the transitivity system is employed to analyze George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” in attempt to uncover the underlining imperialistic theme that occurs throughout the text‚ with relation towards the positionality of the narrator. In taking a linguistic approach‚ the paper intends to use stylistic analysis to substantiate literary interpretation. Building upon that plane‚ there will be illumination upon the actuality of an elephant with the symbolistic representation of imperialism as the driving
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Readers Response to George Orwell’s Shooting an Elephant The first time I found myself reading the short story “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell was during my senior year of high school. As an animal lover‚ the title was as intriguing as it was unappealing. Why would you want to shoot an elephant? That question is one that the character‚ the author himself‚ asks throughout the story as it’s told. It starts by introducing himself as a white sub-divisional police officer serving in Moulmein
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Critical Response Essay I class‚ we read a short story by George Orwell called Shooting an Elephant. It was a story about courage‚ judgment‚ and the pressure of peers. I personally did not like this story. I found it boring‚ pointless‚ and just another "hasn’t -this -happened -to -you" story about nothing. However‚ it was very well written‚ and if I had to critically respond to this story‚ I would praise the author on a number of things. The story opens by describing the relationship between
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Out of the billions of essays in the world‚ many have to do with current events or life lessons. After reading the essay “Shooting an Elephant”‚ it gives away many symbols and a very important life lesson. The essay has many symbols‚ but three stick out like a sore thumb. These include the gun‚ the Burmese people‚ and the elephant. A main symbol that is easily noticed is the gun he uses. A small powerful rifle against a huge elephant. Orwell even noted “an old .44 Winchester and much too small
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Narration: “Shooting an Elephant” To narrate is to describe an experience or a story that is linked in time. An effective narration “usually relates a sequence of events that led to new knowledge or had a notable outcome” (Aaron 60). George Orwell uses narration in “Shooting an Elephant” to support his thesis that imperialism is an immoral relationship of power because it compels the oppressor to act immorally to keep up appearances that he is right‚ just like his experience of shooting an elephant. Orwell
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Leonard Morrow Christina Olson Writing Assignment 3 9 April 2013 Rhetorical Analysis: “Shooting an Elephant” In the essay entitled “Shooting an Elephant‚” George Orwell writes‚ “In Moulmein‚ in lower Burma‚ I was hated by large numbers of people – the only time in my life that I have been important enough for this to happen to me” (Orwell‚ pg#). In this exert‚ not only does Orwell succeed in setting the mood and foreshadowing events to come‚ but he also introduces us to a protagonist
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In George Orwell’s essay “Shooting an Elephant” (1936)‚ he reveals that he despises the very idea of imperialism. Orwell shows this by using an extended metaphor throughout the entire essay. The metaphor is shown through the story of him shooting an elephant. He is representing the entire British nation‚ and their imperialistic values. He shows that he does not really want to shoot this elephant if it is not necessary but the Burmese people keep pressuring him to do something and to do it right
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“Shooting an Elephant” In “Shooting an Elephant” George Orwell is not liked by the Burmese people because he is the representation of their oppressors‚ the British. He gets his chance to be the hero when an elephant gets loose and causes destruction and the people need him to kill the beast. What would have happened if he didn’t shoot the elephant? Why Orwell feel so awful about killing the elephant? Orwell decides to kill the elephant‚ but does he do it for the right reason? In Orwell’s essay he
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twenty years as a writer; the essay “Shooting an Elephant‚” set in the Burma of the 1920s and written in 1936‚ is one of his most famous works. In the early twentieth century‚ Burma was still a colony of Britain but anti-imperialism protests and social movements developed very fast‚ causing “great tension between Burmese‚ Indians and English‚ between civilians and police” (Meyers 56). Orwell’s essay “Shooting an Elephant” is based on this historical tension. In this essay‚ Orwell depicts an older narrator
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“Shooting an Elephant” is an essay written by George Orwell in 1936. “Shooting an Elephant” is written chronologically and is a 1st person narrative. The tone of the essay is discomforting. The story takes place in Burma in the 1920’s. It depicts a situation in which the main character‚ a young Englishman‚ who is serving as a police officer‚ encounters a ravaging elephant while he is on duty. The anonymous narrator is a questioning colonialist that throughout the story struggles with three
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