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.