Why I Write: The Art of Writing Essays

There are many aspects for my mind to conceive while reading the articles why I write by George Orwell and Joan Didion. There are many different factors in triggering an author’s imagination to come up with what they want to write, and why they want to write it. In most writings a purpose is not found before the writer writes, but often found after they decide to start writing.

He repeats over and again that he did not want to shoot the elephant. He confesses, “It seemed to me that it would be murder to shoot him. I had never shot an elephant and never wanted to.” Orwell gives emotional reasons for being against the idea of shooting the animal and not rational. He generalizes all elephants to have a “preoccupied grandmotherly air” and compares the elephant to a cow. The writer uses the simile, “They were watching me as they would watch a conjurer about to perform a trick.” to explain the pressure he had from the crowd watching him. Orwell remarks that regardless of his decision to shoot the elephant, he cannot change the thinking of the public about him. Orwell was moved by the hefty crowd that followed him. He was left with no choice other than to shoot the elephant because that was what the crowd expected of him and this scene signifies the failure of imperialism which is the writer’s overall theme. The sentence, “I stood there with the rifle in my hands, that I first grasped the hollowness, the futility of the white man’s dominion in the East.” helps explain to the reader the real failure of imperialism. Orwell insists that although the white man in the East has power which is symbolized by the rifle, he is still not allowed to make use of it in accordance with his will. He is classifying imperialism as a hollow and futile way of governance. The Englishmen

Orwell has a critical, and didactical tone in his essay. He is criticizing the “modern” style of writing in which authors use overly complicated sentences and pretentious words and jargon to sound intelligent or like they know what they are talking out. He also tries to teach the reader how to avoid such mistakes in order to write clear and effective English, as well as how to identify when a politician is trying to manipulate language.

“Shooting an Elephant” is a short anecdote written by George Orwell. The story depicts a young man, Orwell, who has to decide whether to bend the rules for his superiors or to follow his own path. George Orwell works as the sub-divisional police officer of Moulmein, a town in the British colony of Burma. He, along with the rest of the English military are disrespected by the Burmese due to the English invading their territory and taking over. Over time, Orwell, the narrator, has already begun to question the presence of the British in the Far East. He states, theoretically and secretly, he was “all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British.” Orwell describes himself as “young and ill-educated,” bitterly hating his job. Orwell uses powerful imagery and diction to convey a depressing and sadistic tone to the story. At the end of the story, he faces a dilemma: to kill the elephant or not.

The quest for power is one which has been etched into the minds of men throughout history. However, it can be said that true power is not a result of one’s actions but comes from the following one’s own beliefs without being influenced by others. This principle sets up the story for Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell. The protagonist, Orwell himself, is a sub divisional police officer in Burma, a British colony. Orwell must try to find and use his inner power when he is faced with the decision of whether or not to kill an elephant which has ravaged the Burman’s homes. The state of power established through the imperialistic backdrop show that Orwell, as a colonist, should be in control. As well, the perspective and ideas given by Orwell

The glorious days of the imperial giants have passed, marking the death of the infamous and grandiose era of imperialism. George Orwell's essay, Shooting an Elephant, deals with the evils of imperialism. The unjust shooting of an elephant in Orwell's story is the central focus from which Orwell builds his argument through the two dominant characters, the elephant and its executioner. The British officer, the executioner, acts as a symbol of the imperial country, while the elephant symbolizes the victim of imperialism. Together, the solider and the elephant turns this tragic anecdote into an attack on the institution of imperialism.

The relationship that I have with writing is complicated and we don’t always get along. Although we tend to make up even when I get frustrated and want to quit. When being assigned a paper I struggle with what to write. My words seem to never come out the way I would like and I’m always having to start over and over again. It starts to get frustrating after a while. Needless to say writing isn’t one of my favorite things to do but it’s apart of our everyday lives like texting, sending emails, posting on Facebook, Twitter, and so on. I personally have only used texting as my main daily form of writing since I graduated high school. So therefore I would like to refresh my memory of what I learned in high school and widen my use of writing while in this writing course.

In the essay, “Shooting an Elephant” , written by George Orwell, the protagonist, the narrator, is faced with a conflict of shooting or letting the violent elephant live. The narrator is a British policeman who is made fun of and disrespected by the locals in the village. The story opens up saying “In Moulmein, in lower Burma, I was hated by large numbers of people…. Was baited whenever it seemed safe to do so...nimble Burman tripped me up…” (Orwell 1) The elephant in this short story symbolizes the imperialistic British empire. The elephant soon starts to cause a riot and the narrator is prepared to kill it. When the time comes, and all the locals are watching, Orwell is stuck at a crossroad of what to do.

