| Q1: | Would you shoot your dog to death if it should become sick or go mad? What about a horse? And an elephant? Explain. |
| Q2: | Do you know anything about colonialism? How was the British Empire related to Burma? |
| Q3: | What is Orwell's plight in Burma? |
| Q4: | Do you think Orwell's plight will affect his decision in shooting an elephant? How? Explain. |
| Q5: | What is the significance (meaning and importance) of the word choice, "secretly" in sentence 3 of paragraph 2? |
| Q6: | Explain Orwell's ambivalence -- a conflicting, or love-hate, feeling. (Hint: How does the phrase "utter silence" help to convey his ambivalence?) |
| Q7: | Please paraphrase the thesis of this essay. (To paraphrase means to express something in your own words.) |
| Q8: | What is Orwell's purpose of using the parenthesis in paragraph 4? |
| Q9: | 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? |
| Q10: | What does Orwell realize about the "white man's dominion in the East"? How does this insight convince him to shoot the elephant? |
| Q11: | 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.) |
| Q12: | Carefully observe the transitions used in paragraph 9. What effect do they have? |
| Q13: | Examine the alternating use of "if" and "but" in paragraph 9. What effect does this writing technique exert? |
| Q14: | 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? |
| Q15: | What is Orwell's real motive in shooting the elephant? |
| Q16: | Is it possible that Orwell is implying a comparison between the elephant and the British Empire? Explain. |
| Q17: | Orwell organizes the overall essay with irony of situation and paradox. How do these devices relate to the ethical issue that Orwell raises? |
| Orwell, George. "Shooting an Elephant." The McGraw-Hill Reader: Themes in the Disciplines. 5th ed. Gilbert H. Muller. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994. 69-74. |