Don't make English official, ban it instead Dennis Baron · It's International Mother Language Day, and once again the U.S. House of Representatives is considering legislation to make English the official language of the United States. Supporters of the measure say that English forms the glue that keeps America together. They deplore the dollars wasted translating English into other languages. And they fear a horde of illegal aliens adamantly refusing to acquire the most powerful language on earth. I would like to offer a modest proposal: don’t make English official, ban it instead. Opponents of official English remind us that without legislation, more than ninety-four percent of the residents of this country speak the national language. No country with an official language even comes close. Plus, today’s non-English-speaking immigrants are picking up English faster than earlier generations of immigrants did. Introducing an official English bill in Congress is an exercise in futility: one has been introduced every session for a couple of decades, but when crunch time comes, these bills don’t pass. That's because members of Congress are afraid of alienating too many voters in their districts. Plus, requiring English could make people want to avoid it, like homework, or paying taxes. Banning English may sound radical, but it’s nothing new: proposals to ban English first surfaced after the American Revolution. Anti-British sentiment was so strong in the new United States that a few tea party patriots wanted to get rid of English altogether. They suggested replacing English with Hebrew, the language of the garden of Eden. French was another candidate to replace English, because it was thought at the time, and especially by the French, to be the language of pure reason. Then there was Greek, the language o the world’s first democracy, so long as you weren't a woman, a slave, or a non-Athenian. It’s not clear how serious any of these proposals were, though Roger Sherman of Connecticut supposedly remarked that it would be better to keep English for ourselves and make the British speak Greek. Even though the British are now our allies, there is still a benefit to banning English. A common language can cause strife and misunderstanding. Look at Ireland and Northern Ireland, the two Koreas, or the Union and the Confederacy. Not to mention the average family, whose members share a common tongue but don’t always get along so well. Banning English would prevent that kind of divisiveness in America today. Also, if we banned English, we wouldn’t have to worry about whose English to make official: the English of England or America? of Washington or Brooklyn? of Benedict Cumberbatch or Sarah Palin? Another reason to ban English: it’s hardly even English anymore. English started its decline in 1066, when illegal French immigrants swam ashore at Hastings demanding bilingual schools and wanting us to adopt the metric system. Since then English has become ...

1. Don't make English official, ban it instead
Dennis Baron
· It's International Mother Language Day, and once again the
U.S. House of Representatives is considering legislation to
make English the official language of the United States.
Supporters of the measure say that English forms the glue that
keeps America together. They deplore the dollars wasted
translating English into other languages. And they fear a horde
of illegal aliens adamantly refusing to acquire the most
powerful language on earth.
I would like to offer a modest proposal: don’t make English
official, ban it instead.
Opponents of official English remind us that without
legislation, more than ninety-four percent of the residents of
this country speak the national language. No country with an
official language even comes close. Plus, today’s non-English-
speaking immigrants are picking up English faster than earlier
generations of immigrants did.
Introducing an official English bill in Congress is an exercise in
futility: one has been introduced every session for a couple of
decades, but when crunch time comes, these bills don’t pass.
That's because members of Congress are afraid of alienating too
many voters in their districts. Plus, requiring English could
make people want to avoid it, like homework, or paying taxes.
Banning English may sound radical, but it’s nothing new:
proposals to ban English first surfaced after the American
Revolution. Anti-British sentiment was so strong in the new
United States that a few tea party patriots wanted to get rid of

2. English altogether. They suggested replacing English with
Hebrew, the language of the garden of Eden. French was
another candidate to replace English, because it was thought at
the time, and especially by the French, to be the language of
pure reason. Then there was Greek, the language o the world’s
first democracy, so long as you weren't a woman, a slave, or a
non-Athenian. It’s not clear how serious any of these proposals
were, though Roger Sherman of Connecticut supposedly
remarked that it would be better to keep English for ourselves
and make the British speak Greek.
Even though the British are now our allies, there is still
a benefit to banning English. A common language can cause
strife and misunderstanding. Look at Ireland and Northern
Ireland, the two Koreas, or the Union and the Confederacy. Not
to mention the average family, whose members share a common
tongue but don’t always get along so well. Banning English
would prevent that kind of divisiveness in America today.
Also, if we banned English, we wouldn’t have to worry about
whose English to make official: the English of England or
America? of Washington or Brooklyn? of Benedict Cumberbatch
or Sarah Palin?
Another reason to ban English: it’s hardly even English
anymore. English started its decline in 1066, when illegal
French immigrants swam ashore at Hastings demanding
bilingual schools and wanting us to adopt the metric system.
Since then English has become a polyglot conglomeration of
French, Latin, Italian, Scandinavian, Arabic, Sanskrit, Celtic,
Yiddish and Chinese, with an occasional smiley face thrown in.
The French have banned English, so we should too. After all,
they have reason on their side.
We should ban English because it has become a world

