Shooting an Elephant

• Engels
• Further Education (Key Stage 5)

Goals for today 

Consider links between your reading and Nineteen Eighty-Four 

Consider stylistic go-tos in Orwell's work 

Further analyse Part 1 of Nineteen Eighty-Four

You know the action you will take is wrong, but hundreds of people expect you to do it. If you refuse, you will lose face. What do you do?

You know something is wrong, but hundreds of people expect you to do it. If you refuse, you will lose face. What do you do?

Do it

Don't do it

Not sure

Discuss these questions on your table. 

What pressures influenced your decision?

Was the pressure internal or external?

Is freedom simply the ability to choose?

Shooting an Elephant

This "essay" was written by George Orwell and published in 1936. It is unclear whether Orwell actually did shoot an elephant when he was in Burma in 1922 - 27.  Therefore, we should read the essay as fiction based on experiences and knowledge that the author had. We refer to the first person as the narrator. 

Stylistic hunt 

Group A: First-person narration

• How does Orwell create authenticity?

• Why tell the story personally?

Group D: Sentence structure

• Long reflective sentences versus short decisive moments.

• How does pacing affect tension?

Group B: Imagery

• Find vivid descriptions.

. What senses are appealed to? 

• What emotional response do they create?

Group C: Irony

• Where does Orwell say one thing but imply another?

• How does this shape our view of imperialism?

Group E: Extended symbolism

• What is the central symbol? 

. How is it used throughout the 'essay'? How does it change or expand in meaning? 

Prepare to teach a one minute mini-lesson on your stylistic go-to. Give examples and explain how these choices assist in conveying the theme (message) of the 'essay'.

Orwell's stylistic go-tos

• First-person voice

• Irony

• Reflective tone

• Detailed imagery

• Controlled pacing

Tour the room

Consider the statements in the room. Write on each one whether you think it applies to "Shooting an Elephant" or Nineteen Eighty-Four or both and why.

Tour the room

People perform roles for an audience.

Power traps the powerful. 

Fear changes behaviour. 

Individuals suppress their beliefs. 

Public opinion becomes a form of control. 

Freedom is largely an illusion. 

Comparison - themes, topics and ideas

"Shooting an Elephant"	Nineteen Eighty-Four
Colonial crowd	Party surveillance
Officer performs authority	Winston performs loyalty
Fear of humiliation	Fear of punishment
Social pressure	Ideological pressure
Limited freedom	Near-total lack of freedom

Orwell's concern is not only oppressive governments. He is fascinated by the way systems force people to act against their own beliefs.

"I often wondered whether any of the others grasped that I had done it solely to avoid looking a fool."

Think (1 min): What is surprising about this admission?

Pair (2 min): How does it change our understanding of power?

Share (2 min)

Write your answer in class notebook- make a tab 

"Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimetres inside your skull."

• In both works, which character appears more powerful?

• In both works, which character is actually freer?

• In both works, how does Orwell reveal the hidden limitations on individual freedom?

The police officer appears powerful but isn't free.
<div>Winston appears powerless but still tries to think freely.
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Overarching concerns in Orwell's works 

• The performance of power

• The psychology of conformity

• The unreliability of freedom

• Public versus private identity

Shooting an Elephant

1. Identify the setting of the narrative 

2. What is the main internal conflict of the narrator? 

3. Explain the function of the narrative involving the football match. 

4. How does the narrator personally feel about the treatment of Europeans in Burma? 

Shooting an Elephant

5. What motivates an elderly woman to disperse a group of children? 

6. Explain the irony associated with the narrator's shooting of the Elephant. 

7. Make an inference. Why does the narrator run away before his task has technically finished? 

Shooting an Elephant

8. If the narrator had chosen not to shoot the elephant, what is the implicit message he would have sent to the community? How does his profession inform your answer? 

9. What provides the narrator some sense of relief in the resolution? 

10. What ideas, explored in 1984, do we see in this essay? 

Find, and write in your exercise book, the definition for the following words: 

Aimless 

Alter 

Despotic 

Feebly 

Futility 

Garish 

 

Invariably 

Mahout 

nimble 

Preoccupied 

Prostrate 

resolute 

sneer 

squalid 

vague 

wander 

Definition Bingo

Draw a table 4 x 4 

Write your vocabulary in your bingo card. 

Your teacher will read a definition. 

You cross off the correct word. You can call BINGO if you have a horizontal, vertical or diagonal line of 4 

Your card will be checked. 

Reading "Shooting an Elephant"
helps me understand
Nineteen Eighty-Four because..."