|
Why I Write
"Why I Write" (1946) is an essay by George Orwell detailing his personal journey to becoming a writer. It was first published in the Summer 1946 edition of ''Gangrel''. The editors of this magazine, J.B.Pick and Charles Neil, had asked a selection of writers to explain why they write.Smothered Under Journalism, p.320 The essay offers a type of mini-autobiography in which he writes of having first completed poems and tried his hand at short-stories, and carried on a continuous "story" about himself in his head, before finally becoming a full-fledged writer. It goes on to set out some important motives for writing. Four motives for writing Orwell lists "four great motives for writing" which he feels exist in every writer. He explains that all are present, but in different proportions, and also that these proportions vary from time to time. They are as follows; # ''Sheer egoism''- Orwell argues that a writer writes from a "desire to seem clever, to be talked about, to be remembere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitarianism, and support of democratic socialism. Orwell produced literary criticism, poetry, fiction and polemical journalism. He is known for the allegorical novella '' Animal Farm'' (1945) and the dystopian novel '' Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (1949). His non-fiction works, including '' The Road to Wigan Pier'' (1937), documenting his experience of working-class life in the industrial north of England, and '' Homage to Catalonia'' (1938), an account of his experiences soldiering for the Republican faction of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), are as critically respected as his essays on politics, literature, language and culture. Blair was born in India, and raised and educated in England. After school he became an Imperial policeman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gangrel (magazine)
''Gangrel'' was a short-lived quarterly literary magazine published in the United Kingdom. It was edited by J. B. Pick and Charles Neill. History and profile The first issue of ''Gangrel'' appeared in October 1945. The magazine was based in London and was published on a quarterly basis. Running to a total of four issues between 1945 and 1946, it included articles by Alfred Perles, Henry Miller, Robert Simpson, Neil M. Gunn, Rayner Heppenstall and George Orwell, as well as poems by Lawrence Durrell, R. S. Thomas, James Kirkup and Kenneth Patchen. Orwell's famous essay "Why I Write "Why I Write" (1946) is an essay by George Orwell detailing his personal journey to becoming a writer. It was first published in the Summer 1946 edition of ''Gangrel''. The editors of this magazine, J.B.Pick and Charles Neil, had asked a selection ..." appeared in the last issue (Summer 1946). The title is a Scottish word meaning ''vagrant''. The magazine sold for 1s.9d. and carried articles on lite ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link=no) or The Uprising ( es, La Sublevación, link=no) among Republicans. was a civil war in Spain fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republicans and the Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the left-leaning Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic, and consisted of various socialist, communist, separatist, anarchist, and republican parties, some of which had opposed the government in the pre-war period. The opposing Nationalists were an alliance of Falangists, monarchists, conservatives, and traditionalists led by a military junta among whom General Francisco Franco quickly achieved a preponderant role. Due to the international political climate at the time, the war had many facets and was variously viewed as class ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pamphleteer
Pamphleteer is a historical term for someone who creates or distributes pamphlets, unbound (and therefore inexpensive) booklets intended for wide circulation. Context Pamphlets were used to broadcast the writer's opinions: to articulate a political ideology, for example, or to encourage people to vote for a particular politician. Early modern news pamphlets also made extensive use of stock imagery to describe, highlight, or criticize various social and cultural events and issues. During times of political unrest, such as the French Revolution, pamphleteers were highly active in attempting to shape public opinion. Before the advent of telecommunications, those with access to a printing press and a supply of paper often used pamphlets to widely disseminate their ideas. Famous pamphleteers Thomas Paine's pamphlets were influential in the history of the American Revolutionary War.James A. Henretta et al. (2011). America's History, Volume 1: To 1877. Macmillan. p. 165. . 17th-cen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Purple Prose
In literary criticism, purple prose is overly ornate prose text that may disrupt a narrative flow by drawing undesirable attention to its own extravagant style of writing, thereby diminishing the appreciation of the prose overall. Purple prose is characterized by the excessive use of adjectives, adverbs, and metaphors. When it is limited to certain passages, they may be termed purple patches or purple passages, standing out from the rest of the work. Purple prose is criticized for desaturating the meaning in an author's text by overusing melodramatic and fanciful descriptions. As there is no precise rule or absolute definition of what constitutes purple prose, deciding if a text, passage, or complete work has fallen victim is a somewhat subjective decision. According to Paul West, "It takes a certain amount of sass to speak up for prose that's rich, succulent and full of novelty. Purple is immoral, undemocratic and insincere; at best artsy, at worst the exterminating angel of de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1946 Essays
Events January * January 6 - The first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into four occupation zones. * January 10 ** The first meeting of the United Nations is held, at Methodist Central Hall Westminster in London. ** ''Project Diana'' bounces radar waves off the Moon, measuring the exact distance between the Earth and the Moon, and proves that communication is possible between Earth and outer space, effectively opening the Space Age. * January 11 - Enver Hoxha declares the People's Republic of Albania, with himself as prime minister. * January 16 – Charles de Gaulle resigns as head of the French provisional government. * January 17 - The United Nations Security Council holds its first session, at Church House, Westminster in London. * January 19 ** The Bell XS-1 is test flown for the first time (unpowered), with Bell's chief test pilot Jack Woolams at the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Essays By George Orwell
The bibliography of George Orwell includes journalism, essays, novels, and non-fiction books written by the British writer Eric Blair (1903–1950), either under his own name or, more usually, under his pen name George Orwell. Orwell was a prolific writer on topics related to contemporary English society and literary criticism, who has been declared "perhaps the 20th century's best chronicler of English culture." His non-fiction cultural and political criticism constitutes the majority of his work, but Orwell also wrote in several genres of fictional literature. Orwell is best remembered for his political commentary as a left-wing anti-totalitarian. As he explained in the essay " Why I Write" (1946), "Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism, as I understand it." To that end, Orwell used his fiction as well as his journalism to defend his political convictions. He first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
