Veronica Royzen
Period 3
06/08/20
Blog #2
Aim: How are the readers of 1984 warned about the power of manipulation?
Do Now: THINK/PAIR/SHARE
Winston thinks, “They could not alter your feelings; for that matter, you could not alter them yourself, even if you wanted to.” Think about and discuss the nature of feelings and emotions. 1) Can you alter your own feelings by force of will? Why/Why Not? 2) Can someone else alter another person’s innermost feelings?
For the Do Now, our class discussed whether or not it is possible to force feelings and the possible outcomes of doing so. When a person tries to force feelings to change, their previous feelings can come back. They can also change their emotions by thinking of a happy or a sad memory or thing. We also said that brainwashing could alter feelings, as well as Stockholm’s Syndrome. When we discussed how Stockholm’s Syndrome plays a part in changing feelings, we said that the person being held captive develops feelings of love and connection to their captor as a possible way to survive. In conclusion, no one can have control of someone’s mind completely.
TEAM WORK
Considered all that has transpired in the novel thus far. With your team, create “3” questions, and be prepared to share them with the other teams. The goal is to see if the teams can answer the questions your team created.
The three questions I came up with are: 1) If everyone knows Newspeak, how do people know that someone isn’t speaking it? 2) Is Big Brother even real or is it a creation of the Party? 3) How does the Thought Police know a person’s inner thoughts?
During our discussion, the first question asked was “Is Goldstein a real person?” Goldstein could be a real person, just like Snowball was a real animal in Animal Farm before he was forced out by Napoleon’s guard dogs. The next question was “Is Big Brother real?” The class discussed how Big Brother could just be a creation of the Party to make sure the people of Oceania obey the rules. We also stated that Oceania could all just be England because there aren’t any mentions of other places that are supposedly a part of Oceania. The last few questions were “How does the Thought Police know what you’re thinking? Is it a scare-tactic? OR do the Thought Police truly know what it’s citizens are thinking?” The Thought Police could know what the people are thinking when the people talk in their sleep or by reading their facial expressions.
GROUP WORK
Evaluate the characters of Julia and Winston. Record Characteristics unique to each, then record characteristics that are shared. How is the author warning the readers about manipulation through the characters?
The author is warning the readers about manipulation through the characters by having Winston succeed in forcing Julia’s memory back until she “dimly recalled that at one time Eastasia and not Eurasia had been the enemy” (Part 2 Chapter 5). The author is giving an example on the power of manipulation, showing that she forgot her past and it wasn’t too long ago.
QUICK WRITE
Record what you did last Friday morning.
For my quick write, I wrote:
I woke up around 8:30 and I ate breakfast. I played with my dog, until my dad told me to put the dishes in the dishwasher. Some time after that I logged my attendance for the day for my classes, and at some point I worked on my math assignment during a break between classes.
WHOLE CLASS DISCUSSION
Why was there such difficulty recording what happened? Why is it so easy to forget what transpired, even though only a couple of days had passed? How can forgetting leave people vulnerable?
For the class, there was such a difficulty recording what happened because nothing major happened during that Friday morning. It is so easy to forget what transpired, even though only a couple days had passed because people don’t remember specific details. If people knew the specifics, it wouldn’t have been so hard to remember what happened last Friday morning. Forgetting can leave people vulnerable because they will start to believe what is told to them, instead of remembering how it actually happened. In 1984, people believed what the Party told them because they don’t remember the real course of events. When Winston was able to manipulate Julia into remembering something from her past, she was able to recall that Oceania was at war with Eastasia and not Eurasia. If Julia wasn’t able to recall that information, the Party would’ve been able to tell their story to her and she would’ve believed it.
Reflection
In this lesson, I learned that manipulation can be used in a number of ways. People manipulate others in order to remember something from their past, just like what Winston did with Julia, or people manipulate society to ensure that everyone believes a story being told to them instead of knowing the actual course of events, just like how the Party manipulates their people. Using what I learned from this lesson, I will be wary of people who try to take advantage of others for their own personal gain. Manipulation is very dangerous and could lead to serious consequences. Because the Party manipulates the people in order to make sure the people don’t know the truth, Winston will be able to organize a rebellion.
Updates
As of June 9th, Governor Cuomo announced that the Mid-Hudson Valley will begin phase 2 of reopening. As of June 10th, Long Island will enter phase 2 of reopening. Governor Cuomo announced the state, in partnership with CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort) and Sean Penn, has established 11 new testing sites in communities that have been impacted by COVID-19. In my opinion, the slow progression of New York opening shows how we are overcoming the pandemic and rising above it. I still do believe that we need to be cautious because we don’t want to go back to square one. I also feel hopeful that the situation we are in will get better, as long as we don’t overwhelm the medical system and do our part to help.
No comments:
Post a Comment