Lesson on Narrative
For Nonfiction
An Incident That Means Something
George Orwell, “Shooting an Elephant” · Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Chapter VII
Lessons in Nonfiction
Questions on the Classic Readings
George Orwell, “Shooting an Elephant”
- Orwell says the incident gave him “a better glimpse than I had had before of the real nature of imperialism.” What does the story show that a plain argument could not?
- By his own account, why does Orwell shoot the elephant?
Frederick Douglass, Narrative, Chapter VII
- Douglass trades bread with the boys in the street for “that more valuable bread of knowledge.” What do small scenes like this add to his argument?
- Reading, he writes, “opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but to no ladder upon which to get out.” Why might knowledge make his suffering sharper before it helps him?
Many essays tell a story in order to make a point. Orwell recounts one morning in Burma and draws from it a lesson about empire; Douglass tells how he learned to read and what that knowledge cost and gave him. In both, the incident comes first, and the meaning grows out of it.
Activities
These draw on the classic readings on this page.
- One morning. Write a page about a single incident that changed how you understood something, and end with no more than two sentences on what it meant.
- Where the meaning goes. Write the same incident twice, once with its meaning stated at the start and once at the end, and compare the two.
—Silver Current Press