How does the use of genre and writing skills support the main ideas in George Orwell's 'Why I Write'?

 

George Orwell, the author of the essay ‘Why I Write’, mainly talks about the motives for writing throughout this essay. He especially focuses on two motives for writing; aesthetic enthusiasm and political impulse, and concludes that he wishes to be a writer who can satisfy both motives by making political purpose into art. In order to deliver this to the readers successfully, the author uses various types of genres and writing styles in order to support his main ideas. Then, how did George Orwell use diverse genres and writing styles, and what effect does it have on the impression that the readers get by reading this essay?

 

Using the appropriate writing style and genre is very important especially for the author, as using different writing styles results in the readers getting different impressions about the author’s writing. For example, this essay shows traits of personal narrative essay when the author describes his own life and writing experiences. By talking about experiences from when he was young, George Orwell implies to the readers that he first started writing by focusing on descriptive writing. On the other hand, by talking about the experiences he had in his later life, such as going through poverty, having a job in Burma, and experiencing the era of Hitler and Spanish Civil War, he explains how he started to write with a political purpose. He concludes that his goal is to make political writing into an art, as he wishes to fulfill both the world views he acquired in his childhood and in his later life. The author has stated in the essay that one cannot assess a writer’s motives without knowing something of his development. Therefore, by using characteristics of a personal narrative essay, the author supports his main ideas about his own motives by providing readers of knowledge about the development of his own motives for writing.

The author also uses expository writing style in order to support his main ideas. This writing style is used in this essay when the author tells the readers about the four great motives for writing; sheer egoism, aesthetic enthusiasm, historical impulse, and political purpose. By choosing this writing style, the author successfully provides the readers with necessary information. As it is important for the readers to have knowledge about the motives in order to understand George Orwell’s main ideas about his own motives and goals, using expository writing style is very effective in supporting his ideas, as the role of an expository essay is to provide readers with new information and knowledge.

The poem that George Orwell introduces in the middle of the essay also acts as an important way for the author to deliver his main ideas to the readers. Through this poem, the author describes his dilemma got as he started to write in political purpose. The dilemma is about whether he should focus more on descriptive writing or on political writing, as he thinks that both of them are very important to him. By describing this through a poem, the author succeeds in making the readers get a stronger impression on the dilemma that the author was facing. This is because poetry has a characteristic of maximizing the emotion of the narrator by compressing it into a few well-selected words. As a poem is formed through putting these words together, a well written poem has to be able to provide readers with amplified emotions and feelings. As George Orwell has succeeded in this, the poem in this essay acts as an effective way to support the author’s main idea, as it gives the readers a strong impression on the conflict between the two motives which the writer thinks is most important to himself.

In order to give the readers the impression that the author has intended, the author must choose the most appropriate writing styles and genres in order as they effect the readers’ impression toward the literature greatly. Looking from this point of view, George Orwell has succeeded in this, which therefore lets the author deliver his main idea of his own motives for writing effectively to the readers.

 

Why is 'Tell-tale Heart' a gothic novel?

 

Novels that contain characteristics of various genres like thriller, Romantic, mystery, horror, etc., are called ‘Gothic novels’. For example, ‘Frankenstein’ is a gothic novel, as it contains characteristics of horror, romantic, mystery, science-fiction novels. Let’s now look at ‘The tell-tale heart’, a novel written by Edgar Allen Poe. As we read this novel, we can know that this novel is gothic, as it contains characteristics from several kinds of genres.

To start with, this novel has characteristics of a horror novel inside it. A typical horror novel usually creates an atmosphere of fear and suspense. In the case of ‘The tell-tale heart’, this kind of atmosphere is created several times. On the night that the main character kills the old man, a fearful atmosphere is created from the moment when the old man wakes up, and the main character waits for the moment to kill the old man. The way that the old man is killed and concealed also creates a fearful mood.

