Shooting an Elephant

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1. 
   linda-allen Teacher
   High School - 10th Grade

   The bulk of the story is written in different forms of the past tense, with the simple past tense being used most frequently:

   • I was hated
   • One day something happened
   • I did not know

   Orwell also uses the past progressive (also called the past continuous), which is a combination of the present participle (the -ing form) and the past tense of "to be":

   • He was lying on his belly 
   • He was tearing up bunches of grass
   • The Burmans were already pacing

   Although almost all of the story is told in the past tense, Orwell uses the present tense in at least two instances:

   • ...a story always sounds clear enough at a distance, but the nearer you get to the scene of events the vaguer it becomes.
   • Never tell me, by the way, that the dead look peaceful. Most of the corpses I have seen looked devilish.

   Both of these uses of the present occur as asides; that is, while telling his story, the narrator stops to give his current opinion.

   Sources:

   http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/tenses/past_progre...

   http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/esltensverb.html

   http://www.usu.edu/markdamen/WritingGuide/14prtens.htm

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   Posted by linda-allen on Tuesday April 22, 2008 at 8:28 PM
   
   

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