Activity 12

Chapter 1:
1.  A telescreen is something that monitors a civilian's every movement and sound.  The telescreen is different from a regular TV because a regular TV just shows images and sounds, a telescreen records images and sounds.  It is possible to turn a normal TV into a telescreen.  Using a telescreen to monitor criminals or terrorists would be very smart and effective.  I don't think that a telescreen could be used for political control.  I think that installing a telescreen in every household would be absurd because there is no reason to monitor everyone.
2.  Ministry of Truth, Ministry of Plenty, Ministry of Love and Ministry of Peace makeup the 4 government ministries that control the world of Big Brother.  Our departments in our government are somewhat like the ministries in Oceania.  They differ because our departments are not as oppressive as the ministries in Oceania.
3.  Winston wants to keep a diary in order to empty his thoughts out.  It is not illegal to own a diary, however it is illegal to commit thoughtcrime.  Thoughtcrime is thinking bad thoughts about the government.  If Winston thinks bad thoughts about the government then he may be in danger of writing those thoughts down.
4.  Two-minutes Hate is when the citizens watch a film about the Party's enemies (Emmanuel Goldstein and his followers in particular) and express their hatred for them.
Chapter 2:
1.  Parents in Oceania are often afraid of their children because they think that their children might say something that would expose some unorthodoxy to the government.
2.  O'Brien says "We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness".  I think this meant that O'Brien believes that Winston and himself are destined to meet later on in life outside of a dark dream.
Chapter 3:
1.  Winston dreams about his mother.  It tells us that Winston has a soft spot in his heart for his mother.
2.  The exercise instructor can see that Winston is not touching his toes because the telescreen caught him.
Chapter 4:
1.  Winston's job at the Ministry of Truth is to look over documents and make sure that it glorifies the Party and Big Brother in every way shape and form.  He is very good at his job.  He sometimes feels that what he is doing is wrong, nevertheless he does the job for every document.  No questions asked.
Chapter 5:
1.  Newspeak is the language that was developed by the Party.  Its intention is to limit the amount of words in one's vocabulary, ultimately limiting the amount of thoughts one has.  Eventually everyone will speak Newspeak.
2.  The Thought Police are an organization that takes action when someone commits thoughtcrime.  Thoughtcrime is thinking anything that goes against the expected thoughts of orthodox Party members.
3.  Winston thinks that his colleague Syme will be vaporized because Syme commits thoughtcrime openly.
Chapter 6:
1.  Winston is divorced.  He was once married to a woman but since they broke up he now lives alone.
Chapter 7:
1.  The proles are the lower part of society and they make up the bottom 85% of Oceania's population.  Winston writes this because he feels that if anyone can overthrow the oppressive government it is the proles.
2.  This quote about the "capitalists" in frock coats and top hats is probably true.  Unfortunately, there is no way to know for sure because the Ministry of Truth erases all documents that would record info like this.
3.  The Chestnut Tree Cafe is where thought criminals spend much of their time.  Jones, Aaronson and Rutherford spent much of their time in the Chestnut Tree Cafe.  They get executed for thought crime.
4.  When Winston writes this, he understands HOW he is a lunatic but he does not understand WHY he is a lunatic.
Chapter 8:
1.  Winston returns to the junk shop because he noticed that there was no telescreen in the junk shop and that intrigued him.  He is in the junk shop to buy a print.
2.  Winston is scared of the girl from the fiction department because he thinks that she is part of the Thought Police.

Activity 11

Chapter 1: His mind hovered for a moment round the doubtful date on the page, and then fetched up with a bump against the Newspeak word doublethink (Pg 7).
Noun
My Definition: thinking about two opposing ideas at once.
My Sentence: I committed doublethink when I liked both the Giants and Dodgers at the same time.
Chapter 2:  Parsons was Winston's fellow employee at the Ministry of Truth (Pg 22).
Noun
My Definition: part of the government that controls law and justice in society.
My Sentence: The Ministry of Truth is where I would go to handle any type of issues with the law.
Chapter 3:  With its grace and carelessness it seemed to annihilate a whole culture, a whole system of thought, as though Big Brother and the Party and the Thought Police could all be swept into nothingness by a single splendid movement of the arm (Pg 31).
Nouns
My Definitions: Big Brother- ruler of every aspect of life.  Party- the most powerful political group.
Thought Police- part of government that monitors civilians every thought.
My Sentence: The Thought Police and the Party both function under the rule of Big Brother.
Chapter 4:  Winston dialed "back numbers" on the telescreen and called for the appropriate issues of the times... (Pg 38).
Noun
My Definition: a machine that monitors a civilian's every move.
My Sentence: The telescreen in my room monitored my every move.
Chapter 5:  ...the executions in the cellar of the Ministry of Love (Pg 49).
Noun
My Definition: part of government that controls social affairs.
My Sentence: I would go to the Ministry of Love to handle any marriage situation.
Chapter 6:  Winston was writing in his diary (Pg 63).
Noun
My Definition: an outlawed item that provides a place to commit doublethink.
My Sentence: I wrote in my diary today to unload all my bottled up thoughts.
Chapter 7:  If there is hope it lies in the proles (Pg 69).
Noun
My Definition: lowest ranking people in society who make up 85% of the people in Oceania.
My Sentence: The proles should attempt to overthrow the oppressive government.

