Question

Read the excerpt from "Politics and the English Language" by George Orwell.

There is a long list of fly-blown metaphors which could similarly be got rid of if enough people would interest themselves in the job; and it should also be possible to laugh the not ‘un-’ formation out of existence, to reduce the amount of Latin and Greek in the average sentence, to drive out foreign phrases and strayed scientific words, and, in general, to make pretentiousness unfashionable. But all these are minor points. The defense of the English language implies more than this, and perhaps it is best to start by saying what it does not imply.

What is the author’s purpose in this paragraph?

to entertain readers with complex words
to entertain readers with clever ideas
to persuade readers to use more Latin and Greek in writing
to persuade readers to eliminate certain types of vague language

Answer 1

to persuade readers to eliminate certain types of vague language

Orwell lists examples of bad, pretentious, or vague usages and argues they should be gotten rid of—he's urging clearer, less inflated writing.