Shooting an Elephant (George Orwell)

In this George Orwell’s personal account of his experience with the Indian Imperial Police during the British imperialism, he recalls his story of living in a dogma with the fear of being foolish in the eyes of the Burmese people. The account was basically about an elephant which had gone “must”, and already killed a Coringhee coolie, consequently terrifying the people in the village. Because of the violence that the elephant had shown, the villagers expected Orwell to shoot and kill the elephant, which he did; although he really didn’t find the act necessary in that situation. For the Burmese people, what he did was the right thing, but he was wondering if any of them grappled with the idea that he did it solely to avoid looking like a fool.

George Orwell’s essay was a narration at its best. The succession of the events in the story is logically structured such that it gives the readers a tensed feeling of what’s going to happen next. The experience itself was short, but he was able to expound it through descriptions that give the reader an overview of the whole event. These descriptions were picturesque and it even made me feel like I was also in the setting of the story. And more importantly, it left me an impression and a haunting what – if question: what if I were in his shoes, would I also do the same – follow the lead of the dogma that they have set up for me, or follow my own instinct even if doing so would brand me stupid?

The Woman Warrior (Maxine Hong Kingston)

No, the story is not about Joan of Arc. But the main character is also a warrior in every way.

In this Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior, she narrates a part of the story of her life that makes her ponder on her intricate cultural identity. Her narrative essay was quite sensitive, given that it was an account of her experience being of Chinese ethnicity. Her probing illustration of the China where she grew up and the China that her parents left was very profound throughout the entire essay.

The beautiful thing about her piece is that she made distinctions between these “two China” without saying it right away. Not all writers can achieve such effect.

Midsummer (Manuel Arguilla)

A guy met a girl in a midsummer afternoon. He was awed by her gestures, and her simple yet stunning beauty. He fell in love.

So this is how Manuel Arguilla’s Midsummer story goes. But this is not really a love story that goes like Nicholas Sparks’ books. It is an article with a couple of thousands of words that wove the descriptions of a man’s journey under a noon-day heat that led him to meet a beautiful girl. What I love most about this article is that the descriptions are so vivid, and the author also used small words for adjectives that made the background of his portrayal understandable. It also wasn’t all about the physical sketch of the country road that he was treading on, or the physical attributes of the girl that he met. It was way beyond that. There were the sound of the surroundings, and every little intricate detail of a girl that not everyone notices – he made the girl come alive. For me, the story can transport its reader to a parallel universe where the story really is happening, because the reflections seemed so real.

The Death of the Moth (Virginia Woolf)

The Death of the Moth, as narrated by Virginia Woolf, is a potion of the bittersweet reality of the world. Basically, it just tells of how a moth died while struggling to get outside of the window and experience the wonders that the world can offer. For a first – time reader, he may find this as just another piece of article that was written for the sole purpose of doing something. But for a more open – minded reader, what Virginia Woolf did was a portrayal of our weaknesses as humans. What she achieved through this piece was symbolism. For me, the moth in the story could probably symbolize us – how we struggle with everyday obstacles just to experience the light and the beautiful things in the world, but still at the end of it all, we die. I’m not saying that we probably should just stay inside of our shell and let the world go on because any time soon, we’ll also leave this sanctuary. So, why bother? On the contrary, I find the story inspiring. Maybe if you happen to read this, too, you would feel the same.

Photographs of my Parents (Maxine Hong Kingston)

In Photographs of my Parents, by Maxine Hong Kingston, she looked though her parents’ picture for the purpose of finally making sense of her present.

Given that Kingston spent her childhood in China and a bigger part of her life living a Chinese – American culture, she was able to write both the familiarity and the strangeness of her parents’ photographs, and effectively drew a picture of her past.

The descriptions that she made were not like the ones that you would maybe hear in a photo journalism, or photography workshop. It was not the angle, the lighting, the view, and the technicalities of capturing a moment through some techie lens. What she made was an illustration of the story that was printed on that photo paper. Reading this, one can already visualize how the photographs really look like, without the need to pore over those pictures.

Excerpt from Out of Africa (Isak Dinesen)

This is so far the most descriptive account that I have read. Every word in the text forms themselves into a block of descriptions that make the Ngong Farm in Africa come alive. Every littlest detail of the landscape, weather, and every other element of the place was illustrated in such a way that readers won’t find it hard to picture everything that the article says. The five senses were also well – used, adding to the balance in the descriptions that were laid out.

The illustration of the place was not also the type that is overflowing with adjectives. I think this is the most beautiful thing about the piece. When I attended a feature (which is basically descriptive) writing workshop back in high school, the only advice that really struck me was that, when you describe, avoid the use of adjectives. Well, this article is a fine example of that almost impossible kind of description.

Happy Feet: The Pleasure of Teen Dance Movies (Joan Acocella)

Every movie has a message to tell, although not everyone realizes this very concept of portraying stories in the big screen. Most of the times, we see them as an entertainment, a product of creative minds, a collaboration of  the best artists in the movie industry, and an escape from the hassles of the real world. Rarely do we leave the cinemas talking about the deeper meaning of what we’ve just watched.

However, for Joan Acocella, some movies really have serious messages to tell. According to her, in her Happy Feet: The Pleasure of Teen Dance Movies, all films that fall in teen dance category are embedded with grave messages. These movies problematize about social hierarchy, tackle racial division, are notably feminist, and have bravery as the main theme. To elaborate more on this, she gave examples where she noticed the representation of the messages. Included are Footloose, Saturday Night Fever, Flashdance, and Step Up among others.

For me, her analysis of the teen dance movies that she came to watch is not entirely opinionated, no matter how personal that article had been. Looking through a more open – minded perspective, what she said are somewhat a form of opening our minds to the serious issues that we oftentimes overlook. In the next few years, with more and more films being shown in a thousand theaters around the world, more people may now be able to grasp the hidden concept behind these films that the story so wanted to tell in the first place.