Choose two (2) statements below and examine the language problem. Then indicate whether the statements are ambiguous, vague, lack of clarity, etc., and explain your answer in detail.
#1 Jane is emotionally disturbed. Emotionally disturbed people shouldn’t be allowed to own guns. Jane shouldn’t be allowed to own guns.
#2 The average height of women in the United States is 5’5″. Any woman over the average height for women in the United States is tall. Bianca is 5 feet 5 1/2 inches tall. Bianca is tall.
#3 Suicide, whether direct or indirect, should be strongly condemned.
#4 The war on poverty was no war.
#5 The accused argued that he should not be required to pay the parking ticket because the sign said, “fine for parking”.
#6 America did not become a democracy until the 1960s. Women could not vote until the 19th amendment was ratified in 1920, and it was only in 1965 the voting rights act was passed that did away with the property qualifications and literacy tests, and pave the way for the genuine participation of all people, regardless of race, creed, or national origin.
#7 The higher the profits, the better the company.
#8 School dress codes are limits put on inappropriate clothing to help keep the learning environment focused. It can be quite a distraction for students if a classmate has inappropriate clothing. The use of a dress code during school is not preventing freedom of expression. The dress code still allows for students to choose what they wear as long as it is not deemed inappropriate, unlike required uniform dress codes.
#9 We should treat drug use in the same way we treat speech and religion, as a fundamental right. No one has to ingest any drug he doesn’t want to, just as no one has to read a particular book. The only reason the state assumes control over such matters is to subjugate its citizens by shielding them from temptations as befits children.
#10 I see it with the executives within the studio area. The other day, I saw a woman producer who was really quite powerful; and she railroaded, walked all over this guy, who was far less successful and powerful than her. She just behaved as if this man wasnt there because her position was more powerful than his. And it was much more disconcerting because it was a woman doing it. It was unfeminine, you know?
