Decline of the English Murder by George Orwell PDF

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Analysis on the Decline of the English murder written by George Orwell...

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Likhitha, Tharuneeka, Maria, Joseph, Shaheer Oct 1, 2021 ENG 4U0 - C Mr. Vidulin

Decline of the English Murder 1. As a group, briefly summarize your chosen/assigned essay in no more than about 5 sentences or so. (Maria) - The essay “Decline of the English Murder” is formally talking about the passionate love that the English would have for reading English murder cases, he analysed the kind of types of murders and why people enjoy reading about them. Orwell establishes his view of the English language as an instrument, as the story starts off with an English man enjoying his Sunday afternoon opening up and reading “News of the World”. Orwell speaks upon the “Cleft chin Murder”, which was a murder taken place in World War II. The story speaks upon the hanging of an 18 year old girl due to the effects on war. Orwell breifly talks about how the second World War had a ‘brutalizing effect’ on the psyches of Britons and how they should hang the girl” for all her crimes. 2. Next, perform a detailed analysis of the essay using the criteria on this handout (Parts I-IV; be sure to devote particular attention to III and IV). Keep track of references (i.e. passage quotations and paragraph numbers) for proof. Remember: be detailed, accurate and insightful. Impress me! (Tharuneeka, Likhitha, Joseph) Part I - The Lead (Maria) - The lead of this Essay definitely has to be setting the scene. In the first paragraph, along with the first couple sentences Orwell talks about an Englishman who started off his Sunday afternoon reading “The News of the World” briefly explaining his excitement to read upon the news on the “murders”. In paragraph 1 it says “The wife is already asleep in the armchair, and the children have been sent out for a nice long walk. You put your feet up on the sofa, settle your spectacles on your nose, and open the News of the World” (paragraph 1). That first paragraph really hooks you into reading more on the essay and how detailed his actions were. Towards the end of the paragraph it kind of leaves you in suspense as it ends with a question and hooks the reader to continue you on reading about the murders the Englishman is going to read. Part II - The Content - 3 T’s - Tharuneeka - Topic The essay focus on the ‘Cleft Chin Murder’ and how it compares to other murders where the outcome of the ‘Cleft Chin Murder’ was truly based on the opinions of those who were affected by the war. The idea of normalizing death and murder put the various criminals and murder apart. Seen in the ‘Cleft Chin Murder’, “this clamour to hang an eighteen-year-old girl was due partly to the brutalizing effects of war”. (Paragraph 7) The topic, however, focuses on how the

Battle of France during the Second World War had an effect on the minds of citizens in Britain. The war led to the citizens wanting to hang Jones signifying their loss for mercy as death became common. - Type This essay is a combination of an argumentative and expository, where George Orwell referenced the ‘Cleft Chin Murder’ and how he believed that the opinions of the citizens were changed due to the effects of war. He came to the conclusion after comparing his view on other murders and the ‘Cleft Chin Murder’ that the war changed their view on death and murder. Such that, it is common occurrence in their time for such tragical events - Thesis Orwell believed that the citizens had lost sight of what true murder or “the ‘perfect’ murder” (Paragraph 5) was and wished to hang Jones due to the war. The idea of death and murder was a casual aspect of their lives, where he compared other murders to this case before coming to the conclusion that the necessity for hanging Jones was based on the effect of the war. - Development - Joseph and Tharuneeka and Likhitha - Ethos - Joseph As we read through this essay we can see that it is one that is very opinionated, especially in the first few paragraphs where he tries to convince us that we really don't see any good murders in that time. But through all of the opinionated statements we can see him present a lot of factual evidence suggesting that murders are getting less and less interesting. For example, he presents the nine different murders that happened recently relevant to the time the essay was written. As he reads through these murders, he lists why they have been top stories in the past and explains why some would call these good murders.The murders that he describes as “interesting” are ones that involve dramatic and domestic stories or motives, ones that involve keeping a good social status and and only caught by a nosy neighbor or a small investigation. He speeches of the cleft chin murder and compares it showing us the difference between it and the other nine. He also mentiones the fact that these murders are tied to thebattle of France in the second world war which was happening at the same time.We can see that Orwell used ethos by comparing many different murders that actually happend and indirectly implies that the public is getting desencitiesed. - Pathos - Likhitha This essay appeals to emotions - pathos - in the introduction paragraph. George Orwell uses the statement “blissful circumstances” (Paragraph 1) to picturize the way murders are read. Moreover, Orwell’s description of the “perfect murder” also contained a lot of pathos. The diction he uses when describing the ideal murder such as “In one way or another, sex was a powerful motive in all but two cases, and in at least four cases respectability- the desire to gain a secure position in life, or not to forfeit one’s social position by some scandal such as a divorce – was one of the main reasons for committing murder.” outlines the motive of “strong emotions” behind each murder. This essay utilizes pathos to appeal to the emotions of readers and elicit genuine feelings that are already reside in them.