Secondly, this novel resembles a Romantic novel. A romantic novel creates an atmosphere of strong feelings, such as passion, madness, etc. The tone throughout this novel ‘The tell-tale heart’ makes the reader feel a strong feeling from the novel. Throughout this novel, the narrator tries to convince the readers that he is not insane. Ironically, however, this actually results in a stronger impression that the narrator is insane, and by the end of this essay, the narrator eventually fails to convince the readers that he is not mad. This strong impression of madness in this novel makes it resemble a Romantic novel.

Third, this novel also contains characteristics of mysterious novel. At the end of this novel, the narrator starts to hear a noise, which is something which only the narrator could hear. This sound drives narrator crazy, and it actually makes the narrator to confess his crime of murdering the old man and concealing his body. Then, where did this sound come from? This question creates a mysterious atmosphere, as it makes the readers think carefully about the source of the sound. Moreover, the author doesn’t tell the readers about the source of the noise, which deepens the mysterious atmosphere of the novel.

This novel also contains characteristics of other genres like crime novel, thriller novel, etc. Like this, characteristics from different genres come together in this novel, and make it a gothic novel.

toefl essay #2: the change in environment

The 21st century has begun. What changes do you think this new century will bring? Use examples and details in your answer.

It is an undeniable fact that the human species is currently suffering from the rapidly worsening environment. This average temperature of this planet is elevating very fast, leading to the rise in the sea level, endangering the lives of countless people. Species of animal and plant are being extinct right at this moment. Because of the gravity of the current situation, the human being has started to realize the importance of preserving the environment. Therefore, the 21^st century is the time that we should focus on preventing the environment from being collapsed through means of government policy and preservation technology, and the change of the society.

 

To start with, government policies are expected to stop or at least slow down the global warming, as they serve as an effective way to change people’s behavior. Countless research results suggest that in order to protect the environment, we should change our lifestyle to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and food garbage emitted. However, even though many people know the gravity of the current environmental issue, they do not truly know how they should change their lifestyle to achieve that goal. This is why government policy is important, as it guides people to change their behavior efficiently by setting a standard that people should follow. Government policies which are now being made will therefore serve as a great way to slow down the global warming.

 

Additionally, many countries are now putting great effort to develop technologies that help save the environment. One example is the development of alternative energy sources, which is significant as they greatly reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the use of energy. Other technologies like CCS(Carbon Capture and Storage), which is being developed to prevent carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere by storing them deep inside the sea, are also being developed. Furthermore, city systems and construction technology is now changing into a more eco-friendly way. As the majority of the energy spent by the human civilization is used by buildings and city systems, this is a major change that would help our civilization itself to be more eco-friendly. These technologies are still being developed and are expected to reach a level where they can be adapted to our daily lives by a few decades.

Lastly, the society itself is changing, which is a very hopeful phenomenon. The 20^th century was the ‘age of progress’, where we could not care about the environment, as we were so busy trying to feed ourselves. However, the society is starting to change, and people are now cognizant of the fact that the 21^st century should be ‘the age of preservation’. This is because the society is now more mature, as the advance of technology has freed many people from the dearth of basic supplies. Countless people are now advocating the importance of protecting the environment rather than to focus on economic growth, and some of them started to change their way of living to be a help to this planet. The society itself is now starting to be eco-friendly, which will gradually lead to a positive change in the environment.

The new century has started with a collapsing environment. However, we, the human species, still have hope of saving the planet and ourselves, and have started to seek for ways to bring that hope into reality. Hopefully, 21^st century will act as a new start for the human species, a start of the ‘era of harmony’ when human species can develop itself and preserve the environment efficiently at the same time.

