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More handpicked essays just for you.
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Burma, Japan, and World War II
Byron Gough
ENG 218
Professor Mulholland
29 April 2016
Nick Freestone was only a young man when the fires of World War II found him. Sent away from his home in London after the Nazi Blitzkrieg, he was sent to Burma to live with his father who owned a teak plantation. However, not long after he arrived, the brutal Japanese regime put their sights on capturing Burma and its natural resources. Elephant Run by Roland Smith fits well in the canon of young adult literature because it is a story of self-discovery and survival. This novel exploits the horror of war and being a young child thrust into the middle of it. With a narrowed lens on the occupation of this country by the Japanese and some
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It is the highest rank that an elephant capturer can attain (Worall). This “power” has never been scientifically studied, but the people of both Burma and Thailand believe that this phenomenon exists. There are not many Khru Ba Yai left, it is said that there are a few still alive in both Burma and Thailand (Worall). These individuals became incredibly important when elephants went into “musth.” Several times a year, bull elephants go into a period called musth, a period of temporary madness. When in this state, bull elephant’s aggressiveness, testosterone levels, and mating drive spikes tremendously (Ogden). Studies have found that bull elephants are flooded with up to ten times as much testosterone as usual causing them to attack other elephants, mahouts, or anything else they may see as a threat (Ogden). In Elephant Run, Nick is given a first-hand look at how horrifying an encounter with a bull elephant in musth can be. “…The bull had uprooted every plant within reach and had plowed the ground around him into soft loam with his heavy tusks. As they approached, he started straining against his ropes in an effort to get to them” (Smith 59). However, something incredible transpired soon after Nick witnessed the roped up and infuriated bull elephant. “The monk stepped closer to the mad bull. He put his hands on one of his tusks and he leaned his old shaved head toward the bull’s ear, as if he were saying something to him” (Smith 61). The bull then relaxed after the monk named ‘Hilltop’ spoke to it. The Khru Ba Yai are a mysterious group with very few numbers in existence. It is a practice that seems utterly impossible but is ingrained in the Burmese culture as reality. The mahout tradition and practice is something so unique and utterly incredible, they risk life and limb to train and work with these magnificent animals. Interestingly enough, the mahouts of Burma actually helped in
Have you ever wondered how animals interact and work together to get a job done? Many times, animals put their minds together to complete a task. But what many people do not realize is that animals interact with one another just as humans would. In many instances, people don’t realize the amount of intelligence and common sense that animals, such as the elephant, possess. The study of elephant’s thoughts and thinking were explained and backed up through three different mediums. This information was explained through articles, videos, and passages. Combined, these pieces of work clarified what the experiment was, what it was testing, the purpose behind it, and how the different pieces were
...ve with her powers. In general no matter the conflict that arises the elephants always stick together and never become mad at one another. This collectiveness/family unity is a great message to any reader searching for life answers.
In the essay, “Shooting an Elephant”, George Orwell retells his experiences and feelings of being disrespected as a sub-divisional police officer in Moulmein, Burma. Early one morning, In the lower part of Burma, an elephant was reported ravaging the bazaar. As Orwell’s curiosity persuades him to go investigate the elephant, the author sees the damage that the elephant left behind. He prepares out of fear to “murder” the elephant with an elephant rifle. In doing this he excited the Burmese, who led a crowd behind Orwell, encouraging him to shoot the elephant who was now no more harmless than a cow. Orwell’s diction and actions, shows a complex tone towards the natives through his loyalties, his use of racist slurs, and his struggle with power and control.
The essay “Shooting an Elephant,” was written by George Orwell. Orwell was a British author best known for his essays and novels. In “Shooting an Elephant,” the title essay of his 1950 collection, Orwell is a British Police Officer in Lower Burma. After an elephant comes rampaging through the village in must, killing an Indian man, Orwell is looked upon to take care of the problem. The intense scene causes Orwell to make a crucial decision, reflecting on the vicious imperialism with the military in Burma during this time. The author portrays his feelings through the theme of the narrative with feelings such as, guilt, hate, and pressured.
Roland Smith “Elephant Run” is a young adult historical fiction novel published on September 25th, 2007 about a 14 year old boy by the name Nick Freestone who lives with his father on his teak plantation in Burma. The Japanese soon take over Burma and his father Jackson Freestone to a prison camp leaving Nick to escape to try and save his father with a help of some friends he finds along the way.
