Analysis of the Declaration

"He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands" (Declaration of Independence). The phrases that can be replaced by simpler verbs are: "constrained," "taken Captive," "to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren," and "to fall themselves by their hands. " This passage could be re-written in the following way, keeping Orwell's standards in mind:

In his essay "Politics and the English Language," George Orwell sets out specific and general standards for written English. These include avoiding idioms, metaphors, similes, long words, and foreign words (Orwell). However, there are even more rigid standards for political writing. According to Orwell, the vagueness and incompetence he illustrates with five different passages are especially prevalent in political writing. Unfortunately, they appear in the Declaration of Independence as well. As a result, the Declaration of Independence is a poor specimen according to Orwell's standards.