number of authors that critique contemporary English usage to the highest extent they possibly can in order to ensure one’s writing is flawless. David Foster Wallace and George Orwell are two of the many authors that criticize modern English literature and offer solutions for what they believe to be common literary mistakes. Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language” focuses on writing clearly, in a simple fashion and the mistakes one is prone to make if they do not write in this style. On the other hand, “Authority and American Usage” by Wallace discusses the ongoing Usage Wars of modern English writing and the importance of authority and credibility in writing, while drawing a clear line between usage and ethics. Although both authors believe there are many flaws in English literature, their literary styles both differ from one another and they do not offer the same solutions to their much different critiques. As a result of this, neither Orwell nor Wallace would agree with each other regarding the issue of common literary mistakes and the techniques necessary to solve these problems.

Orwell starts off “Politics and the English Language” by claiming that the English language is going towards the wrong...