Shooting an Elephant

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. “Shooting an Elephant” explores the concept of Worth as it applies to living beings.

• How does Orwell define Worth in “Shooting an Elephant”? (topic sentence)
• Give at least 3 examples of details, images, or phrasings that support Orwell’s definition of Worth. Explain what they tell the reader about Worth.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explain how Orwell’s definition of Worth supports the theme of Power.

2. Throughout the essay, graphic imagery is prevalent, from the details of the crushed indigenous person to the death of the elephant.

• How does the graphic imagery connect to the larger themes of the essay—Power, Worth, and/or Imperialism? (topic sentence).
• Give at least 3 examples of imagery that point to one or more of the larger themes of the essay.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explain how Orwell’s use of this device (imagery) is essential to communicating his message about Power, Worth, and/or Imperialism.

3. Elephants are symbolic in multiple cultures and are deemed valuable or even sacred, even as they have been hunted to endangerment today.

• What symbolic meaning does the elephant in “Shooting an Elephant” hold? (topic sentence)
• Give at least 2 contrasting examples of the elephant’s symbolic significance.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explain how the elephant’s symbolic meaning supports the theme of Power, Worth, and/or Imperialism.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. “Shooting an Elephant” is written in the first person. The reader experiences the narrator’s conflict as a British officer who supports the native people against the ruling power. Where else in literature have you encountered a character who demonstrates a similar conflict between their station in life and what they believe morally? What impression does such a character or narrator make on the reader, and why? What is the reader’s final judgment of them?

2. The narrator often falls prey to the persuasion of the growing crowd of natives. Despite his literal and figurative position of power over them, he ultimately submits to them, going against his original intention not to shoot the elephant. Describe the psychology of his decision to follow the wishes of the crowd. Does the same thing happen today in, for example, social media? As you compose your response, support your assertions with details and language from the text.

3. “Shooting an Elephant” can be read simply as a first-hand account; however, it is also rich with metaphorical meaning. What larger idea is Orwell addressing in “Shooting an Elephant”? What might the elephant represent metaphorically? The British officer? What are the British colonizers trying to “kill,” or subdue? As you compose your response, support your assertions with details and language from the text, in addition to historical facts about British Imperialism.