Activity 12

Chapter 1:

1. A telescreen is an electronic device that acts as surveillance. It is the eyes and ears of The Party. Each telescreen has hidden microphones and cameras to monitor what each and every individual is doing at all times. It could be possible to create a television that is capable of seeing and hearing everything, similar to a telescreen. The real challenge would be trying to make everyone comply with the wishes of the government and be at peace with the idea of constant surveillance. This type of device would definitely be beneficial to expose criminals, however, it would create great controversy and end up causing more harm than help.
2. The four ministries of Oceania are: The Ministry of Peace, the Ministry of Plenty, the Ministry of Truth, and the Ministry of Love. The government departments in todays society are much different than those of Oceania. The systems existing in our world generally function to benefit society and are not oppressing departments created to manipulate and brainwash citizens.
3. Winston Smith keeps a diary because it is the only way he can safely express his thoughts and beliefs, or so he things. Any other method would be directly monitored by the party and would result in cruel punishments. Even though there ate no laws, Winston could suffer consequences because he is committing what is called 'thought crime' for speaking against Big Brother as well as writing in Oldspeak rather than the current language of Newspeak.
4. "Two-Minutes Hate" is a program that promotes hatred toward Emanuel Goldstein, a founder of the Party who was sentenced to death and mysteriously escaped after attempting to lead counterrevolutionary actions. It is important for the people to show hate toward Goldstein because is gives Big Brother faith in their obedience and appreciation of the government.

Chapter 2:

1. Parents in Oceania are afraid of their children because children are a part of the Junior Spies, a group of kids who are trained to tell the thought police about any person, even their own parents, that is rebelling against the government. This typically leads to arrest and imprisonment of the accused person.

2. In Winston's dream, O’Brien reveals, “We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness” (25). I think this statement means that O’Brien and Winston will not see each other again until after a major revolution that overflows the ‘darkness’ in Big Brother’s regime.

Chapter 3:


1. Winston dreams about the past and his younger life with his mother. He dreams about the days prior to Big Brother when he was able to relax with his mother and enjoy being with her. This dream tells the reader that Winston misses the past when he was with his mother and desires that time to come again.

2. The exercise instructor can see that Winston is not touching his toes because he, like every other citizen in Oceania, is being monitored through their telescreens at home.

Chapter 4:

 

1. Winston's job at the Ministry of Truth is to improvise history by changing old news articles in ways that make Big Brother look favorable.  According to his employers, Winston is good at what he does, but Winston does not like doing it because then it brings Big Brother more undeserved praise.

Chapter 5:

1. The purpose of Newspeak is to censor what the citizens of Oceania can and can not say. The ultimate goal is to create a new language that allows citizens to only speak positively in regard to Big Brother. Eventually, all citizens of Oceania will be speaking in Newspeak.

2. The Thought Police are the police force for Oceania. They monitor everything that citizens say, do, or even think. They even have Junior Spies, which are young kids that rat out what is being said by the citizens.

3. Winston thinks that his colleague Symes will be “vaporized” because Symes is too intelligent, sees too clearly, and speaks too plainly, which are characteristics that the Party despises in people

Chapter 6:

1. Winston’s marriage was an encouraged separation by the Party, after only 15 months, because Winston and Katherine (a tall, fair-haired girl with a bold, aquiline face) never conceived children. Thus, Winston lives alone since the Party did not allow his marriage.

Chapter 7:

1. The proles are the ordinary civilians of Oceania that make up about 85% of the Oceanic population. Winston writes that “if there is hope, it lies with the proles” because they make up so much of the population that if they were to all rise up and rebel against Big Brother, there would be nothing the government or Big Brother could do to stop them.

2. There is some truth behind the “capitalists” in frock coats and top hats that used to run Landon because that is a description of Winston Churchill and the British Parliament. However, there is no way to check the accuracy since the records of such events were censored by the Ministry of Truth’s Record Department.

3. The Chestnut Tree Café is an underground café that Winston occasionally visits after work to get some drinks. Jones, Aaronson, and Rutherford are convicted thought criminals that the Thought Police arrest at the Chestnut Tree Café.

4. When Winston writes, “I understand HOW. I do not understand WHY.”, he means that he understood how the Inner Party was scapegoating these men to distract the people from the truth based on the photo he found. However, Winston does not understand the actual reason why the Party is blaming the three men.

Chapter 8:

1. Winston returns to the junk shop where he bought the diary in order to get away from the girl from the fiction department that has been following him. While he is at the gift shop, Winston purchases Coral.

