Blog #58 - Jacqueline Ramirez - Period 9 - 6/13/2020

Blog #58 - Jacqueline Ramirez - Period 9 - 6/10/2020

Blog #58
June 10, 2020
Jacqueline Ramirez
Sophomores 2020, Period 9

1984 Lesson 8-Part 2, Chapters 4 & 5 

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

My Reflection of the Lesson 
     The readers of 1985 are warned about how easy it is to be manipulated. It is important to realize that everything and everyone has the potential to influence us in a certain way. Manipulation is a type of influence that aims to change the behavior or perception of others through indirect or deceptive methods. The point of this lesson was to make us aware of how malleable we are due to the nature of our emotions and memories. Although our emotions cannot be controlled in a direct manner as they are reactions, it is possible to change one’s views on something and resulting feelings about it. Our memories are even more fickle because most people usually aren’t conscious of every single moment meaning false memories about something vague can be planted in our minds. As a result, it is important to identify people’s true intentions towards us and respond accordingly!

Lesson & What We Discussed 

We began the lesson with a class discussion on the following quote: 

Winston thinks, “They could not alter your feelings; for that matter, you could not alter them yourself, even if you wanted to.”

1. Can you alter your feelings by force of will? Why/Why not?
        Your feelings are a result of your thoughts. So if you change the way you think about something and set your mind on it, your views will change and your emotions will change accordingly. 
2. Can someone else alter another person’s innermost feelings?
        Only you know all that goes on inside of you so someone can try to change how you feel but ultimately, they cannot directly change your innermost feelings. In the end, it is your decision to change the way you view something and eventually, your feelings may adjust to your new way of thinking. 

Next, we were given a few minutes to think about what has happened in the novel so far and to each create 3 questions. The goal was to see if the class could answer the questions we created. Some of the questions/responses were: 

• Is Big Brother a real person?
       Most students believe that Big Brother is not an actual person. This entity is a symbol for the Party and is a tactic to keep the people under control. 

• Can the thought police actually tell what everyone's thinking or is this just a scare tactic?
       The class agreed that there was probably no way the thought police could completely read everyone’s mind and that this was a bluff used to scare people. However, the thought police could probably guess at some people’s thoughts. If everyone in a society is conditioned to behave the same way, if someone acts a little differently, it could indicate that they are having rebellious thoughts. 

Afterwards, we evaluated the characters of Julia and Winston. 

Instructions: Record characteristics unique to each, then record characteristics that are shared. How is the author warning the readers about manipulation through the characters?

Julia

• Has a survivor mentality 
• Was born after the revolution and doesn’t know about what might’ve existed before; sees the current state/the Party as eternal 
• Much younger than Winston (she is 26) 
• Vibrant and carefree/slightly naive, promiscuous Lives in the present; isn’t too concerned about the future or a bigger idea; mostly focused on herself 
• Excellent actress: maintains a totally-devoted-to-the-Party exterior but actually has rebellious thoughts 
• She sees revolution in much smaller things; more individualistic 

Winston

• For all his pessimistic talk, he still holds some hope deep inside for a revolution against the Party someday. 
• Has some memories of what life was like before the Party 
• Much older than Julia (he is 39) 
• He sees revolution against the Party on a bigger scale—proles rise up in a combined effort 

Both

• Both hate Big Brother 
• They both take notice of the little things in life.
• Both work for the Outer Party
• Both do think they will be vaporized at some point
• Both have rebellious thoughts although Winston’s are bigger scale ideas and Julia’s are smaller/more individualistic 

We revisited the discussion of memory that we had a few lessons ago (during Animal Farm) and how unreliable it can be: 

What did you do last Friday?
     Main Point: Many students had a hard time remembering what they did.

Follow up questions:

1. Why was there such a difficulty recording what happened?
        It is hard to remember what happened. 
2. Why is it so easy to forget what transpired, even though only a couple of days had passed?
        The days seem to be the same since nothing special happened so it can be hard to recollect the events of specific days even if it wasn’t too long ago. 
3. How can forgetting leave people vulnerable?
        Our fickle memories make us reliant on others and their memories. This gives people the power to influence us and our thoughts since false memories can be planted in our minds without us even being aware of it. 

Update 
     We have been in quarantine for approximately 3 months. Honestly, I cannot really believe that that much time has gone by. I noticed that in general, I am not very aware of time passing and how my present moment plays into my timeline which is something I am trying to improve on. I have gotten used to working from home and I don’t really know what it will be like to get back to “normal” life whatever that means. However, I think I will be able to adjust to any situation so I am not worried over it. This might sound slightly strange but I am kind of looking forward to this summer because I will have lots of time at home. Last summer, I was really busy and I didn’t have much time to just chill by myself or explore. I am hoping to be able to play a lot of piano this summer to expand my skills/repertoire.