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George Orwell's 1984

Online Versions of 1984:

AUDIO BOOKS:

http://www.george-orwell.org/1984

http://www.msxnet.org/orwell/

http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/o/orwell/george/o79n/

http://www.netcharles.com/orwell/books/1984.htm

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.apfn.org/APFN/1984-movie-cell.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.apfn.org/APFN/1984.htm&usg=__nhHnMQbVLtIPyRjxf7nP6tvdrbM=&h=130&w=240&sz=6&hl=en&start=7&um=1&tbnid=dObjGsy24PS6vM:&tbnh=60&tbnw=110&prev=/images%3Fq%3D1984%2Bwinston%2Bcell%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4SUNA_enUS306US306

Online Versions of Lord of the Flies:

http://www.zbths.org/165310818145034323/lib/165310818145034323/_files/LOTF.pdf

1984, by George Orwell

WHO IS “BIG BROTHER?”

•        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4rBDUJTnNU

•        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo9I6ggDIjs

•        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAuZi8ZiJOg

•        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYOUolZnGIs

•        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYecfV3ubP8

The Author –George Orwell

•        “George Orwell” was the pen name of Eric Blair.

•        Born 1903 in India,grew up in England

•        Orwell was educated at Eton, a prestigious boarding schoolin England.

•        After School, Orwell decided to skip college and work as aBritish Imperial Policeman in Burma

•        Was a sergeant in the police force

•        Saw British imperialism first-hand in India, wasappalled at the oppression he witnessed

•        Chose to live among the lower classes for one year

•        Became a socialist, moved to Spain, was kicked out by CommunistParty

•        In 1945, wrote Animal Farm, a political satire

•        1984 was written in 1948 and published in 1949

•        Orwell died at age 47 from Tuberculosis.

What’s it about?

•        A novel of psychological terror that warns us about a futurewhere the government controls everything and individual rights are taken away

•        The novel was a response to Totalitarian governments(Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, etc.)

•        The world of 1984 is a negative utopia --- a dystopia.

•        The main character, Winston Smith, tries to rebel againstsociety

•        He begins his rebellion with the simple act of writing inhis journal --- which is illegal

•        All citizens are monitored by “telescreens” which arepresent in all homes and workplaces

•        The government is represented by Big Brother, a figure who“sees everything”

•        Laws are enforced by the Thought Police, who arrest and“vaporize” anyone who even thinks disruptive thoughts

•        History is constantly rewritten so that the predictions ofBig Brother will never be wrong

•        Citizens are constantly asked to show their allegiance byengaging in rallies and meetings to support Big Brother

•        Hatred for the enemies of Big Brother is encouraged throughthe use of propaganda

•        The society of Oceania isconstantly at war with other countries --- or so Big Brother says.

1984: Setting andGenre

•        Futuristic, cautionary novel

•        Setting:  London, in themythical country of Oceania, 1984 (in thefuture)

Characters: Winston Smith

•        Winston Smith: Main character and the narrator of the story.

•        Winston is a 39 year old low-ranking member of the rulingParty

•        A normal, insignificant, lonely man in a word that is devoidof creativity and color

•        Feels that something is missing in his life and wants tobreak free

•        He secretly hates Big Brother and harbors revolutionarydreams

•        Constantly paranoid that he will be discovered and arrestedfor Thought Crime

•        Works in the Records Department

Characters: Julia

•        Julia is Winston’s 25 year old lover

•        She is a beautiful, dark-haired woman who enjoys sex andclaims to have had affairs with many Party members

•        She is optimistic and her rebellion is small and personal

Characters: O’Brien

•        A mysterious, powerful, and sophisticated member of theInner Party

•        Winston believes O’Brien is a member of the “Brotherhood” --a legendary group of anti-Party rebels

•        Winston trusts and admires O’Brien, but never quite figureshim out

Characters: Mr. Charrington

•        A kind and encouraging old man who runs a second-hand shopin the prole district