2. Winston is afraid of the girl from the fiction department because she has been following him around ever since he got the diary, leading him to believe that this girl is a member of the Thought Police coming to take him away.

Activity 11

1. He felt deeply drawn to him, and not solely because he was intrigued by the contrast between O’Brien’s URBANE manner his prizefighter’s physique.

POS: Adjective

Definition: Reflecting elegance, sophistication, etc., especially in expression

Sentence: The man was well respected because he expressed himself in an urbane manner.

 

2. Moreover, his VARICOSE ulcer had begun itching unbearably.

POS: Adjective

Definition: Abnormally swollen

Sentence: Her ankle was extremely varicose after she twisted it.

3. Suddenly, he was standing on short springy turf, on a summer evening when the slanting rays of the sun GLIDED the ground.

POS: Adjective

Definition: Covered or highlighted with gold or something of a golden color

Sentence: At some point, the glided generation turns silver and retires.

 

4. Then he unrolled and clipped together four small cylinders of paper which he had already flopped out of the PNEUMATIC tube on the right-hand side of his desk.

POS: Adjective

Definition: Pertaining to air

Sentence: You need a pneumatic nailgun in order to build a wall.

 

5. Winston found and handed over two creased and filthy notes, which Parsons entered in a small notebook, in the neat handwriting of the ILLITERATE.

POS: Adjective

Definition: Having or demonstrating very little or no education

Sentence: The illiterate student was unable to read her assigned portion of the book.

 

6. The old man looked MEDITAIVELY at the darts board.

POS: Adjective

Definition: Given to, characterized by, or indicative of; contemplative

Sentence: There can be no question that he was aware of what would result and it was done pre-meditatively.

 

7. But it needs desperate courage t kill yourself in a world where firearms were completely UNPROCURABLE.

POS: Adjective

Definition: Obtainable

Sentence: The baseball was unprocurable when it came into the found ball territory.

 

8. It was a great FORMIDABLE cry of anger and despair.

POS: Adjective

Definition: Causing fear

Sentence: I could hear a formidable cry in the distance.

 

9. She was a tall, STATUESQUE, rather silent woman with silent movements and magnificent fair hair.

POS: Adjective

Definition: Grace or beauty

Sentence: The statuesque woman attended the party last weekend.

 

10. Besides, she was young and LUSTY and would defend herself.

POS: Adjective

Definition: Full of or characterized by healthy vigor; spirited; enthusiastic.

Sentence: The lusty children waited for their cake to be served.

 

 

 

 

Activity 5

In the absence of section and chapter titles, the best way to preview the book is to read the first two paragraphs of the novel. What details do you notice that seem odd? What predictions can you make about the world of the novel from these details?

When I read the first two paragraphs of 1984, I noticed the character Winston Smith was introduced and assume that he is likely the main character of this novel. I also noticed the caption "BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU" placed underneath a picture and found it odd, especially because it was written in capital letters, signifying that it probably has a lot of importance. I predict that this book will have a lot to do with politics and issues that have to do with them, including propaganda, war, and a society unhappy with the way its government is being ran. I believe that Winston Smith will be one of the characters who disagrees with the government and will find himself in a lot of trouble because of it.

 

 

   

Activity 4- Surveying the Text

Look at the cover of 1984:

What, if anything, is on the cover?
The cover of my copy of the book simply says the title, 1984, in large lettering as well as the author's name, George Orwell.

What does the cover art mean?
There isn't much on the cover other than the title of the novel and the authors name. I don't believe that it has much meaning to it or connects to the book in any way.

Are there any comments from reviewers or critics on the back or the front?
There are no comments or reviews on the front or back of the book.

Are there pictures anywhere on the cover?
No there are no pictures on the cover

Is there a summary of the novel on the flyleaf (if present)?
Yes, there is a short summary of the book on the flyleaf.

Is there a short biography of the author or other explanatory materials?
There is a small section titled "About the Author" on the first page.

Is there a Foreword or an Afterword? Who wrote them? Do you think you should read them? If so, when?
There is a preface written by Walter Cronkite at the beginning of the book and an afterward written by Erich Fromm at the end of the book. I think that the forward is meant to be read before beginning the novel and the afterward is meant to be read after completing it.

How is the book divided? Are there chapter titles? Sections?
The book is divided into two sections. Each section consists of chapters that are numbered.

Activity 3- Exploring Key Concepts

Authoritarian: The government is the authority. The individual obeys. This is the opposite of a libertarian philosophy, in which the government leaves the individual alone as much as possible.

