| 1. Would you shoot your dog to death if it should become sick or go mad? What about a horse? And an elephant? Explain.
2. Do you know anything about colonialism? How was the British Empire related to Burma?
3. What is Orwell's plight in Burma?
4. Do you think Orwell's plight will affect his decision in shooting an elephant? How? Explain.
5. What is the significance (meaning and importance) of the word choice, "secretly" in sentence 3 of paragraph 2?
6. Explain Orwell's ambivalence -- a conflicting, or love-hate, feeling. (Hint: How does the phrase "utter silence" help to convey his ambivalence?)
7. Please paraphrase the thesis of this essay. (To paraphrase means to express something in your own words.)
8. What is Orwell's purpose of using the parenthesis in paragraph 4?
9. Orwell begins narrating the incident in paragraph 3, but we do not see the elephant until the end of paragraph 5. What do you think is Orwell's purpose?
10.What does Orwell realize about the "white man's dominion in the East"? How does this insight convince him to shoot the elephant?
11. Make a list of the reasons that Orwell has for not shooting the elephant. (Note: Please refer to paragraphs 6 and 8 for an answer.)
12. Carefully observe the transitions used in paragraph 9. What effect do they have?
13. Examine the alternating use of "if" and "but" in paragraph 9. What effect does this writing technique exert?
14.How does Orwell pace his narration of the shooting in paragraphs 11 and 12? How does the elephant's death affect Orwell's point of view toward what he has done?
15. What is Orwell's real motive in shooting the elephant?
16. Is it possible that Orwell is implying a comparison between the elephant and the British Empire? Explain.
17. Orwell organizes the overall essay with irony of situation and paradox. How do these devices relate to the ethical issue that Orwell raises?
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