Blog #53- Max Machadov- Period 2- 6/8/2020

Aim: How are the readers of 1984 warned about the power of manipulation?

Notes:

For the Do Now section me and my partner agreed that you could alter your feelings by force of will by changing your focus on something but that other people cannot change your innermost feelings even if they can convince you of something. My partner felt that you couldn’t by purely force of will and felt you would need some outside influence.

My team was prompted to create 3 questions about the contents of the novel to test the other teams about their knowledge of the novel. The questions were:

1. Why does Wilson feel he is already dead?

2. What happened to Wilson’s parents?

3. How can thoughtcrimes be found?

When comparing Julia and Winston I made a table

Julia	Both	Winston
Bright, sneaky, careless, young	Hate big brother	Somber, smart, older

*Classmates had similar answers as well as saying Julia was more selfish while Winston was more worried about society as a whole.

What I did last Friday:

Woke up, brushed my teeth, worked on a modelling assignment, ate breakfast, and continued to work.

Thoughts:

 The reading is pretty interesting and enjoyable to read. It’s nice working from home because I’m not on a tight schedule and I can still talk to friends through the internet. Right now, new coronavirus cases are decreasing. In about 1-2 weeks time we will see if the partial reopenings and massive protests will have caused a 2nd wave of coronavirus. My hopes are that as the country continues to reopen, less people will be unemployed and the riots will subside.

Reflection:

 I learned that people can be manipulated but their core beliefs are likely to remain unchallenged by anyone not close to us. I learned this as it is part of the warning of 1984 that people can indeed be manipulated to do things and say things they wouldn’t have otherwise. The story also warns that manipulation from the government would be accepted by society and the people unchanged would be few. I will use what I learned to stay wary of authoritarian governments and the people who hail from those governments. Most of the people in 1984 obey their leaders and don’t publicly discuss their complaints. Many are simply content through brainwashing and propaganda. Even Wilson seems affected by many of the things around him.