Profanity Research Paper: The Canterbury Tales (Research Paper Sample)

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Profanity Research Paper: The Canterbury Tales
Introduction
From a general point of view, the word profanity refers to the various curse words that are used in conversations with varied meanings and these words are usually construed as inappropriate, vulgar, foul, dirty, or insulting (Jay 157). In other words, profanity is the process of cursing or swearing and this type of language is largely considered offensive or illicit. According to Jay (159), profanity can take different forms where it can be done as a gesture, as a verbal expression or as a part of speech or may also be expressed in the manner in which someone behaves in a social context. The art of profanity has been an integral part of human discourse for many decades and therefore it is not a new phenomenon and therefore in some quotas, profanity has been considered to be an indication of higher intelligence as success is surprisingly attributed to doing counterintuitive things. The claim of this essay is that although profanity may seem counterintuitive, people who regularly use it in their discussion have vaster vocabularies by possessing the ability to more readily express their ideas and feelings. This essay holds the assertion that profanity is actually a bad and extremely harmful thing.
From review of literature of experts, there is substantial observation laying claim to the fact that people swear for impact. Be that as it may, it is also conceded in literature that the “widespread use of strong language may actually lessen the impact as well as contributing towards the lessening of society’s ability to set part certain ideas and words as sacred” (Jay 160). In fact, in the view of McEnery (102), the use of profanity goes a long way in shaping and reflecting modern culture in powerful ways.
Purpose of Profanity in Modern Culture
According to McEnery (211), most profanity and curse words have sexual connotation as well as racial indecencies. In this regard, the use of these words from different members of the society such as teachers and parents is inappropriate especially of the perception it creates for those that look up to them such as children and students. It is based on this moral stand that some of these curse words are considered offensive to an extent that they are punishable by law. In fact, there are countries that have legislated laws aimed at monitoring profanity especially in public places. For instance, swearing or cursing in public can be constituted as an offence under The 1986 Public Order Act (Section 5(1) and (6)) if it is determined to have caused alarm, harassment, or distress to other people (McEnery 89).
Effects of Profanity on Language Development and Society
One of the most daunting challenges for modern society especially from the perspective of parenting is the fact that there is an increase in the rate at which people curse and use profanity. This challenge is further complicated by the advance of technology which has exposed very young people to profanity through the internet, television, and other sources of mass media (Kolve & Glending 98). The effect of this has the creation of the perception that swearing is no different to other everyday words and this therefore presents an urgent need for patents to learn creative and practical ways of how to handle profanity and its extreme threats to parenting and their children.
Profanity according to McEnery (47), has profound impact on language development particularly for children and from a parenting point of view. Today, virtually every child is exposed to profanities from a very young age and this naturally appears to grow into their vocabularies and language development. This then means that there has to be a concerted effort striving to help children learn the difference between an offensive word and one that is bad. Words that are intended to insult or offend a specific group or race of people should be highly discouraged.
In trying to understand the impact of profanity on parenting and language development for children, I conducted an interview with a Whitecker, an African-American single mother of five sons. The interview sought to understand her personal struggles (if any) with profanity and how the high prevalence of profanity has affected (if at all) her children language development and in a broader sense, her parenting as a whole. In her admission, Mrs. Whitecker expressed her frustration with how the increased prevalence of profanity on all media platforms and the internet has exposed her children to vulgarities from a very early age making it very difficult for her to rid them of profanities. She observed that profanities in their very nature are obscene and vulgar and therefore they place great threat to children’s morality by making them insensitive to violence and immoral behaviors. In order to deal with this challenge, Mrs. Whitecker established a clear guidance about swearing and using of profane terms in her house teaching her children that these words are inappropriate and cause offence. In order to achieve these goals, the interviewee has strict guidelines about what the children can watch on television and the music they have access to and this she does by leading by example, not exposing herself to profanities through television or music for her children to follow.
Profanity and Modern Discourse
Geoffrey Chaucer, a late fourteenth century English poet, in his highly acclaimed work, The Canterbury Tales, also addresses how puns were used to criticize leaderships and public figures in veiled verbal attacks and sarcasm. This in the centuries gone was a mild and veiled resemblance to addressing the idea of inappropriate language use to criticize and shame. In the modern times, this has largely changed as there is a proliferation of the blatant use of profanities in the public and through public platforms such as TVs, in comedy, in the work place, and over social media. In Chaucer’s work, he attributes in part, the growth of boldness in the use of racial slurs and micro-aggressive language to events that happened in the ancient English society in 1380s during what was referred to as The Black Death. This event wiped out over forty percent of the population in England bringing to the fore strained relationships of different classes in the society – the nobles, the peasantry, the artisan and the propertied classes (Kolve & Glending 56). It was during this era that the use of racial slurs started taking shape in the US and contained within it the deliberate intend to ridicule, offend, and discriminate against the minority groups.
Looking at modern societies today, as has been established, the use of profanities has caused harm tremendously around the world. McEnery (210) indicates in their research that the last half century has seen a prevalent trend in the growth of the use of profanities in the public spaces. Statistics show that over 70% of Americans for instance, admit to hearing English swear words everyday hurled in public places and two-thirds of them believe that there is more cursing today than there was two decades ago (McEnery 221). More disturbingly, 32% of male Americans and 23% of female Americans confessed to using the F*#$ word a few times every week in their normal conversations (McEnery 225).
A research by Danesi (134) indicates that the use of profanity in modern society was accelerated by the pop culture referring to the prevailing attitudes, ideas, and images within the broader culture of the society. In the pop culture, there has been an unprecedented use association of profanity with success and intelligence where it is made to appear as though being vulgar and profane in speech and demeanor is something to be admired and appreciated (Danesi 143). It is implied that people who have been successful ...