To many American observers, the former governor of Alaska’s appeal is based on her ordinariness. The “aw shucks” winks and references to her own motherhood resonate with many and lend credence to her political point of view.
Her supporters view Sarah Palin’s pronouncements as good old American common sense, even if they smack of absurdity to others.
So when Palin called upon Muslims to “refutiate” (or is it “refudiate”?) the building of a mosque near Ground Zero in New York, many excused it as just another example of Palin being Palin.
After all, we all know what she meant, even if she reached outside the dictionary to express herself.
When called to task and informed that she was making up words, she defended herself by saying that Shakespeare also made up words.
It is true that William Shakespeare made up words, expanding the English language with his creations. He was forced to invent words to express his ideas because extant words didn’t do the job.
But to Palin, invention is invention and it doesn’t matter that she could have used the correct word, repudiate, instead of butchering it.
Palin is correct to compare herself to a literary figure; the problem is that she picked the wrong one. She is much less like the real person of Shakespeare and instead resembles the fictional Mrs. Malaprop, the comic character created by author Richard Brinsley Sheridan in 1775.
Perhaps Palin could learn something from the American comedian Norm Crosby, who made a career out of the inappropriate use of words to hilarious effect. Crosby’s purpose is deliberate humor, and he is very good at it.
In Palin’s case, the lack of command of her native language reflects not on her comic ability, but her intelligence. People judge us by the words we use, or in Palin’s case, misuse.
Ultimately, people who support Palin and her causes will overlook anything that casts her in a negative light, while people who question her intelligence will look at the “refutiation” incident as more evidence of a dearth of intellect.
The public is likely to make the same assumption about any politician — Democrat, Republican or independent — similarly exposed.
In my role as a writing tutor, I often tell students that writing is not about words, but about ideas. This is sometimes confusing to them because what we write on a piece of paper or in an e-mail are words. “Words,” I tell them, “are the vehicles we use to carry ideas. We have to use words because we don’t have any other way to communicate ideas in a paper.”
What will students take from Palin’s example?
The many writing tutors and college instructors I know are already concerned about students’ ability to express themselves clearly and correctly. Students struggle with grammar, sentence structure, organization and logic. They need help crafting their ideas into cogent arguments.
What they don’t need are public figures who, when trying to make a case for their point of view, grasp for words that somehow sound good but in reality mean nothing.
Charles Lyon of Atlanta is the supervisor of the Writing Lab at Georgia Perimeter College’s Clarkston campus, and the writing tutor at Mercer University’s Douglas Academic Center in Lithia Springs.
His opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of either GPC or Mercer University.
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