I’m Sorry but George Orwell is Great by Kathleen White

In the last blog you read why one of my fellow interns absolutely despises Orwell, and I’m not here to say that his feelings towards Orwell are wrong….But there’s so much to appreciate and love about Orwell!
George Orwell is a great writer and one of my favorite works by him is his essay “Politics and the English Language”. Orwell spends the essay describing the degradation of the English language and creates a set of rules that a writer should not break:
  • Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
  • Never use a long word where a short one will do.
  • If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
  • Never use the passive where you can use the active.
  • Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
  • Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright.
As both a writer and a reader I love these rules because Orwell places an emphasis on the simplicity of description. Orwell did not write this essay to sound pretentious, he wrote these rules and his critique of the seemingly new version of the English language because he loves the aesthetic of the written word and can’t stand to see it be destroyed.
Most of Orwell’s works are essays and memoirs. And the beauty of Orwell’s memoirs are that they’re written in such a way that the reader forgets that what they’re reading is not a piece of fiction. In one of Orwell’s most famous memoirs, “Shooting an Elephant”, Orwell describes a particular experience he had with a rampaging elephant. In the last blog post my fellow intern criticizes Orwell for not capitalizing on the symbolism of the elephant. But since the work is a memoir perhaps the elephant was simply just an elephant? Maybe Orwell did write it so that the elephant’s imagery can represent either the British or the Burmese or maybe he didn’t? Orwell doesn’t make his memoir overtly complex; Orwell lets the reader do what they will with the elephant.
The author of the last post believes that Orwell spews negativity and it is true that at one point Orwell “wanted to write enormous naturalistic novels with unhappy endings” (Orwell’s “Why I Write”). Yet there’s a reason behind some of Orwell’s negativity, there’s a reason why his works are somber. In “Why I Write” (My favorite Orwell essay!) Orwell discusses his motives for writing and finally settles upon two motives: writing for the aesthetic pleasure of it (as discussed above) and, more importantly, writing to expose truths.
Orwell writes because “there is some lie that [he] want[s] to expose, some fact to which [he] want[s] to draw attention” (“Why I Write”). With that in mind readers can read Orwell’s work and ask themselves what truth Orwell is trying to expose. If Orwell is being negative is that his personal stance or is a reflection or point he’s trying to make about the world or situation around him?

You can love him OR hate him, but he writes pretty WELL!

Why I Despise George Orwell by Gus Mahoney

I have a confession. I tried; I really tried, to love his books. A dystopian society? Marvelous. A book of personal essays from one of the most famous writers of the 20th century? What could be wrong?
EVERYTHING. I despise George Orwell with a burning passion. Let me start this by saying, he is brilliant. He truly is. His writing is masterful and evokes thought and emotion.  For me, that emotion is extreme hate. In life, there is nothing I hate more than some lonely kid spewing their negativity onto the world. Now, that may sound cynical or rude, but it is true! Negativity in any form is just unproductive, especially with him.
For example, in his essay Shooting an Elephant, Orwell tells the story of when he was a police officer in Burma and he has to catch an elephant that has escaped and is wreaking havoc in  the town. As he is searching the town, he gains a following of natives so that by the point he finds the peaceful elephant eating grass, he has almost 2,000 “yellow faces” (another reason to hate him) encouraging him to kill the elephant. Basically, he shoots the elephant and has this whole revelation about how people in power have no freedom, and that imperialism sucks, and all that jazz. Orwell’s writing is brilliant in this piece. The way he structures and styles his words is beautiful. The content? Not so much. Orwell has SO much opportunity to elaborate on the beautiful symbolism of the elephant, but instead he spends the rest of the piece with selfish self-deprecation. As Foster (our junior year boo thang) says, an author doesn’t necessarily have to know the meaning behind their work. Orwell very well may have not truly understood the beautiful symbolism behind the elephant, but instead wrote this piece just to get people to feel bad for him! His narcissism, egotism, and pessimism is the reason I cannot stand this blubbering ninnie.
Orwell constantly writes about how society cuts down the human spirit, but in reality he’s the one cutting down my human spirit. That is all.


Nobody’s Perfect! by Anabel McGuan

As a self-proclaimed “grammar nerd,” I am confident in my writing abilities. I’ve always loved reading and writing, be it essays, novels, fiction, non-fiction, or what-have-you. In addition to my position as a Shaker Writing Center Intern, I am the chief copy-editor of the Shakerite, where my job is to scrutinize every piece of writing that the newspaper publishes for errors, redundancy, unnecessary prepositional phrases, and general mushiness.

Today in AP Language & Composition, Ms. Sekicky handed back our first quiz of the year. The topic was greening — editing writing to create the most concise, precise, and emphatic version possible. I live for that stuff! So, imagine my surprise when I received a failing grade. Oops. 
Everyone can benefit from writing instruction. No matter what stage in the process or how strong a writer you are, having a second — or third — pair of eyes on your writing can be hugely beneficial. 

SWC Grand Opening!

The Shaker Writing Center is officially open for business!  We enjoyed our Grand Opening celebration on September 26, 2016. Students were invited to room 228 to check out our space, talk with the fabulous SWC Interns, find out about our services, and write a six-word memoir to add to our wall.
We are here during 6th, 7th or 9th period or after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays to help you with any writing assignment for any class at any stage in the process! Sign up outside of 228 for a session. Write on, Shaker!