- Logos - Tharuneeka Orwell starts off the essay by mentioning the various other murder cases during the Elizabethan period. “Our great period in murder, our Elizabethan period, so to speak, seems to have been between roughly 1850 and 1925…” (Paragraph 2) Some other cases include Dr. Palmer of Rugeley, Jack the Ripper, Neill Cream, and six others. A question I pose for the class. Seen on the screen, who knows at least one of these murder cases… that is, excluding Jack the Ripper? Well, as Orwell mentions these specific cases to build his ideal murder, he also mentions The popularity and attention on these cases were seen through the development of resources where, “at least four [of the nine] have had successful novels based on them, one has been made into a popular melodrama, and the amount of literature surrounding them…would make a considerable library.” (Paragraph 3) Also contains a reference to “Cleft Chin Murder, which has now been written up in a popular booklet[1]” (Paragraph 3) that was written by Alwyn Raymond. It also looks more into the murders, specifically the motive and background. Orwell recalls the events of the ‘Cleft Chin Murder’ introducing “eighteen-year-old ex-waitress named Elizabeth Jones, and an American army deserter, posing as an officer, named Karl Hulten”. (Paragraph 6) He concludes his essay with references to the Second World War: “it provided distraction amid the doodle-bugs and the anxieties of the Battle of France. Jones and Hulten committed their murder to the tune of V1, and were convicted to the tune of V2”. (Paragraph 7) - Title and Conclusion - Likhitha - Title The title of George Orwell’s essay, “Decline of the English Murder” is quite appropriate regarding it’s contents. The “Decline” in the title does refer to the ‘number’ of murders being committed but the way in which they are committed. In other words, the ‘art’ of the English murder is in decline. American murders are generally associated with the words ‘cheap’ and ‘casual’; the way the “Cleft Chin Murder” - which is quite significant in this essay - was committed. The title of this essay summarizes the contents of this essay aptly and allows the reader to ponder about the title after reading this essay. - Conclusion The conclusion of this essay highlights the differences in the murder related crimes of the “Elizabethan” period and 1944 when the infamous “Cleft Chin Murder” occured. Many of the crimes discussed in the media were due to strong emotions and similar to Orwell’s description of the “perfect murder.” However, one of the most infamous murders still discussed today, does not in anyway fit the outlined description of the “perfect murder.” Furthermore, it is important to note that, one of the most popular murders of English society was not committed by an Englishman but rather “an American and an English girl who had become partly Americanized.”

Additionally, the pattern of murders being committed due to strong emotion was non-existent. George Orwell’s conclusion depicts the unexplainable growth in the history of homicides. Part III - The Elements of Style (VERY IN-DEPTH) - Voice and Tone - Shaheer - The voice of the writer (George Orwell) was strong and concise within the essay he was writing and with his conclusion . He was being formal, descriptive, neutral, and even significantly informative. Deep down, the voice was surprised as the conclusion states of “how an English girl who had become partly Americanized” and the unpredictable expandation of homicides. - The tone in this essay (The Decline of the English Murder) was neutral, presice, and clear throughout his essay. It was also calm like a still pond with an influential (solid) passion of confidence with himself and the subject of what he wrote. He thought he was surprised he remained calm in his essay of the murders and homicides, which reveals that he is a person of stillness within his reactions, whom he doesn’t show any expression through his tone but rather his word choices. - Language and Sentence Patterns - Maria - The language in this Essay definitely has to be Formal. This essay in general is more on a more formal topic, then it would be informal as the story is talking in the 1940s and back then everything was more “serious” and “formal” rather than using slang terms or using informal language. -

Rhetorical Devices And Persuasive Strategies - Joe - One of the most noticeable persuasive techniques Orwell used was his lead. He decided to paint a picture and make the situation more personal to the reader. - Orwell also lists all of his examples in one paragraph (paragraph 2) to make it easier to talk about all of them all at once in the next paragraph (paragraph 3). In that paragraph, he starts take all of those examples of the list one by one showing us how irrelevant and “stupid” those murders were. - We can also notice that Orwell decides to pose many questions especially at the beginning of the essay, this leaves us as the reader pondering and wanting to know more of what his opinion is. - Following the last point, he then continues to illustrate an idea and drives us into looking in his point of view. “In these blissful circumstances, what is it that you want to read about?” He then starts talking about murders and poses another question leading us on to see what he sees.

