Shooting an Elephant

The stand off
Originally uploaded by Mr Andrew Murray

Here is a link to the essay.

http://www.online-literature.com/orwell/887/

Periods 8/9 and 12 ONLY : Please answer the questions below for homework, due Tuesday.

Periods 2 and 4 ONLY: Quiz on the reading tomorrow.

Shooting an Elephant: Day 1
a. How does Orwell feel about the British presence in Burma? How does he feel about his job with the Indian Imperial police? What are some of the internal conflicts Orwell describes feeling in his role as a colonial police officer? How do you know?


b. Orwell wrote and published this essay a number of years after he had left the civil service. How does Orwell describe his feelings about the British Empire, and about his role in it, both at the time he took part in the incident described, and at the time of writing the essay, after having had the opportunity to reflect upon these experiences? Ask students to point to examples in the text which support their view.


c. What did Orwell mean by the following sentence: It was a tiny incident in itself, but it gave me a better glimpse than I had had before of the real nature of imperialism- the real motives for which despotic governments act.