•        He rents Winston and Julia a room without a telescreen sothey can carry on their love affair

•        He seems supportive of Winston’s rebellion against the Party

Characters: Big Brother

•        Big Brother is the perceived ruler of Oceania-- he looks like a combination of Hitler and Stalin

•        Big Brother’s God-like image is stamped on coins andprojected on telescreens -- his face is unavoidable

1984: Oceania’s Ranks

•        Oceania is a huge country ruled by The Party, which is led by afigure called “Big Brother”

▫        The Inner Party (1% of pop.) control the country

▫        The Outer Party (18% of pop.) are controlled by the Inner Party

▫        The Proles (81% of pop.) are the labor power who live in poverty

▫        The Brotherhood is an underground rebellion organization lead by EmmanuelGoldstein

A few terms from1984

•        Newspeak – the language of Oceania

•        Newspeak is the official language of Oceania

•        The goal of the Party is to have Newspeak replace Oldspeak(standard English)

•        Newspeak eliminates undesirable words and invents new words-- all to force Party conformity

•

•        Doublethink – the ability to believe two contradictory things at thesame time

•        Doublethink is the manipulation of the mind by making peopleaccept contradictions

•        Doublethink makes people believe that the Party is the onlyinstitution that knows right from wrong

•        “The Ministry of Truth” (where Winston works) changeshistory, facts, and memories to promote Doublethink

•        Ingsoc – Oceania’s form ofgovernment

•        Thought crime – thinking anti-party thoughts

•        Inner Party/Outer party – those closest to Big Brother and those on the outside

•        Proles – the lower classes who live in aseparate part of the city

1984: Story Overview

•        Winston is sick of his job fabricating and changing historyat the “Ministry of Truth”

•        Winston has a sexual affair with Julia -- he trusts her andshares his rebellious thoughts with her

•        Winston wants to get involved with O’Brien, who he thinks ispart of the Brotherhood rebellion

•        Eventually both Winston and Julia are captured by the Party

Themes

•        Alienation

•        Love

•        Individuality/Freedom of Thought and Speech

•        Governmental Control

•        Appearance vs. Reality

“Orwellian?”

•        This word comes directly from Orwell’s writing in 1984. Itcarries a negative connotation and refers to anything involving systematiccontrolling/monitoring of the individual. For example, the installation ofsecurity cameras at Trinity…

Questions to consider as you read

•        This novel predicted one possible future. Are wecloser to 1984 today than we were in 1949?

•        How are our thoughts controlled today?

•        Who is Big Brother?

•        What are the key symbols in the novel?

•        In what ways are we watched and monitored today?

Journal Entry #28: "Defining the Themes"

 1)DEFINE/DESCRIBE the following terms as well and as in-depth as you can:

–        “FREEDOM”

–        “EMOTION”

–        “PERFECTION”

–        “GOVERNMENT”

–        “CONSPIRACY”

 2) Answer the Question: “How far off is our society from the one portrayed in 1984?”Explain & Support your answer with specific examples and evidence

Chapter1

•        Chapter One introduces the reader to the harshand cold environment that Winston Smith is forced to live in.

•        Orwell presents a world that is clearly a resultof an extreme totalitarian government.  People are without rights andsubject to all forms of physical and psychological cruelty… all under thestigma that everything the government does is for the betterment of thesociety.

•        Through the eyes of the protagonist, WinstonSmith, we see that there is a possibility that some form of “humanity” is stillhiding behind the glazed eyes of the citizens of Oceania.

•        Winston lets on that he does have some inklingas to how the concept of “freedom” might be worth looking into.

•        Orwel portrays a world that exists withinconstant view of “BIG BROTHER” and in which the act of writing in a diary couldbe punishable by DEATH!

•        We see that Winston, behind the façade that heputs on for the rest of the world, wants to break free of the bonds of thetotalitarian regime.  This is evident in his first diary entry.