Part IV - Forming your Conclusions (VERY IN-DEPTH) - Comment on the weight or strength of the argument; is it persuasive and convincing? What reasoning techniques are used? - Likhitha - This essay is quite convincing as the author builds the argument with a lot of evidence and formulates an opinion with a lot of research. Throughout the essay, Orwell uses deductive reasoning to identify how the murders have declined not in numbers but in number of murders with reasonable motive. Moreover, through the use of this reasoning, a logical premise is used to reach a logical conclusion. Orwell’s identification of the ‘cleft chin murders’ and his observations of the previous murder pattern depicts a lack of motive and increase in mindless murders. In essence, this argument is quite persuasive and convincing through the use of deductive reasoning. - How might you support or add to the essay? What was missing? What holes can you find in the author's argument? - Tharuneeka - To support the essay I would include more statistics to emphasize his argument on the impact of mental health during the war. Given the time, the 1940’s, this addition would be more difficult than it is now. However, the statistics would improve his counter argument to the outcome of the ‘Cleft Chin Murder’. Orwell countered the verdict of the “Cleft Chin Murder’ with his argument of the impact of war on the mental well-being that led to the society’s opinion on Jones and the normalization of death and murder. His arguments had a heavy emphasis on other murders that happened in the same period. He used those murders to improve his point. Overall, the addition of more logos would improve his arguments. - What rebuttals (opposing arguments) might you make? (exploit the weaknesses you found in the previous step. - Joe - One could argue that the cleft chin murder was not a particularly boring or a bad murder but one that revolutionized the meaning of murder. After this time period, we begin to see many murders that are crimes of passion and seem to be less thought out and on the spot as was this one. - One could also argue that the main point that he is making, that crimes were better when they involved poison or money or sex or ones that were commited as a cover up. Some could argue that murders are better when they don't involve these thing because they don't have enough passion or recklessness as the public now likes. For example, some may prefer a story more like baby driver where a supposebly innocent boy gets involved with some bad apples and ends up in jail for many crimes including murder. Incline Of the English Murder. - The final argument that I would like to make is that Orwell lacked statistics and true facts of why these murders were so good and so called “perfect” or that the battle of france directly affected the public's opinion on these murders.

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Answer the question of “so what?” That is, why does this essay matter to us? To address these questions, connect current global, national, local events, or events in your own life, to the essay arguments. Does the essay still “work” even though the context (time/place) under which it was written is different from ours? Whose interests does the author’s argument serve? Who gains or loses by it? - Likhitha and Tharuneeka In the past few years, many crimes and deaths have become normalized. Especially since COVID-19, deaths have turned into statistics rather than people passing away. Due to the increasing numbers of people passing away since March 2020, society has come to understand that a minimum of 100 people die per day. Whether it be the neighbour next door or someone very near and dear, many of the deaths have simply become numbers. Similar to the essay, deaths seem to have no emotions behind them, they have become “cheap and casual”. Orwell, refers to the ‘cleft chin murders’ as emotionless since the two accused criminals did not commit with any motive or necessity; they were simply committed for enjoyment. Though this essay is from a different context than current times, the essay illustrates the global issues at hand. The author emphasizes that death has become a normalized and normal aspect to the people’s lives. Evidently, the ‘Cleft Chin Murder’ on how both, Jones and Hulten, didn’t have a motive for their actions rather a spur of the moment incident. Georgoe Orwell believed that “there is no depth of feeling in it. It was almost chance that the two people concerned committed that particular murder, and it was only by good luck that they did not commit several others.” (Paragraph 6) There was no motive for such a travesty to occur with no emotions but simply for enjoyment. Though the argument supports that society has made death a common occurrence, they, the society, are the most to gain by the argument. The society gets a different perspective on how death, they saw, was common. It will show how the war had psychological changed their idea on death and murder. When looking at who had the most to lose, it can be thought of as the media. If the common incident of murder was to decline, where the society didn’t experience such tragedies, the media would have the lack of coverage. Orwell alludes that, “this murder probably captured the headlines because it provided distraction” (Paragraph 7) If the crime rate for murder did decreases, the media wouldn’t have any news to cover, especially during the war. War was a factor for the normalizing of death as well as the coverage and attention to this particular murder. 3. Based on your answers above, make inferences about the intended audience, the intended purpose, and the communication of the essay (refer to the first page of this document). (Shaheer) a) The intended audience of this essay

The audience of this essay are those who have a clear comprehension of society’s crimes and problems. Who can see clearly of how the societies are managing within the death scenes and illegal activities b) The intended purpose of this essay The main subject of this essay is to realize how much deaths of homicide have grown within an unpredictable matter and how war can affect humility itself. The essay expresses the deaths that are happening due to the warring states psychosocial effects. c) The communication of the essay The communication of the essay is as I described the tone and the voice of George Orwell. Clear, strong, calm, no sign of reactions during the essay, and while it was also descriptive and informative. 4. Include a 10 question, 10 mark quiz to be given to your classmates; this could be on paper or a Kahoot, but in either case the group is responsible for marking and reporting the results to Mr. Vidulin. (Likhitha) https://create.kahoot.it/share/decline-of-the-english-murder/1ad7403f-4910-41a6-90e9-a269 d3c5bdf9...