This week we read and annotated two argument essays concerning law before class as well as submitted our first essay draft, annotated with a self evaluation worksheet about our paper. I found that annotating and the self-evaluation paper to be extremely useful because they caused me to really look at my paper and edit it to be the best it could be. We also learned about constructive argument essays, which are when the writer looks at all sides of an argument and look at multiple perspectives. Later on in the week we read a piece also in the Longman Reader called Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell after reading/annotating this, we watched a somewhat comical video summarizing the passage. We then answered a question in the discussion forum about this:
2. Was Orwell justified in shooting the elephant? Argue that Orwell was justified or not justified and support your claim with your reasons. Here are some points you might consider: the legality of Orwell's act, the elephant's temperment, the crowd's presence, the aftermath of the elephant's death, the death itself.
I do not believe that Orwell was justified in shooting the elephant. He wasn’t justified in shooting the elephant because the legality of his act was frowned upon since it was a “working elephant”. Also, the elephant’s temperament at the time Orwell shot it was very calm and it wasn’t causing any trouble. If the elephant was still going crazy and was killing other people then he would have been very justified in shooting it. I understand why Orwell did what he did, because when there is a crowd and they’re expecting something of you, it is extremely difficult to not do what they expect. Everyone wants to be a crowd pleaser in some way, and many people even go against their own personal morals to please others. But that still does not justify or make what he did right. The fact that the elephant suffered for so long makes his actions even worse and if he knew it was wrong he should have been humane enough to take a stance to doing such things. There’s always an alternative to every action and he could have definitely taken a different way. I do understand why he did it but I do not agree with his decision and I do not think he was justified in shooting the elephant.
I do not believe that Orwell was justified in shooting the elephant. He wasn’t justified in shooting the elephant because the legality of his act was frowned upon since it was a “working elephant”. Also, the elephant’s temperament at the time Orwell shot it was very calm and it wasn’t causing any trouble. If the elephant was still going crazy and was killing other people then he would have been very justified in shooting it. I understand why Orwell did what he did, because when there is a crowd and they’re expecting something of you, it is extremely difficult to not do what they expect. Everyone wants to be a crowd pleaser in some way, and many people even go against their own personal morals to please others. But that still does not justify or make what he did right. The fact that the elephant suffered for so long makes his actions even worse and if he knew it was wrong he should have been humane enough to take a stance to doing such things. There’s always an alternative to every action and he could have definitely taken a different way. I do understand why he did it but I do not agree with his decision and I do not think he was justified in shooting the elephant.
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