George Orwell and Joan Didion, two of the most celebrated authors of the 20th century, both wrote essays titled “Why I Write” explaining their motives and ambitions when writing. Although the essays share the same name, they differ significantly in their content. In George Orwell’s “Why I Write” he explains that authors compose because of either: Sheer egoism, Aesthetic enthusiasm, Historical impulse or Political Purpose. Due to his personal experiences like serving on the Indian Imperial Police, witnessing the rise of Hitler and the Spanish Civil War, totalitarianism appalls Orwell. Thus, Orwell explains that he often writes with Political Purpose to defend social democracies. On the other hand, Joan Didion seems to defy Orwell’s earlier

The short story “Shooting an Elephant”, by George Orwell, can be seen as one broad metaphor for imperialism. In the story, Orwell is direct about discussing imperialism from the narrator's point of view. But, if the reader analyzes “Shooting an Elephant” through a historical critical lens then representation of imperialism can be seen in many other aspects of the story as well. Through this lens, we can not only see the effects of imperialism on the policeman and the people of the colonized nation, but we can see it reflected in the plot and what happens to the elephant and its true owner.

The thesis of the essay is that writing was Orwell’s inevitable and irresistible destiny, although shrouded by his attempts to abandon it. It had always been inexorably and intricately woven into his person, manifesting itself first at 5 or 6, and then ultimately impressing itself on his life with irrevocable and fulfilling finality.

. By the type of language and the choice of words that the author used to write his essay, it is very likely that it was written for the British people, to make them aware of the injustice and cruelty of Imperialism in the colonies. The author’s aim is to make the reader feel disturbed and uneasy by describing in detail his negative experiences in India. This rhetorical analysis explores the success of the author in portraying the negative impact that Imperialism had on those being governed under it, but also on the impact on those in power. The way Orwell used the words for describing the scene of shooting the elephant, his aim was to get the reader’s mind to understand the injustice of Britain’s rule over the natives. While Shooting an

“A Hanging”, composed by George Orwell, is a personal testimony set in the 1920’s in Burma. The narrative depicts the death of an unknown prisoner and the role of those who enforce the death sentence. Through the process of the execution, Orwell illustrates the effects of capital punishment on the executioners and the executed in an attempt to convey an Abolitionist message. While stated only once in his story, Orwell takes an emphatic position against capital punishment. The author does not use the classic argumentative style; instead, he uses implications of his characters to present the four main points against capital punishment. George Orwell’s Abolitionist message in “A Hanging” is conveyed through the prisoner, dog, functionaries, and their actions, words, and body language.

Every writer has their own signature writing style. However, few get recognized for their literary brilliance. George Orwell stands out as one of the few authors that has withstood the test of time through his literary works. Born at the beginning of the twentieth century, Eric Arthur Blair, more commonly known as George Orwell, started his path of excellence, not as a writer, but as a part of the British Imperial Police. Stationed in Burma, Orwell gained much insight on life through his experiences with the Burmese people. His stories inspired one of his first works, “Burmese Days.” After his travels in Burma, Orwell focused more on society in Europe. He gained interest in politics through serving in wars and broadcasting propaganda through a radio channel. Many of Orwell writings confronted his concerns about imperialism. Readers thrived on his eye-opening novels and essays. Such insightful literature has earned Orwell a name as one of the greatest political authors of all time. This not only comes from the content of his literature, but also from the style in which he writes. This has led to the creation of the “Orwellian” style, in which one would write like Orwell in modeling his content and form. His focus on politics in his literature appears in most of his essays and novels. This content of anti-imperialism has led him to be globally known as one of the most influential authors of the twentieth century and has been noted as the second greatest author since 1945 by

My writing skills are decent, if I take the time to fully process my thoughts. When it is a timed assignment or test, my skills go right out the window, I concentrate more on answering the prompt rather than the grammar, punctuation, or structure. It’s like a jumbled mess of writing filled with lots of errors. When I’m writing my main goals are to answer the prompt, have good structure, and no grammatical or punctuation errors. These goals sometimes get in the way of me expressing myself freely; if a sentence doesn’t flow right with rest of the paragraph, I will re-examine my paragraph or paper to see if I can conjure up a sentence to finish out my paragraph before moving on to the next paragraph. Another example is if I feel like I don’t