Talha Gondal
Blog #2 (June 2nd Blog), 1984 Lesson 5-Chaps 6, 7 & 8, posted June 1st, 2020
Sophomores, 2020. Period 7
Blog Date: June 2nd, 2020
Aim: How is the theme, "the importance of having knowledge about the past
in order to understand the future" exemplified/elucidated through Winston’s
time in the Prole District?
“Those who cannot learn from the past are condemned to repeat it”
Initial Lesson Overview
The lesson began with an opening prompt concerning lies that we are told, their meaning, and why we are told them. Akin to events in the news for the past week, Ms. Peterson began by questioning how the Civil Rights Movement was taught to us in school, and as a class we explored how certain values of the movement were given more focus in our History Class, and it was overall portrayed to be more “peaceful”, due to the fact that Martin Luther King was ordained the face of the movement. We can infer that Dr. King’s position in history was more glorified than certain leaders, like Malcom X, because of his more directly peaceful approach to “liberation”. It was interesting to see how the parts of history picked out were keeping the youth from a 100% knowledge of events in the South only mere decades ago. Moving on, we talked another situation that is misrepresented in our society. The first thanksgiving is painted to be a wholesome scene with delicious foods and comradery between two groups, but it fails to establish context. As reality reveals, Columbus was NOT the man many people are taught he was in school.
Do Now:
THINK, PAIR, SHARE
Include the main key ideas and details for each
What are some of the “lies/stories” parents tell their children?
The boogey man, the Easter Bunny, Santa Clause, or the fact that your dead pets live happily on a farm somewhere.
Why do you believe they tell these stories, rather than the truth?
Our parents made an effort to have us believe these stories because they have an intent to make us behave a certain way. We were also all taught them as very impressionable children, which explains why a lot of those beliefs stuck with us. Lastly, the majority of these tales were heavily dramaticized versions of the “truth”, and the excitement that they brought took grasp of us as children and we began preferring this over the less interesting reality.
What might be a history “lie/story” a school has taught/told you?
That George Washington had wooden teeth and that he said “I cannot tell a lie” after chopping down a cherry tree. The wooden teeth part was likely for humor's sake, but in reality, his dentures consisted of human and horse teeth throughout his life.
Description of discussion:
As we moved on from our initial conversation about perhaps our personal experiences about childhood lies, we wrapped up the DoNow and shifted gears. It was time for a class discussion, and this one formulated around a quote by Winston himself; “If there's hope, it lies in the proles.” The class explored the meaning of the quote, and although there were different interpretations, the consensus was that Winston believed in the proles, which is defined by the working class of society, and particularly the elderly, for they held information from a time when the government’s grasp on the minds of people was weaker. We then talked about the quote, “In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it.” We deduced that this quote simply put, claimed that those in control, in order to stay in control, would eventually seize your mind so much that you believe truths to be falsehoods and falsehoods to be truth.
We returned again to the topic of misconception, and more importantly how it is used to harness the power of politics! The idea of propaganda can be linked back to a previous reading, Animal Farm by George Orwell. In order to maintain control, the Pig’s use certain political rhetoric, target opposing individuals (such as when Snowball was antagonized), and stomping out all threats to their authoritarian control over the farm. 1984 additionally plays at the psychological game that is going on in the world of Winston. Big Brother’s manipulation of language is his most powerful and most direct form of corrupting and controlling. We then looked at how Winston seems to have a connection to the workshop, and furthermore to the paperweight. The class decided that the reason he is drawn to these locations is because it is here that he finds the shreds of freedom that are left in his world. For this reason, he disregards the risks he is putting himself under to return to the shop.
Vocabulary:
Proles
Propaganda
Eluciadated
Personal Reflection/Current Events and Lesson Overview:
Today’s lesson allowed me to understand events in 1984 in a new way, but that's not what I found most important. I learned to be a skeptic. Everyone is trying to influence you in some way, and the only way to avoid that is to be knowledgeable, critical, and acute. This very lesson was the focus of our meeting because it aimed to draw a connection between attempts at authoritarianism and mind manipulation in 1984, and the real world. In our everyday lives, we experience these threats to our freedom through the media we consume, and the people that we trust, whether it be politicians, or every day people. The beginning of the lesson especially, was heavily intertwined with current events. The Black Lives Matter movement had gained more traction than ever before, after the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota. Being an active consumer of media through newspapers and magazines, television, social media platforms, or even conversations with people I interact with, its important to recognize the types of information that we experience. Being a skeptic helps you filter out the right from the wrong. Although it's in no way as easy as that, being critical and aware is where we need to start in our search for the truth. Lastly, working from home. The past couple of months of remote learning have been quite rocky, but I appreciate all that my teachers are doing to make sure I can get a premium education. Its interesting to see how the school adapts to remote learning too, and how schedules, events, and individual classes are affected. On a positive note, I look forward to seeing my teachers and my peers’ faces every morning, and I know the wait will be worth it when our face to screen becomes face to face :)
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