Alliteration

 

Alliteration refers to the repetition of the initial consonant sound, like ‘Peter Pan picked a peck of pickled pepper’. One important factor of alliteration is the fact that it depends not on the letters but on the sounds. Therefore, ‘know-nothing’ is alliterative, whereas ‘chemical change’ is not. The purpose of alliteration is to create a consistent pattern that will catch the eye of the mind of the readers. Therefore, writers aiming for a way to draw readers’ attention to a particular scene usually use alliterative phrases in order to focus the readers' attention. Alliterative phrases are used occasionally in poems, song lyrics, tongue twisters, quotes, and even in brand names.

 

 

Let me give you some examples of alliteration. Firstly, let's look at the poem 'The Raven', written by Edgar Allen Poe. In this poem, there is a phrase saying, 'doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before'. In this phrase, the same initial consonant sound repeats, making a rhythm that acts as an efficient way to draw the readers' attention.

 

 

Alliteration is also used in tongue twisters, as it can easily make rhythms that can sound fun. One famous example is 'Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, how many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?'. Additionally, alliterative phrases appear in many quotes, such as 'Busy as a bee', and 'Make a mountain out of a molehill.'

 

 

As alliterative phrases can draw people's attention easily, it is used frequently in brand names. Famous companies like Coca-Cola, Dunkin Donuts, Best Buy are perfect examples of this. Many bands also use alliteration for their band name. Good examples of this would be 'Franz Ferdinand', 'Foo Fighters', 'Beastie Boys', and so on.

 

 



Oxford University

It would be good for me to firstly talk about going to Oxford University. Before I actually went there, I imagined that Oxford University would consist of old-fashioned buildings, a beautiful campus like many other universities in Korea and America. This imagination broke apart even before we arrived in the destination, when the tour guide told us that the university is composed of diverse colleges located independently in the city of Oxfordshire. Therefore, there wasn’t any ‘campus’ that I have imagined of, which disappointed me at first. Luckily however, I could easily become so excited to find out that Oxford was more beautiful than I imagined.

Just after arriving at the city of Oxfordshire.(This building is one of the oldest museum of U.K)

 

I don't exactly remember why I took this picture, but anyway, I'll post this here.

 

As I expected, there were a lot of beautiful old buildings, letting me imagine about what they would have looked like when they were first built. It is quite well-known that the university has a history of 1000 years, enhancing the human civilization by producing countless scholars who strived to deepen the knowledge of mankind. Scientists would have verified their hypothesis, and philosophers would have expressed their opinions freely throughout the history of Oxford. I came into thinking that this was the Great Britain could have the glory it had throughout its history, as the works of these scholars would have surely led to various technological and social advance. The buildings of the university looked so beautiful and meaningful for me now that I had these thoughts. Of course, there were also modern buildings which added to the beauty of the university.

 

I don't exactly remember where this picture was taken

 

This is a library.

 

Some parts of the movie 'Harry Potter' was filmed here.

 

I was also impressed by the system of the university. Oxford University was quite different from other universities that I knew of, most of which are located in Korea and America. Firstly, as I have mentioned, the university composes of colleges, and in order to enter Oxford, students should apply to a specific college. Secondly, Oxford has a tutorial system. Students have a tutorial class every time, and by doing the work that the tutor demands, students can improve their skills by great extent. This factor made me feel as if Oxford University has more interest to every individual student.

Trinity College

I might have mentioned earlier in this blog that I am planning to go abroad after I graduate from this school. Since I had that plan, I have only thought of going to a university in America, mainly for three reasons. First, I had more information about American universities. Second, I have experienced education system of America. Third, I have an American citizenship, which makes me feel at least a bit comfortable about America. However, by going to Oxford University, I came into thinking that planning to go to Great Britain for university might be a good choice too.

 

The city of Oxfordshire itself was also beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

The start of the vision trip-May 8th

On the 8th of May, which was roughly about 10 days ago, I took a flight heading towards London, the capital city of the United Kingdom. The flight was quite enjoyable, and I spent time watching a few movies like Banchanggo(반창꼬), Wolf Boy(늑대소년), Hobbit, and some documentaries about soccer and American football.