Activity 5

After reading the first two paragraphs of the book, one detail that I immediately noticed was odd was the fact that there was a big poster that stated: "BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU".  I predict that this world that Winston lives in is ruled by a very powerful leader who controls every aspect of life. 

Activity 4

         

An eye is on the cover of my book.  I assume that the cover art signifies the theme that there is always someone watching you in the world of 1984.  There are no comments on the front or back of my book.  There is a picture of an eye on the front of my book.  There is a summary on the back of the book that gives a solid explanation of what the book is generally about.  There is a short biography of the author, George Orwell, and another man named Erich Fromm.  There is an afterword by Erich Fromm, but I don't think I should read it until after I finish the book.  The book is broken up into sections with roman numerals in each section.

Activity 3

Authoritarian—The government is the authority. The individual obeys. This is the opposite of a libertarian philosophy, in which the government leaves the individual alone as much as possible.

Totalitarian—In totalitarian rule, the government tries to control every aspect of the lives of its citizens, including their thoughts and beliefs, by any means possible.

Oligarchical Collectivism—Aristotle defines three types of government, each with a good form in which the ruler or rulers have the good of the state in mind and a bad form in which the rulers govern by self-interest.

Aristotle’s Three Forms of Government
Type	Good Form	Bad Form
One Ruler	Monarchy: rule by one wise person	Tyranny: rule by one bad person
Small Group Rule	Aristocracy: rule by a few wise people	Oligarchy: rule by a few bad people
Mass Rule	Polity or “constitutional government”: rule by the people for the good of the whole	Democracy: rule by the people for individual self-interest

Utopia—A perfect, happy society in which all of humanities problems have been solved.

Anti-Utopia or Dystopia—A nightmare society in which life is as difficult and unhappy as it could be; often the result of trying to create a utopia. 

These forms of politics are seen in countries in the world today.  At one point Iraq was ruled by a Tyrant by the name of Saddam Hussein.  He was a very oppressive ruler.  Today the US is ruled by "Mass Rule" because it is ruled by the people for the people.  In my opinion this type of rule is the best type of rule.

Activity 2

I think that a band influenced revolt against the government is highly unlikely to occur in the United States, but it is certainly not impossible.  I feel as if this type of potential violent revolution against the government would be much more likely to occur in a country like North Korea for example.  A country such as North Korea have civilians who are extremely upset with the way their government is being run.  I think that a country like North Korea is much more likely to experience a revolt against the government than the United States.

If the government did in fact start invading my privacy and stalking me then I would have to change my communication habits.  I would be extremely concerned with my privacy.  I never see this happening to the point where I truly fear that my privacy is completely invaded, but if it did happen then yes I would change all my habits.  I would go "off the map" so to speak.  

If the FBI were to knock on my door I would explain to them how I was not involved with these lunatics.  I would let them know that they should be spending their time on more important and threatening leads...a band called the "sleazy dirtbags" is probably not a threat to national security.  For this reason I would not be scared and it would not change how I lived my life.  This is of course because I would not be a follower of such a stupid band with such life threatening and radical ideas.  

I would consider this situation "Orwellian" because this is a great example of the government invading the privacy of an ordinary citizen.  

I spent time talking to Ray and Haley and they both agreed with my statement.  We all agreed that we would never be associated with such a radical band group.

Awesome must see movie trailer! 

Activity 1

To most easily understand the word "Orwellian", it simply refers to an invasion of privacy.  This word most certainly applies to our society today.  For example, the government plays a major role in the invasion of civilians privacy.  The use of drones and other spy gear invade civilians privacy everyday.  


Under certain circumstances, the use of drones is necessary.  For example, the US should use drones and other spy mechanisms to invade the privacy of proven dangerous people like terrorists.  We do not want these extreme radicals to freely roam and reak havoc on innocent civilians.  The government should be allowed to invade the privacy of proven dangerous individuals.