•        The moment Winston becomes a criminal (guilty ofthought-crimes) is the same moment that the story really begins… Essentially,until that moment, Winston is no more than another number to the masses. It is in the single act that he proves to the reader and to himself that he is“different.”

•        How is the government able to gain control of somany people?

•         And MORE importantly…

•         How does the government MAINTAIN control?

•         What is the significance behind the names of theMinistries?

▫        Ministry of Peace:

▫        Ministry of Love:

▫        Ministry of Plenty:

•         Why does Orwell choose these specific titles?

Orwell begins the storyin a world that has already been overtaken by an all encompassing government.

•        Freedom has been diminished to the pointof  INDIVIDUAL THOUGHT becoming an actual CRIME!

•        Independent thoughts and actions are punishableby death!  And the citizens have become so adherent to such laws thatpersonal freedoms and even independent thought have been replaced with anacceptance/faith in a Party that demands total surrender to its every decree.

•        The QUESTION…

•        HOW COULD THISHAPPEN????

▫        The author is careful not to explain how such aworld came to be… to the reader’s knowledge, as well as most citizens of Oceania, such a society simply IS, ALWAYS HAS BEEN, ANDALWAYS WILL BE.

▫        Orwell is implying much about the world of the1940’s and where he felt it might be headed if the “Independent Thinkers” ofthe world did not take notice….

•        So Again….. The Question

•        HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?

         Journal 29:

         Consider what George Orwell must have had in mind when he began writing 1984… What elements of his society and aspects of his government could have possibly played muse to such a seemingly far-fetched idea? 

         What might those first steps in becoming what Orwell describes in the pages of the novel have been?  Be as creative and descriptive as possible.

CHAPTER 2&3

• Winston reveals himself to be quite the pessimist.  Hebelieves that his death is unavoidable from the moment that he began to writein the book.

• This fear/pessimism is another clear reflection of howsuccessful Big Brother has been in his attempts to manipulate mankind and turnhim into an obedient and submissive pawn.

•Orwell’s early portrayal of Winston sets the tone for therest of the story and acts as a looking glass for the reader to view the restof Oceania from the perspective of one of itsown citizens.

• Winston’s inability to clearly partition love and hate isyet another representation of the effects of an overbearing government. With no experience with emotions outside of the daily “2 minute hate,” he has littleto relate those feelings toward the brown haired woman to

        “Knowledge Is Power”

•        Much as it was for early slaves here in America, theruling party maintains psychological control over the citizens by limitingtheir access to and documentation of certain materials.  With nodocumentation, there is little that people can do to challenge the actions andauthority of the government

        “The Subconscious”

▫        Winston, with little else to go on, begins experiencing his ownpast through subconscious images (dreams)

▫        As is often the case with Protagonists, the internalconflict presented in the dreams are a reflection of the external conflictpresent throughout the story.

        Imagery

▫        Under the rule of Big Brother and The Party, London has become anUrban Wasteland…

▫        The setting resembles how one might picture a postapocalyptic scene; the gloom and dreariness of the city is palpable.

–        Buildings are condemned, streets are filthy, the sky isdark, the air is polluted, and the people are generally morose.

▫        With so much dreariness and such an apparent need forgovernment intervention, what is the significance in the overwhelming presenceof futuristic technology?

▫        What thought is Orwell trying to plant in the reader’s mindby presenting a broken city full of technologically advanced security andsurveillance equipment?

         What about the Junior Spies?

        What was Orwell implying by havingWinston’s neighbor turned in to the thought police by his own child?

      The Reality…

▫        The “Junior Spies” were Orwell’s depiction of a realorganization called “Hitler Youth” that thrived in Nazi Germany. Children wereinstilled with such fanatic patriotism that they would even go as far as tomonitor their parents for signs of Anti-Nazi behavior, in much the same mannerthat Orwell describes his “Junior Spies.”

