Homage to Catalonia Essay

In his introduction to Homage to Catalonia, Lionel Trilling describes Orwell's capacity for honesty--for reporting just what he sees. Write an essay that analyzes how Orwell rhetorically accomplishes that honesty with three examples from the book--one from chapters I-V, another from chapters VI-X, and a third from chapters XI-XIV. Supplement your analysis with at least one illustration from both The Visual Front: Posters of the Spanish Civil War and the UK History Channel's web site on the Spanish Civil War (click on "Gallery"), and explain their relationship to Orwell's honesty. (You should print out the illustration and include it with your essay.) This essay is due on Wednesday, March 25.

For Juniors, for Friday, 3/6/09

In addition to reading pp. 72-120 in Homage to Catalonia, remember to bring a revision of the paragraph you wrote in class on Monday. Focus on sharpening the language, making it more concise, using more specific words, and conveying your subject's relationship to something larger than himself or herself. Also, as I mentioned in class on Wednesday, I would like you to bring in something that you read recently that you enjoyed. It shouldn't be more than a few pages long; an excerpt of a book is fine.