James Alex Plunk February 23, 2017
FWS Literary Journalism
Kindley
Utilizing Narration Narration is the way in which writers communicate with the audience. Authors have multiple options when deciding how to narrate their stories. The way that they employ narration can affect how the writing comes across and can result in different responses from readers. An author’s choice in how he or she narrates their writing is directly correlated with their objective for the piece. This can be observed through the journalist works of George Orwell and Joseph Mitchell. Orwell utilizes a first person narrative and includes personal anecdotes to try to influence people’s political views. Mitchell, in contrast, personally detaches from his narration, …show more content…
Through these detail-rich narrations a reader can more fully understand the first-hand experience of witnessing a hanging or governing an oppressed population. This makes it impossible for the reader to not have a response to the story. Orwell also forges an intimate and personal relationship with the reader by discussing his innermost thoughts, admitting his own flaws, and incorporating self-analyzation while narrating the story. This is evident in “Shooting an Elephant” when he admits his embarrassment of succumbing to pressure from the people he polices saying, “I often wondered whether any of the others grasped that I had done it solely to avoid looking a fool”. This technique of being completely honest is useful because it allows the writer to connect with the reader personally and establish a sense of trust which is imperative when trying to influence the reader’s thoughts. If Orwell were to have written these essays in third person, their quality would have been degraded and effectiveness …show more content…
He writes these stories to report on interesting subjects in New York City with the intent of producing something that will sell, which is the goal of any magazine. Therefore, he is not an essential character in his stories and writes in third person. Because these writings are about specific subjects unrelated to his life and are not anecdotes, it is appropriate that the articles are completely devoid of any personal opinion. This is because the audiences are not reading these articles to inform themselves on what Mitchell thinks of things, but rather to entertain themselves by a vividly detailed and interesting story. It is evident that Mitchell purposely excludes making any personal judgement in “The Old House at Home” when he declines to write any further commentary about either McSorely’s illegal operations during the prohibition or their policy of not allowing women to enter the bar. While Orwell would have jumped on these opportunities to make a political statement, Mitchell avoids it merely stating, “Old John believed it impossible for men to drink in tranquility in the presence of women” and “When the prohibition came, Bill simply disregarded it”. He neither states whether these practices were good or bad or if it was the norm, choosing instead to just tell it like it
FWS Literary Journalism
Kindley
Utilizing Narration Narration is the way in which writers communicate with the audience. Authors have multiple options when deciding how to narrate their stories. The way that they employ narration can affect how the writing comes across and can result in different responses from readers. An author’s choice in how he or she narrates their writing is directly correlated with their objective for the piece. This can be observed through the journalist works of George Orwell and Joseph Mitchell. Orwell utilizes a first person narrative and includes personal anecdotes to try to influence people’s political views. Mitchell, in contrast, personally detaches from his narration, …show more content…
Through these detail-rich narrations a reader can more fully understand the first-hand experience of witnessing a hanging or governing an oppressed population. This makes it impossible for the reader to not have a response to the story. Orwell also forges an intimate and personal relationship with the reader by discussing his innermost thoughts, admitting his own flaws, and incorporating self-analyzation while narrating the story. This is evident in “Shooting an Elephant” when he admits his embarrassment of succumbing to pressure from the people he polices saying, “I often wondered whether any of the others grasped that I had done it solely to avoid looking a fool”. This technique of being completely honest is useful because it allows the writer to connect with the reader personally and establish a sense of trust which is imperative when trying to influence the reader’s thoughts. If Orwell were to have written these essays in third person, their quality would have been degraded and effectiveness …show more content…
He writes these stories to report on interesting subjects in New York City with the intent of producing something that will sell, which is the goal of any magazine. Therefore, he is not an essential character in his stories and writes in third person. Because these writings are about specific subjects unrelated to his life and are not anecdotes, it is appropriate that the articles are completely devoid of any personal opinion. This is because the audiences are not reading these articles to inform themselves on what Mitchell thinks of things, but rather to entertain themselves by a vividly detailed and interesting story. It is evident that Mitchell purposely excludes making any personal judgement in “The Old House at Home” when he declines to write any further commentary about either McSorely’s illegal operations during the prohibition or their policy of not allowing women to enter the bar. While Orwell would have jumped on these opportunities to make a political statement, Mitchell avoids it merely stating, “Old John believed it impossible for men to drink in tranquility in the presence of women” and “When the prohibition came, Bill simply disregarded it”. He neither states whether these practices were good or bad or if it was the norm, choosing instead to just tell it like it