Chapter 4 -6

Chapter 4

▫        Orwell gives insight into theeveryday life of an “Oceanian” by allowing the reader to view Winston’s typicalwork day.

▫        Winston’s job is to alter historicaldocuments with the use of a “speakwrite” (yet another example of Orwell’s almostpre-cognitive ability).  He is to make certain that there is no documentin existence that may conflict with the claims of Big Brother… BIG BROTHERCANNOT BE WRONG!

▫        When tasked with “correcting”documents about a recently executed enemy who happened to have been an officialin Big Brother’s ruling party, Winston merely erased the man’s name andreplaced it with one that he fabricated.  He then described the fabricatedcomrade so that he reflected all that was considered ideal in Oceanian Society.

▫        Winston begins to reflect on theactivities taking place in the Ministry of Truth… We can now recognize thatWinston does have doubts and in fact only follows lead in an attempt at selfpreservation.

       Chapter 5

▫        In Chapter 5 we are introduced tothe ANTI-Winston… Winston has lunch with Syme, an intelligent but unbelievablynarrow-minded and naïve character who takes great pride in his conformity andin the part he plays in revising the “Newspeak” Dictionary.

▫        It is in Chapter 5 that we see anexample of the deceit that takes place on a regular basis in Oceania.  TheMinistry of Plenty proudly announces that production of chocolate rations hasincreased to twenty grams… The lie becomes evident when the reader learns, throughWinston’s reflection, that the rations had actually been higher the previousday… but of course, everyone happily accepts the announcement without question.

        Chapter 6

▫        Chapter 6 is mostly made up of aflashback in the form of Winston’s diary entry in which he recalls his mostrecent sexual encounter… with a prostitute.

▫        Winston’s description of thisexperience is far from pleasant.  In fact, his recollection of his sexualexperiences with his former wife are explained as no more than the duty of amarried couple in order to produce offspring.  There was to be NO pleasureinvolved…

▫        Winston’s description of theprostitute as old, ugly, and toothless makes evident that his desire to be withher had no ties to enjoyment… oddly enough, making the experience both horribleand pointless.  He simply hoped that the experience would allow him onedesperate act of rebellion in allowing him to actually procure some form ofenjoyment from the act of sexual intercourse.

▫        Evidently, Old, Toothless, and Uglydoesn’t do the trick!

        Chapter 4-6

▫        In these chapters, we become moreand more aware of the paradoxes that are constantly produced and propagatedamong the citizens and to what extent these falsities are actually accepted tobe true.  We become fully aware of the psychological hold that Big Brotherand the Ministries have on the “individual minds” of this “free society.”

▫        THE PEOPLE WHO CHANGE THE HISTORYBOOKS ACTUALLY BELIEVE WHAT IS IN THEM!!!

▫        The level of oppression that hasbeen reached is laughable!

▫        It is here that we really get to seethat, though he is hardly the sharpest character we’ve ever come across,Winston’s mental and emotional struggle with right & wrong or true &false is entirely merited.

▫        The insight into the Psychologicalaspects of the Party’s oppression are continued into Chapter 6 when we areallowed that oh so intimate look at the private “Love Life” of the averageOceanian…

▫        Winston’s description (thankfullynot overly vivid) reflected the extent to which the Party has successfullyinfiltrated every aspect of the once private life of the individual.  SEXis a DUTY and nothing more…

▫        Considering that sexual intercourseis considered by SOME to be  the ultimate representation of emotional,mental, and physical individuality… an experience where two individuals act onindividual desires and from which can be derived much individualpleasure…  It’s no surprise that Big Brother is sure to have his fingersin this pot as well.

▫        All Individualism is removed fromthe act entirely!

▫        Even Reproduction is viewed as thebuilding of party members… mmhhhhmmmm  SEXY!

       Chapter 7

▫        Winston begins to more fully reflectthe views of Orwell in regards to WWII and the dictatorships of both Stalin& Hitler.

