Obama State of the Union Adress registers as 8th grade reading level material

Started by Telarus, January 25, 2012, 10:14:09 PM

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Telarus

January 25, 2012, 10:14:09 PM
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Cain

#1
January 25, 2012, 10:15:24 PM
Most "serious" news registers at around that level, as well.

Tabloids register at effectively the reading level of a 9 year old.

Juana

#2
January 25, 2012, 10:22:54 PM
Newspapers, iirc, are written at a sixth grade level. So not really surprising here.
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Cramulus

#3
January 25, 2012, 11:01:36 PM
hah! I just spent a good chunk of the workday scoring things on the Flesch-Kincaid scale. The "grade level" of writing has nothing to do with content or anything--it's calculated by the average sentence length and the average number of syllables per word. It's fairly rare to see anything written for the public that's over a 6th grade level.

Personally, I think it's kind of a weird to use the flesch-kincaid to score oral communication - it's for reading comprehension. People never say "that guy talks at a ninth grade level". I guess it is useful for comparing which speeches have the longest sentences, but I'm not sure that FK-reading comprehension scores are necessarily correlated with speech comprehension.


just for kicks, the article in the OP is written at the 14th grade.

This post is 11th grade.

P3nT4gR4m

#4
January 25, 2012, 11:09:06 PM
Quote from: Cain on January 25, 2012, 10:15:24 PM
Most "serious" news registers at around that level, as well.

Tabloids register at effectively the reading level of a 9 year old.

Pretty fucking highbrow, considering their audience :eek:

I'm up to my arse in Brexit Numpties, but I want more.  Target-rich environments are the new sexy.
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"computation is a pattern in the spacetime arrangement of particles, and it's not the particles but the pattern that really matters! Matter doesn't matter." -- Max Tegmark

The Good Reverend Roger

#5
January 25, 2012, 11:10:06 PM
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on January 25, 2012, 11:09:06 PM
Quote from: Cain on January 25, 2012, 10:15:24 PM
Most "serious" news registers at around that level, as well.

Tabloids register at effectively the reading level of a 9 year old.

Pretty fucking highbrow, considering their audience :eek:

You don't have to jump very high, that's true.

He could have just stood there grunting and whistling, and he'd have had 90% of the nation in his pocket.
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Thurnez Isa

#6
January 27, 2012, 04:22:56 AM
QuoteObama's use of simple language  is in part a reflection of his audience: the American voter in an election year. And it's part of a larger trend in simpler State of the Union language as the speech as transitioned from a simple address to Congress into a prime-time televised event.

I can't wait till politicians start giving speeches like someone talking to their dog after he takes a shit on the couch.
Through me the way to the city of woe, Through me the way to everlasting pain, Through me the way among the lost.
Justice moved my maker on high.
Divine power made me, Wisdom supreme, and Primal love.
Before me nothing was but things eternal, and eternal I endure.
Abandon all hope, you who enter here.
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The Good Reverend Roger

#7
January 27, 2012, 04:23:51 AM
Quote from: Thurnez Isa on January 27, 2012, 04:22:56 AM
QuoteObama's use of simple language  is in part a reflection of his audience: the American voter in an election year. And it's part of a larger trend in simpler State of the Union language as the speech as transitioned from a simple address to Congress into a prime-time televised event.

I can't wait till politicians start giving speeches like someone talking to their dog after he takes a shit on the couch.

Never heard a Reagan speech, I see.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Thurnez Isa

#8
January 27, 2012, 04:25:37 AM
The problem is whenever I heard a Reagan speech I was below an 8th grade level.

I'm getting old, not quite there yet.
Through me the way to the city of woe, Through me the way to everlasting pain, Through me the way among the lost.
Justice moved my maker on high.
Divine power made me, Wisdom supreme, and Primal love.
Before me nothing was but things eternal, and eternal I endure.
Abandon all hope, you who enter here.
Dante

The Good Reverend Roger

#9
January 27, 2012, 04:26:27 AM
Quote from: Thurnez Isa on January 27, 2012, 04:25:37 AM
The problem is whenever I heard a Reagan speech I was below an 8th grade level.

I'm getting old, not quite there yet.

:horrormirth:
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Q. G. Pennyworth

#10
January 27, 2012, 02:42:20 PM
8th grade is actually the sweet spot when trying to communicate with the general public. What's everyone bitching about?

P3nT4gR4m

#11
January 27, 2012, 03:52:19 PM
You ever listened to a cabbage reading something out loud? 8th grade is joe public's equivalent of a phd. Most of the world are thick as pigshit. Enjoy your edge, don't whine about it. :evil:

I'm up to my arse in Brexit Numpties, but I want more.  Target-rich environments are the new sexy.
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walking the fine line line between genius and batshit fucking crazy

"computation is a pattern in the spacetime arrangement of particles, and it's not the particles but the pattern that really matters! Matter doesn't matter." -- Max Tegmark

AFK

#12
January 27, 2012, 03:58:57 PM
The only devil's advocate/caveat I would throw into the mix is that we do have folks in our population that have had some significant socio-economic barriers that have been a hindrance to academic achievement and advancement.  Then there are also the ESL Americans whom also benefit from a SOTU speech that uses simpler language.  Certainly, there are also many, many Americans who are just lazy and willingly stupid.   
Cynicism is a blank check for failure.

P3nT4gR4m

#13
January 27, 2012, 04:17:59 PM
Was this imbecile born or made? It's a perfectly valid question. Call me a heartless bastard but it's the last thing that I think about when there's one standing in front of me.

I'm up to my arse in Brexit Numpties, but I want more.  Target-rich environments are the new sexy.
Not actually a meat product.
Ass-Kicking & Foot-Stomping Ancient Master of SHIT FUCK FUCK FUCK
Awful and Bent Behemothic Results of Last Night's Painful Squat.
High Altitude Haggis-Filled Sex Bucket From Beyond Time and Space.
Internet Monkey Person of Filthy and Immoral Pygmy-Porn Wart Contagion
Octomom Auxillary Heat Exchanger Repairman
walking the fine line line between genius and batshit fucking crazy

"computation is a pattern in the spacetime arrangement of particles, and it's not the particles but the pattern that really matters! Matter doesn't matter." -- Max Tegmark

Luna

#14
January 27, 2012, 04:25:08 PM
Quote from: Queen_Gogira on January 27, 2012, 02:42:20 PM
8th grade is actually the sweet spot when trying to communicate with the general public. What's everyone bitching about?

Some mistake "smart enough to tailor speech to the intended audience" for "too stupid to speak at a college level."

This is especially amusing after Obama caught flak for being too intellectual and hard to understand last year, for a speech at the 9th grade reading level.

http://illinois.edu/blog/view/25/28947?count=1&ACTION=DIALOG
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