3. language. Remember what happened to all the other world
languages: Latin, Greek, Proto-Indo-European? One day they’re
on everybody’s tongue; the next, they’re dead. Banning English
would save us that inevitable disappointment.
Although we shouldn’t ban English without designating a
replacement for it, there is no obvious candidate. The French
blew their chance when they sold Louisiana. It doesn’t look like
the Russians are going to take over this country any time soon
— they’re having enough trouble holding on to Russia. German,
the largest minority language in the U. S. until recently, lost
much of its appeal after two world wars. Chinese is too hard to
write, especially if you’re not Chinese. There’s always
Esperanto, a language made up over a hundred years ago to
bring about world peace. We’re still waiting for that. And if you
took Spanish in high school you can see that it’s not easy to get
large numbers of people to speak another language fluently.
In the end, though, it doesn’t matter what replacement language
we pick, just so long as we ban English instead of making it
official. Prohibiting English will do for the language what
Prohibition did for liquor. Those who already use it will
continue to do so, and those who don’t will want to try out what
has been forbidden. This negative psychology works with
children. It works with speed limits. It even worked in the
Garden of Eden.
1. Examines many of the following questions (others may be
considered.):
· What’s the author’s thesis (claim)? Is it logical?
· What’s the author’s purpose in writing this essay?
· How effective does the author present the claim and support

4. that claim?
· Is the piece aimed at a particular audience? A neutral
audience? Persons who are already sympathetic to the author’s
point of view? A hostile audience?
· What’s the author’s tone, persona (voice)? Is it appropriate?
· What assumptions does the author make? Do I share them? If
not, why not?
· Does the author ever confuse facts with beliefs or opinions?
· How convincing is the evidence?
· Are significant objections and counterevidence adequately
discussed?
· To what extent has the author convinced me? Why? or Why
not?
Analyzing an Argument
Examine the Author’s Claim (Thesis)Does the writer provide a
clear and relevant claim?Later, consider whether the writer
supports that claim.

5. Examine the Author’s PurposeWhy did the author write this
argument?Is the author trying to persuade, explain, mediate.
Examine the Author’s MethodologyHow effective is the author
in accomplishing her goals?Does the author quote authorities?
Are these authorities really competent in this field? Are
equally competent authorities who take a different view
ignored?Does the writer use statistics? If so, are they
appropriate to the point being argued? Can they be interpreted
differently?
Methodology ContinuedDoes the writer build the argument by
using relevant and effective examples or analogies?Are the
writer’s assumptions acceptable?Does the writer consider all
relevant factors? Has he or she omitted some points that you
think should be discussed?Does the writer seek to persuade by
means of ridicule? If so, is the ridicule fair?
Examine the Author’s Persona or Voice
How does the author present herself?Is she arrogant?
Condescending?Is she respectful of her opponents?Is she
objective in her criticism?Is she entertaining? Sarcastic?
Your ObjectiveYou should be able to analyze how effective the
author of a primary text is in writing her essay regardless of
how you feel personally about the topic or issue.Please avoid
arguing the topic being discussed; that’s not your objective.

6. Questions to ConsiderWhat’s the author’s thesis (claim)? Is it
logical?What’s the author’s purpose in writing this essay?How
effective does the author present the claim and support that
claim?Is the piece aimed at a particular audience? A neutral
audience? Persons who are already sympathetic to the author’s
point of view? A hostile audience?How does the author’s essay
reflect the three appeals: logos, pathos, ethos?What’s the
author’s tone, persona (voice)? Is it appropriate?What
assumptions does the author make? Do I share them? If not,
why not?Does the author ever confuse facts with beliefs or
opinions?How convincing is the evidence?Are significant
objections and counterevidence adequately discussed?To what
extent has the author convinced me? Why? or Why not?
THE BASIC ANALYSIS ESSAY OUTLINE
WRITING THE ANALYSIS ESSAY:
The Introduction
Introduction (Length for this class: 1-3 paragraphs)Summarize
the primary textSituate the reader in terms of the topicInclude a
thesis statement that expresses a value or judgment
The Rhetorical Analysis
Thesis Statements
Your thesis should be a value statement that indicates you are
going to assess both strengths and weaknesses in the primary

7. text. Of course, you can focus more on the strengths or the
weaknesses. Below are some examples of thesis statements:
Phillips effectively expresses her opinion by voicing her
concern with a stern tone, but she lacks credible evidence, never
gives consideration to the opposing side, and presents a lack of
examples. Stylistically, Jacoby’s paper is written well.
However, his gross overstatements, his lack of support for the
statistics given, and his attempts to appeal to our emotions
leave me wanting more. While the author’s opinion on the
subject is clearly expressed, her methods are too aggressive and
rely on generalizations that don’t allow room for any other
opinions except her own.
More Example Thesis StatementsAlthough Knoploh does an
outstanding job developing the issue at hand, her argument was
ultimately weakened by her inability to maintaining a respectful
tone, as well as connect the explicit songs to an increase in
teens having sex. Although he is effective in addressing his
audience and capturing their attention, Richard Vedder use
correlational evidence inappropriately, ignores the opposition,
and presents side issues to distract the reader from his lack of
evidence.Although her quotes, studies and many examples of
song lyrics are solid and are somewhat supportive to her claim,
Knoploh’s voice and tone are weak and almost unnoticeable in
the whole argument because they are hidden beneath all the
examples and statistics; moreover, she depends too much on the
lyrical examples and not on enough supporting evidence to
develop a strong, convincing argument.
Body of essay (Length for this class: 4-5 paragraphs)

8. Consider the below issues as you analyze the primary
text:Claim DevelopmentSupporting
DetailsTonePurposeResearchAssumptionsCounterargumentsThe
use of the three appeals (e.g., Logos, Pathos, Ethos)
Possible Organizational Patterns
in the Body SectionOption 1Option 2Option 3Option 4Option
5Strength (S)WSWSStrength (S)
WWSSStrength (S)WWSWWeakness (W)SWSW
Conclusion (Length for this class: 1-2 paragraphs
Summarize the discussionBriefly state your position on the
topic (optional)Bring closure to the topic