Advaitha Nair 10KBOU AP English Shooting an Elephant: Rhetorical Analysis Essay Draft English novelist George Orwell’s personal narrative “Shooting an Elephant” was written in 1936, during the British Imperialism of Burma. This personal narrative contains the subject of imperialism and of what the both the British and the Burmese went through during this period of time. The occasion is the British Imperialism of Burma with the setting being in Burma (because Orwell mentions it) and a particular event where a British official (the author) is forced to kill the elephant in front of the Burmese. The audience is for people who want to know what is like for the people experiencing imperialism first-hand. The purpose is to inform people about what imperialism is like and what
In the short essay, Orwell depicts a flaw in human nature-the disability to overcome peer pressure. Peer pressure causes people to follow the majority. Decisions caused by peer pressure may not end well. For the police officer, peer pressure caused him to inflict suffering upon the elephant. Personally, the short essay caused me to reflect on many decisions I have made.
This makes his decision ultimately more difficult. Orwell’s conflict with society and himself represented a larger conflict that he has wth British Imperialism. “Shooting an Elephant,” is a struggle of choice that Orwell has to make that challenges his moral judgement, and his effort to save face. The struggles Orwell experiences can be applied to his struggle with the opinion and morality or British Imperialism in its
First of two start of, the most rhetorically influential element of this story is the authors background. While George Orwell is a well-known for being an English author and journalist, he is very famous for being a political satirist. In this story, the audiences can see Orwell’s personal opinions on social and political views. In “Shooting an Elephant,” readers detected Orwell’s opinions on imperialism through the narrator’s display of pathos. Throughout the story, the narrator shows feelings of hatred, doubt, fear, anxiety, and distress at the fact that he is in a position of mocked authority.
Well known author and journalist, George Orwell, in his essay, Shooting an Elephant, describes his experiences as a Policeman in Moulmein, Burma during European Imperialism. Orwell’s purpose is to convey the ideal that what is right and what is accepted don’t always align. He adopts a remorseful tone in order to convey to the reader the weight of his actions. By looking at George Orwell’s use of imagery and figurative language, one can see his strongly conflicting opinions on Imperialism.
Shooting An Elephant The story “ Shooting An Elephant” by George Orwell is about a man who lives in Bruma as a police officer. Bruma is under British control and they are not aloud to own guns. Being a British officer, the narrator was aloud to own one at the time. The story is told in first person, as readers learn about a traumatizing experience the narrator had in his past.
Strength in Numbers During the height of the British Empire the extent of England’s rule stretched to the country of Myanmar, also known as Burma. George Orwell’s narrative essay Shooting an Elephant takes place during this period. In this essay, Orwell voices his distain for imperialism through the perspective of a British police officer stationed in Burma—a colonist. Imperialism, argues Orwell, creates a culture of hate, something that affected him, and in the case that a colony has to be terminated the hate and anguish become much worse.
George Orwell held a unique perspective on Britain’s involvement in Burma. Through his own experiences in Burma, he developed an inner struggle between following orders and opposing imperialism, that he expressed in the story Shooting an Elephant.
Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell Have you ever looked at something or someone and started reminiscing negative comments in your head about them? What about cared what others thought of you and tried to play hero to get them to like you? George Orwell’s essay, “Shooting an Elephant”, is a great example of this scenario. This essay secretly hid three key points that most written documents may or may not pinpoint on. It explains how you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, animals should be treated just as equal as humans, and always be yourself.
Literary texts can depict many problems and situations resonating with its readers. The English author George Orwell addresses situations like governmental control, historical periods marked by oppression and social problems like conformism. These topics are depicted in his works such as the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four and the essay “Shooting an Elephant” that is read by many students worldwide. Using these topics as an example, why should secondary students read these works by George Orwell?
At a young age, parents tend to teach their child right from wrong. They teach you this to become responsible, so when your an adult you do not have to rely on them while making decisions. In George Orwell's Shooting an Elephant, we notice he wanted to do the right thing by not shooting the elephant but gave into peer pressure to fit in. The narrator felt the need he had to shoot the elephant because the people of Burma were frightened and he wanted to be their hero. Peer pressure can lead people to do bad things for what they think are good reasons but are actually not.
Hannah Edmiston Boudreau AP Language Friday 25 September, 2015 Shooting an Elephant Analyzing Rhetorical Devices Shooting an Elephant, written by George Orwell in 1936, describes his experience working as a British officer located in Moulmein, Burma. He writes his essay to reveal the cruelty and disastrous outcome of imperialism he witnesses. Orwell uses strong resource of language such as symbolism, metaphors and imagery to express his disdain for British imperialism. Orwell uses symbolism to connect the character of the elephant to the effects of imperialism.
This narrative piece is an effective expository technique that describes the narrator’s thoughts and tone. Orwell uses oxymoron such as “grinning corpse” and paradox phrases such as “the story always sounds clear enough at a distance, but the nearer you get to the scene of events the vaguer it becomes”. Another paradox statement is shown in “I perceived this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys”. Orwell’s decisions were briskly altered as he was deciding on whether to kill the elephant or not. His mind altered from “I ought not to shoot him” to “I had got to do it” and also to “But I did not want to shoot the elephant”.
Furthermore, the essay Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell, is a reflective story on Orwell, that has concerns on the British Empire and
" Shooting an Elephant " written by George Orwell describes an ugly nature of imperialism. The story is about one European police officer who served in Moulmein, in lower Burma. While he was doing his job he faced many difficulties because of local people's anti- European attitude. This negative attitude overcomplicated his job. He had already realized that he wanted to get rid of his job as soon as possible.