Me and Woo-Hyeon at the Incheon airport

 

Waiting to get into the bathroom

Although the movie was fun, the superior external feature of the actor Song Joong-ki made me feel inferior.

 

It was about 6 o’clock in the afternoon when the plane arrived in London, and we went to a restaurant where we ate dinner. Although I remember the meal to have been quite good, I do not remember what we ate that day. I do have pictures I took in the restaurant, so I will post some of the pictures here.

 At the restaurant

 

 

Hello, Seok-Jun!

 

After dinner, we went to the hotel where we would spend two days. It was not a bad place to sleep, except the fact that I could not use the Internet. Therefore, I turned on the TV and watched a comedy program which I don’t remember the name of, which was funny enough to let both me and my roommate to spend some time laughing. I remember to have fallen asleep in the middle of the show. What a peaceful night to start a trip!

Nacirema-What it tells us

The essay about the Nacirema describes how cruel and hideous the civilization is. According to the article, people from the civilization often commit cruel acts, believing that it is good for their body. Therefore, members of the society of the Nacirma go through magical procedures in order to protect their bodies from illness. The article states with examples that a certain amount of sadism is involved in this procedure, and that most of the population shows masochistic tendencies. The procedure usually involves harming people in immoral ways, such as poking them with sharp object, and making a hole through their teeth.

Reading this article brought total disgust to me. Therefore, as I was writing the in-class essay, I kept on writing about how cruel and inhumane the culture of Nacirema was. However, I also considered the concept of cultural relativism, and therefore stated that we need to understand this culture. I thought that as we have a ‘superior and civilized’ perspective, we could not truly understand the culture of Nacirema, which I considered to be uncivilized and inferior compared to our modern society.

However, what Mr. Menard told us few days after we wrote the in-class essay brought total shock to me. He told us to read ‘Nacirema’ backwards. It is quite evident that I, like all the other students in my class, was impressed to find out that ‘Nacirema’ was ‘American’ spelled backwards. We couldn’t say a word, and Mr. Menard just kept laughing at us, looking as if he was extremely pleasured.

Everything in the article of ‘Nacirema’ became so clear at that instant. We could easily find out that all the inhumane acts committed by the fictional civilization were just sarcastic parodies of the daily routines of the American culture. For example, the shrine represents the bathroom, and the holy-mouth-men represent dentists. All the features of the civilization of Nacirema that have brought unpleasant emotions to me all proved to be features of American cultures. The only difference is that the culture was observed in a different perspective, a perspective presuming the American culture to be an ancient culture.

As I have read this essay, I unconsciously thought that the culture of Nacirema was full of violence and irony. It is probably because I unconsciously had the prejudice that I was living in a ‘superior’ and ‘civilized’ culture. However, reading this article, which observed America in a different point of view, I started to feel a sense of disgust without an objection. Therefore, I came to a conclusion that my perspective of ‘civilized’ and ‘superior’ was somehow wrong and quite prejudiced.

At the end of the essay, the writer states that it is easy to think of the Nacireman culture to be cruel when we try to observe them in a higher position. Therefore, I believe that from the writer was trying to tell us that we are usually wrongly prejudiced in diverse situations, and that in order to fix this problem, we should try to observe these matters at a different point of view. Furthermore, this essay was written in 1956, which was the time when many incidents related to ‘prejudice’ happened, especially the ones related to racial segregation. For example, in 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery for refusing to give her seat to a white person, which led to Montgomery bus boycott. In the same year, a fourteen year old teenager was killed for not showing respect to a white woman. It was an era when many people suffered from racial prejudice. It was also an era when these issues started to turn into serious social problems. Therefore, it was becoming necessary to get rid of these prejudices. From this evidence, we can conclude that the writer would have wanted to convey the importance of thinking in other points of view to get rid of prejudice. Through his essay about Nacirema, the writer showed to us how our prejudices can block us from making wise decisions, and also the fact that we need to change our points of view to stop those prejudices.