Sabu Dastagir was born the son of a third generation Elephant Driver on January 24th, 1924
We often hear a rogue animal defined as, an animal that has become separated from its heard, such as elephants that become aggressive and destructive. The narrator comments on the nature of the now calm elephant, “I thought then as I think now that his attack of “must” was already passing off; in which case he would merely wander harmlessly about until the mahout came back and caught him.” Looking at this evidence, it appears that the animal although destructive previously, did not deserve to die and that human nature is to immediately kill something that makes us feel inferior, or that perhaps challenges our belief that we are untouchable as the species at the top of the food chain. We do not like competition, and an animal that has the power to disrupt us so should be removed so th...
“Shooting an Elephant” By George Orwell reveals the story of events during Orwell’s service as a sub-divisional police officer with the India Imperial Police, in Moulmein, Burma.
In the essay Shooting an Elephant, the author intends to make the reader feel disturbed and uneasy by describing his negatives experiences in India. He tries to clarify the terrible and harmful impact that Imperialism had. By shooting the elephant, Orwell demonstrates the strong power of peer pressure and how it has affected his actions and his will.
Elephants Can Lend a Helping Trunk is a passage about a study preformed to test elephants' abilities to collaborate. It explains the basic process of the experiment, and provided in-depth analysis of the results. It made many comparisons between the study and other studies and research and noted the opinions of numerous professionals, which helped show the significance of the test's findings. The purpose of this passage was to primarily to be an entertaining article, and secondarily to inform the reader about the experiment. It was very similar to Elephants Console Each Other in tone and style, but differed more from Elephants Know When They Need a Helping Trunk, mainly because it was less informational, and more enjoyable.
Every author puts a great deal of effort in making their work successful, meaningful and symbolic however, some author do excellent job in achieving this goal and on the other hand some might be unsuccessful to achieve the goal. In the essay, “Shooting an Elephant”, the author George Orwell has worked extremely hard to express and relate the meaning of the symbols to the story. In the essay, the protagonist character George Orwell is the Indian imperial police officer in Burma and is hated by Burmese people because he is a part of the British Empire who is the oppressor of the Burmese people. Orwell does show sympathy of native people of Burma but he cannot do anything else to change the minds of the British Empire. Afterwards, he comes to the point where he has to make an unwanted decision of shooting an elephant due to the pressure of the Burmese People and also Orwell himself did not want to lose his pride to the native people of the Burma. Throughout the essay, George Orwell has used several symbols effectively such as, the
The British police officer in Shooting an Elephant had never been respected by the Burman natives a day in his life. He was regularly mocked and cheated, even by the religious students of Burma, simply because he was one of the many enforcers of their imposed oppressor’s government. When the elephant went on a “must”, he found himself in an interesting position. The very natives who had always jeered and spat at him were cheering him on. Suddenly, he is faced with the choice between his personal morality and the ever so f...
Shooting an Elephant” is an autobiographically influenced short story written by George Orwell and published in 1936. It deals with the inner conflict of an imperial police officer in Burma who feels pressured by the Burmese and forced to kill an outraged elephant in order to prove himself and his status as an imperial police officer.
"Shooting an Elephant" is perhaps one of the most anthologized essays in the English language. It is a splendid essay and a terrific model for a theme of narration. The point of the story happens very much in our normal life, in fact everyday. People do crazy and sometimes illegal moves to get a certain group or person to finally give them respect. George Orwell describes an internal conflict between his personal morals and his duty to his country to the white man's reputation. The author's purpose is to explain the audience (who is both English and Burmese) about the kind of life he is living in Burma, about the conditions, circumstances he is facing and to tell the British Empire what he think about their imperialism and his growing displeasure for the imperial domination of British Empire.
Unfortunately, we are possibly undergoing “the greatest percentage loss of elephants in history” (Ruggiero). Without the proper conservation of elephant survival, we will see a drastic shift in the environment. Due to lack of the lack of management and resources in the conservation programs has led to a further increase in poaching which has triggered to drastic decline in elephant populations. According to the Huffington Post, a reputable news source, it reports, “an estimated 22,000 elephants were illegally killed across Africa in 2012”. In February alone there were as many as “650 elephants killed in a matter of days”