▫        Winston continues writing in hisdiary, becoming more and more audacious in his expression of a desire forrevolution.  He explains his belief that change will never come fromwithin the Party, but must instead be a result of actions taken by the morepopulous Proles.  The problem however lies in the Proles’ uncultivatedmanner and in-turn lack of actual awareness of such oppression.

▫        The theme that “Knowledge Is Power”is really brought home in Chapter 7 with Winston’s total lack of confidence inany official record as a result of all history being written by the Party.

▫        Winston finds himself up aparticular creek without a paddle.  He doesn’t believe what he’s told,what he reads, or even what he sees… But, he finds that he has no means fromwhich he might elicit anything resembling the truth!

“In the end the Party would announcethat two and two made five and you would have to believe it.”

▫        Winston points out that the controlof knowledge, or rather, the ability to alter that from which all knowledge isbased is effectively all that is necessary to control man.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Food for thought…

▫        Do we want a reliable government?

▫        How reliable do we want ourgovernment to be?

▫        If we had a reliable government,would we rely on it?

▫        If we rely on our government, willthere be a need for self reliance?

▫        If we forfeit self reliance andreplace it with reliance on our government, do we also forfeit control?

▫        Can a government who is in controlbe reliable?

▫        Can a government who is unreliablebe in control?

       Chapter 8

▫        In this chapter Winston takes astroll through the slums…

▫        We see an envy for thesimplemindedness of those who don’t have to deal with The Party’s strictstructure.  Winston is of the attitude that “Ignorance is Bliss.”

▫        The time spent in the Prole districtturns out to be a journey through the past for Winston.

▫        What is the significance of Mr.Charrington’s second hand store to Winston?

▫        What is Orwell’s intent for thischapter?

▫        What is his message to the reader?

VOCABULARY TERMS 1-25 (EXAM #1)

1. •       Allocate
2. •       Capricious
3. •       Benevolent
4. •       Perfunctory
5. •       Desolate
6. •       Epiphany
7. •       Epitome
8. •       Malevolent
9. •       Serendipitous
10. •       Loquacious
11. •       Corrugate
12. •       Detriment
13. •       Correlate
14. •       Vacillate
15. •       Colloquialism
16. •       Elegy
17. •       Allegory
18. •       Hyperbole
19. •       Euphemism
20. •       Synecdoche
21. •       Metaphor
22. •       Analogy
23. •       Conceit
24. •       Metonym
25. •       Simile

VOCABULARY TERMS 26-50 (EXAM #2)

1. Idiom
2. Soliloquy
3. Aphorism
4. Semantic
5. Syntax
6. Cacophony
7. Parody
8. Pathos
9. Pedantic
10. Surreal
11. Connotation
12. Denotation
13. Denouement
14. Tautology
15. Antithesis
16. Juxtaposition
17. Catharsis
18. Clandestine
19. Farcical
20. Paramount
21. Pallid
22. Anachronism
23. Garish
24. Superfluous
25. Pernicious

1. Sardonic
2. Scathing
3. Laconic
4. Languid
5. Mitigate
6. Obstinate
7. Subjugate
8. Admonition
9. Despondent
10. Attrition
11. Abstract
12. Aesthetic
13. Pastoral
14. Didactic
15. Insipid
    
16. Laudatory
17. Macabre
18. Reverent
    
19. Facetious
20. Prevalent
21. Vicarious
22. Trepidation
23. Credulous
24. Tenacious
    
25. Languid

AP LIT Vocabulary #4

1)Adept

2)Ebullient

3)Germane

4)Perpetuate

5)Penultimate

6)Surcease

7)Esoteric

8)Gregarious

9)Venerate

10)Exacerbate

11)Adulation

12)Indelible

13)Sedentary

14)Perspicacious

15) Surreptitious

16) Aloft

17)Consternation

18)Veracious

19)Affable

20)Atonement

21)Fickle

22) Meticulous

23)Nebulous

24) Opulence

25) Deference