Shooting an Elephant

Name Date SHOOTING AN ELEPHANT COPY MASTER Reading Check Directions: Recall the information in George Orwell’s essay. Then answer the questions in phrases or sen- tences. 1. What is Orwell’s job in Lower Burma?

2. What does the subinspector ask Orwell to do?

3. What does Orwell say is true of stories in the East?

4. How is Orwell’s desire when he sees the elephant different from the crowd’s desire?

5. What does Orwell say is the struggle of his entire life as well as the struggle of every white man in the East?

6. Analyze a Reflective Essay Circle the lessons that Orwell learns as a result of his experience with the elephant. a. He concludes that British rule is probably more just than Burmese rule would be. b. He understands how highly he is concerned about how people perceive him. c. He realizes that imperialism can lead people to act against their own values. d. He becomes convinced that animals have a more enlightened view than humans. 7. Analyze Conflict Complete this chart. Describe Orwell’s position on each conflict.

Conflict Orwell’s Position The Burmese people are in conflict with the British who rule their country.

Resource Manager 207 Orwell is in conflict with the crowd because he knows he should let the elephant live, but they expect him to kill it.

Orwell is in conflict with the elephant because if angered or wild, it could kill him.

8. Interpret Irony Explain what makes the sentence ironic. “I perceived this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys.” (lines 129–130)

Reflective Essays Directions: Complete this chart to understand how the events in this reflective essay reveal Orwell’s attitude toward imperialism. Two details are provided. Select and analyze four additional details.

Detail from the Essay What It Shows About Imperialism Orwell was “hated by large numbers of people” while he was a police officer in Burma.

Orwell is torn because he does not support the British empire, but he is also greatly annoyed by the Burmese who make his job difficult.

Reading Skill Resource Manager 208 ANALYZE CAUSE-AND-EFFECT RELATIONSHIPS In a cause-and-effect relationship, an event or action leads directly to another event or action. The effect of one event often becomes the cause of another, which results in a chain of events. Identifying cause-and-effect relationships can help you understand why events happened and how a complicated situation developed. Directions: Complete this chart to analyze the cause-and-effect relationships in this essay. Note how the effect of one event becomes the cause of another.

Literary Analysis REFLECTIVE ESSAY A reflective essay connects a writer’s personal observations with a universal idea. In “Shooting an Elephant,” Orwell describes one event that happened while he was a police officer in Burma in the 1920s. However, he does not present this story as an entertainment or traveler’s tale. He carefully connects events in the story to the universal theme of imperialism, or the rule of one country over other countries or colonies.

Resource Manager 209