High School

Read the following excerpt from George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant,” focusing on instances of both subjective and objective details:

“There was only one alternative. I shoved the cartridges into the magazine and lay down on the road to get a better aim. The crowd grew very still, and a deep, low, happy sigh, as of people who see the theatre curtain go up at last, breathed from innumerable throats. They were going to have their bit of fun after all. The rifle was a beautiful German thing with cross-hair sights. I did not then know that in shooting an elephant one would shoot to cut an imaginary bar running from ear-hole to ear-hole. I ought, therefore, as the elephant was sideways on, to have aimed straight at his ear-hole, actually I aimed several inches in front of this, thinking the brain would be further forward.

When I pulled the trigger I did not hear the bang or feel the kick – one never does when a shot goes home – but I heard the devilish roar of glee that went up from the crowd. In that instant, in too short a time, one would have thought, even for the bullet to get there, a mysterious, terrible change had come over the elephant. He neither stirred nor fell, but every line of his body had altered. He looked suddenly stricken, shrunken, immensely old, as though the frightful impact of the bullet had paralysed him without knocking him down. At last, after what seemed a long time – it might have been five seconds, I dare say – he sagged flabbily to his knees. His mouth slobbered. An enormous senility seemed to have settled upon him. One could have imagined him thousands of years old. I fired again into the same spot. At the second shot he did not collapse but climbed with desperate slowness to his feet and stood weakly upright, with legs sagging and head drooping. I fired a third time. That was the shot that did for him. You could see the agony of it jolt his whole body and knock the last remnant of strength from his legs. But in falling he seemed for a moment to rise, for as his hind legs collapsed beneath him he seemed to tower upward like a huge rock toppling, his trunk reaching skyward like a tree. He trumpeted, for the first and only time. And then down he came, his belly towards me, with a crash that seemed to shake the ground even where I lay.”

In your initial post, identify one striking subjective detail and one objective detail from the excerpt. Next, identify the descriptive tools used, and explain in detail the purpose of using those details.

Answer :

A striking subjective detail from the excerpt is this:

  • The rifle was a beautiful German thing with cross-hair sights.

One objective detail from the excerpt is this:

  • I did not then know that in shooting an elephant one would shoot to cut an imaginary bar running from ear-hole to ear-hole.

Some descriptive tools that were used in the text include:

  • Simile: He seemed to tower upward like a huge rock toppling
  • Alliteration: An enormous senility seemed to have settled upon him.

What is a subjective detail?

A subjective detail is a detail that expresses the personal views of the speaker or character in the text. An objective view is a statement of fact. In the text, we can see that the speaker was being objective when he said that shooting an elephant requires cutting an imaginary bar that runs from earhole to ear hole.

A subjective detail is a personal view and an example is when the author described the rifle as a "beautiful German thing." Descriptive tools such as simile and alliteration were used to provide more details.

Learn more about subjective details here:

https://brainly.com/question/5789848

#SPJ1

Final answer:

A subjective detail in Orwell's 'Shooting an Elephant' is the emotive description of the elephant's fall, while an objective detail is the factual description of the rifle. Orwell's use of descriptive imagery and narrative perspective highlights the event's emotional weight and engages the reader.

Explanation:

In the excerpt from George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant,” one striking subjective detail is the comparison of the elephant’s fall to a “hock toppling” and its trunk reaching skyward like a “tree,” which injects emotion and personification into the narrative. An objective detail is the description of the rifle as a “beautiful German thing with cross-hair sights,” which provides factual information without emotional context. Orwell uses descriptive imagery and the narrative perspective to convey his experience, utilizing the contrast between subjective and objective details to engage readers and underscore the gravity of his actions and their impact on the elephant, as well as on the crowd observing the event. By doing so, he creates a vivid scene that captures the tension, emotion, and ultimately the tragedy of the moment.