Blog 3

In his essay entitled “That men should not judge of our happiness till after our death,” Michel de Montaigne follows Lott’s form by repeating that one cannot judge an individual’s happiness until after their death. Montaigne also reflects on various individuals’ lives and their subsequent deaths. Montaigne cannot include whether or not his own life is happy as his death has not occurred.

In his essay entitled “Shooting an Elephant,” George Orwell follows Lott’s recommendation that a writer not inflate their own ego’s when telling a story. Orwell makes it quite clear that he only shot the elephant so that he would not look foolish in front of his constituents. Also, the title of his essay has a comical ring to it. The story is about shooting an elephant but it reflective on how the author is really concerned about what people think of him.