Totalitarian: In totalitarian rule, the government tries to control every aspect of the lives of its citizens, including their thoughts and beliefs, by any means possible.

Oligarchical Collectivism: Aristotle defines three types of government, each with a good form in which the ruler or rulers have the good of the state in mind and a bad form in which the rulers govern by self-interest.

Aristotle’s Three Forms of Government
Type	Good Form	Bad Form
One Ruler	Monarchy: rule by one wise person	Tyranny: rule by one bad person
Small Group Rule	Aristocracy: rule by a few wise people	Oligarchy: rule by a few bad people
Mass Rule	Polity or “constitutional government”: rule by the people for the good of the whole	Democracy: rule by the people for individual self-interest

Utopia: A perfect, happy society in which all of humanities problems have been solved.

Anti-Utopia or Dystopia: A nightmare society in which life is as difficult and unhappy as it could be; often the result of trying to create a utopia.

 

                    Group Discussion

Most of the forms of government listed above exist in the world today. Each of these political concepts are either still being used or have been used in the past. There are many Authoritarian governments still existing today. One example would be China where the government is based on the principles of obedience towards authority. North Korea, is recognized as a totalitarian government for the very little control that its citizens possess. The country of Oman is classified as an Absolute Monarchy where there is only one ruler, Qaboos bin Said Al Said, who is head of state and government. The United States would be an example of Aristotle's form, a "Mass Rule". It could fall between the 'good' form, a constitutional government where people rule for the good of the whole, and the 'bad' form, a democracy where the people rule for individual self-interest. In America, we have a president to keep the country in order, but ultimately the people hold the power to make decisions through voting.

Activity 2- Getting Ready to Read

1.   Do you think that this could happen in the United States? Why or why not?

I believe that a similar situation could definitely happen in the United States. The US has the technology necessary to carry it out. There are already several agencies involved in government mass surveillance projects in order to keep track of American citizens.

       Some examples of these projects include:

• Carnivore: a system carried out by the FBI designed to monitor email & electronic communications
• Fairview: a mass surveillance program directed at foreign mobile phone users
• Main Core: a personal & financial database storing information of millions of U.S. citizens believed to be threats to national security
• Mainway: NSA database containing metadata for hundreds of billions of phone calls made through the four largest telephone carriers in the United States

While it is a possibility, I don't feel that US government would be very concerned with something as small as the lyrics of a song when there are much larger issues to be dealt with.

2.   If this happened, what would you do? Would you change your communication habits? Would you be more concerned about privacy?

If a scenario like this happened to me I would probably take some caution and be more aware of my methods of communication as well as the content of my conversations over the phone or even on social media.

3.   If you got a call from the FBI or if agents knocked on your door, what would you say? What would you do? How would you feel? Would you be scared? Would it change your life?

If the FBI called of came to my house, naturally I would be pretty nervous and very paranoid because I am aware of the power and authority that they have. I would just cooperate with them to avoid coming off as suspicious or guilty and explain my side of the story to prove that I am not causing any harm. My reaction would entirely depend on what they tell me would happen how they chose to handle the problem. That would also determine where or not my life would be changed this situation.

4.   Would you call this situation “Orwellian”? Why or why not?

I would absolutely consider this situation "Orwellian". It clearly illustrates a totalitarian government where all aspects of life are controlled, limiting citizen's freedom and privacy.

Partner's Response:

I asked my partner if he could see a scenario like this occurring in the United States. He felt that something similar could definitely be attempted by the government by looking back at previous incidents. However, my partner believed that something like this could not be carried out. Assuming American citizens value their freedom, enough people would come together to fight for their constitutional rights and prevent further action.

 

 

 

 

 

Avtivity 1- Getting Ready to Read: Define "Orwellian"



In your 1984 notebook, write your own definition of what the word “Orwellian” means to you. Does the word apply to our society today? Why or why not?



The word “Orwellian” simply refers to an invasion of personal privacy. There are several meanings associated with the word, including an overly controlling government,


surveillance technology used as a means to control, misinformation, and denial of truth. The word "Orwellian" applies not only to the society in George Orwell's novel 1984, but also to today's society. Personal Privacy has become increasingly limited due to the advanced technology provided. You are no longer truly alone when texting, making phone calls, browsing the internet, or even simply driving around. Multiple major telephone companies release telephone call records to Federal agencies, your every search, like, or dislike is tracked while on the computer, and traffic cameras are being used by law enforcement agencies for purposes unrelated to traffic violations.


How the Government Tracks you: NSA Surveillance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YsZoqwRnKE