Critical Essay (A Hanging - George Orwell) Flashcards
What are the key quotations of Paragraph 2?
“Unspeakable wrongness”
“Till that moment I had never realised what it means to destroy a healthy,
conscious man”
“bowels digesting food, skin renewing itself, nails growing”
What is the theme of Paragraph 2?
Orwell’s Epiphany (change in opinion)
Write the introduction
George Orwell’s ‘a hanging’ gives a vivid insight into capital punishment.
Changes our stance towards the issue.
Explores how death penalty unethically cuts lives. Successfully conveys his ideas through a variety of techniques including imagery and word choice.
Evaluation for Paragraph 1.
Made out to be a painful experience,
Unnecessarily violent procedure, despite prisoners being weak and unresisting.
What is the Theme of Paragraph 4?
The Environment
Topic sentence for Paragraph 3.
After Orwell expresses his change of views on this form of punishment, he describes the reactions of both the guards and prisoners before and during the hanging. He effectively depicts these reactions by using imagery and word choice, which effectively portrays the feelings of the people around him.
Evaluation for Paragraph 2.
Makes both reader and author consider stance, by influencing to consider fact that it is still a human life.
Raises questions of morality and ethics.
Evaluation for Paragraph 3.
Describes feelings of guards, makes us realise that they have feelings too and are beginning to feel sympathy for the hung prisoner.
What is the Theme of Paragraph 1?
The Conditions of the Men
What is the theme of Paragraph 3?
Reactions of the Guards and Prisoners.
Evaluation for Paragraph 4.
Shows ignorance and disrespect of guards, whilst also reminding the reader of the bigger picture of the morality of the death penalty.
What are the key quotes of Paragraph 4?
“enormous relief”
“quite a homely, jolly scene.”
“the dead man was a hundred yards away”
Topic Sentence for Paragraph 4.
Once he describes the reactions of the guards, Orwell then successfully illustrates the environment after the hanging by using word choice in a way that engages the reader and helps them understand more about the events.
What are the key quotations of Paragraph 3?
“oh, kill him quickly, get it over”
“The Indians had gone grey like bad coffee”
“stop that abominable noise”
What are the key quotations of Paragraph 1?
“Small animal cages”
“Puny wisp of a man”
“Lashed”
Write a topic sentence for paragraph 1.
George Orwell’s powerful essay uses imagery and word choice in order to explore not only the inhumanity of the death penalty, but also the terrible conditions that the prisoners endured prior to their execution.
Write a topic sentence for paragraph 2.
After telling the reader about the cruel conditions the prisoners endured, Orwell goes on to describe his change in heart after witnessing these events. He uses a variety of techniques to describe how his views changed from supporting to against the important issue of the death penalty.
