Reading Orwell’s writing makes me feel like I’ve known him personally for a long time. His low diction and register make his writing available for anyone to read and gives the reader a sense of relatability to his life, even if it’s not half as extreme. I constantly found myself relating to either there characters in Orwell’s stories, or the narrative opinion (his thoughts). For example, in The Spike I got a very relatable feeling of not being able to bring valuables into an area for risk of them being stolen. Similarly I had another relatable feeling when reading How the Poor Die I felt a sense of relatability to Orwell as he watched the other patients treated as less than human. I see similar things when I am downtown Victoria and see people treat the homeless population the same way. This relatable style of writing is extremely efficient in having the reader connect to your writing and is one of the reasons Orwell’s pieces so prolific.
Writing the DRJs I also learnt somethings. As these were my first DRJs after doing the Oral I felt like I was better equipped and understood how to properly analyze the texts. In some instances I struggled finding points to make in some of the boxes, but in others I was overwhelmed with how much I found. The areas I feel very strong writing about are Imagery, Structure/Organization, and Diction/Register. I feel strong in these areas because they are the categories that leave a bigger impression on me meaning I am more likely to notice them. The areas I wish to improve are Sound Effects, and Tone. I am typically able to hear the tone of a story, yet I struggle finding evidence to support my claims. In terms of sound effects I found out only recently from Mr. MacKnight’s group feedback that I hadn’t been doing this section properly, I would focus on sound imagery more than the sound effects like we were supposed to.
Reading Wheatcroft’s tribute to Orwell helped me understand just how good of a writer Orwell really was. It felt like my thoughts on Orwell were explained further using evidence and it really helps the average reader understand why Orwell does prevail.
Nice personal response Coen! I like how you used examples from your own experiences that relate to Orwell’s excerpts like how homeless people are treated in Downtown Victoria. I am curious as to which parts of Wheatcroft’s tribute to George Orwell helped you understand how good of a writer George Orwell really was.
Hi Coen, I like how you used daily life examples to link with literary knowledge you accquired from the class! One thing I would want to know more about you is what do you think about how he prevail and in what other ways did it change your perspective on him aside from making you understand that he is a great writer?