ENG 4UI: Informal Essay Assignment 1:
Narrative Essay
In George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant,” Orwell narrates a powerful
experience: as an English officer in Burma, he once had to shoot an
elephant. Looking back on the incident, he realizes that he is changing –
as a foreigner in a position of power, he wears a mask – he must disguise
who he really is and meet the expectations of the Burmese over whom he
must exert power and control – and he sees that his face is growing to fit
the mask.
Shooting the elephant teaches Orwell about the true nature of
imperialism and about the “real motives for which despotic governments
act.” He sees that when someone has power, they have to do things
(even things that are unnecessary, things they know are wrong) in order to
maintain that semblance of power. He sees that the people of Burma,
over whom he supposedly has control, in fact are able to control his
actions by forcing him to play a certain role. He sees that imperialism is
wrong and futile.
You will write an informal essay that is based on an event from your own
life. As you saw in Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant,” narration can be a
point from which to leap to larger, more universal issues.
Think about an event that changed the way you saw something in your
world – you should move beyond the obvious here.
Your thesis can be stated or implied. It should be reinforced by your
choice of narrative, rhetorical devices, diction, tone, sensory appeal, etc.
Each image you choose should be carefully chosen and created; your
sentences should be carefully crafted; your tone should be masterfully
established and maintained throughout the essay.
The tone should appeal to your audience. That means that you need to
know who your intended audience is. As always with class assignments,
your teacher is part of your audience, but you can choose to speak to
your peers, your parents, seniors, fathers, mothers, whoever you choose to
speak to with your essay.
We will review effective editing in class, as careful and competent editing
is an essential part of the writing process. Revisions are key. Don’t plan to
write this essay the night before it’s due. Take time to think about the
rhetorical strategies and devices you will use. Test them out. Play with the
language. Have some fun with it.
You will complete a SOAPSTone analysis of the essay as well; more
information on that will follow.
Thiss essay should be about 500 words in length. Please do not exceed 750
words.