1984 Quiz

I'm wondering if we are using a reading log for the quiz or if we can just mark up our book?

Our Controversial Issue Projects.

It's been a rough break.
It's even rougher with all of this college english work.
Is anyone else having trouble with this project?

Oh No!!!

Oops!! I totally forgot to post about Orwell's view on society! Life has been a bit hectic around here. Anyway, Orwell has a very negative view on society. In many different ways Orwell makes reference to the fact that he thinks humans are dumb and follow other people instead of making their own decisions. He also seems to be afraid of a government takeover or increase in power. Orwell might believe that language is the key to society. It seems like a lot of the issues in Oceania are caused by a lack of language and ways to explain certain ideas like rebellion or strong emotions like love. Orwell seems very bitter and a bit paranoid about many different things!

In other news...

HEY!!  Mrs. Stariha!  I wasn't able to grab my Whitman essay "grade".  Do you think you could e-mail the grade/letter to me (if you remember it)?

And on a lighter note, yesterday I aquired a stomach flu.  I felt sick to my...stomach!  But alas, I could not hurl it out as hard as I tried.  So, while my family left me home alone to sleep while they went Christmas shopping, I took action.  I couldn't sleep with the pain that I was in, so I forced myself to drink LOTS of water.  And in no time at all, I barfed my guts out!  I felt great afterwords, and have been on the road to recovery ever since.

1984 Quote

I did not get to share my quote in class so here is mine, it is found on page 80 when winston was talking to himself about how big brother changes the past and he says "I understand HOW: I don not understand Why." I chose this quote because it shows that winston realizes what they are doing but has been so brainwashed that he can't understand why somebody would want to do change the past

Favorite Quote

My favorite quote from 1984 is found on page 24 about half way down the page. It states:

"With those children, he thought, that wrteched woman must lead a life of terror. Another year, two years, and they would be watching her night and day for symptoms of unorthodoxy. Nearly all children nowadays were horrible."

This quote astounds me. I can't imagine a day where the government would turn children into spies in an effort to keep tabs on their parents. Its a very frightening thought that government could in some way overrule the basic sense of loyalty a child feels for its parents and turn them into spies that would rat their parents out without a second thought.

Confused about 1984...

Since I was one of the people who didn't get to share a "quote" or question I had about the book in class on Friday, I thought I would share it here.

I guess that I've never really understood the whole "Thought Police" concept in Winston's society. What I am confused about is how exactly they are able to read minds of the people in the society. And if they are, how come they haven't caught Winston for his free and opinionated thoughts. Which adds another question of mine: Is Winston really thinking these things? If he was, wouldn't he have been caught by now?

These are just a few of the many things I am confused about in the book. Otherwise, so far, I am really enjoying the book (although I will probably re-read the whole first part just to make sure I understand it before our quiz when we return)!