Directions for Orwell Opinion Paper
Use the MLA heading
One page only
Use italics for words used as examples
12 point font only
Frame your quotations
Double-space
Use in-text citations. Since there are no page numbers in the original article, you need to put Orwell’s name in parenthesis at the end of the sentence after each time you quote him e.g. (Orwell).
Don’t copy even one word without documentation.
Write about how Orwell broke his own rules. Use this quotation from his essay as a starting point to think about what you want to
write. “Look back through this essay, and for certain you will find that have again and again committed the very faults I am protesting against” (Orwell).
Be sure to have a thesis with a plan. Because you are allowed only one page (practicing Rule #17), be sure to write only on one rule and do not try to list all of his rules.
Pretend that the person reading your short essay does not have “Politics and the English Language” available. You need to introduce the essay and briefly tell what it is about.
In the first sentence, skip the part about “political and economic causes” and talk about what political speech is doing to language and how Orwell suggested six rules to help our writing.
