1984 Blog #2

In "Book Two," Winston Smith is torn between his personal guilt over commitment to his job and his traditional trust/belief in the One State, and his overwhelming curiosity which is fueled by other relationships and a yearning for something more/better. In  your opinion, why is Winston having a difficult time buying in to what Big Brother and the State are selling? Explain and support. Are his small acts of defiance (questioning) a form of protest? Why/Why not? Compare/contrast Winston's small rebellion to a more current act of rebellion within the United States (think Tea Party Movement, Occupy Wall Street, Anti-War Protests, etc.) in all facets - what they are fighting for, who they are rebelling against, the way their protests seen by the government, the way their protests are seen by the masses.  Ultimately, the purpose of this blog is to examine how Orwellian we have become.

It was not Galileo, or Thoreau, or Joyce, or even Lady Gaga that made the ultimate statement about non-conformity. Check out Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4SKL7f9n58 . The video is pretty creepy too.

Unit Two: Cultural Conflict - Introduction Blog

Video Selection:  Video clip on Globalization and Conflict http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kniiNvoC0EY ; Identify the conflict. Is this an internal or external conclict? How/Why does globalization create conflict? In the speaker's opinion, globalization has flown in only one direction what does she mean by this? Although the speaker feels globalization has been one-sided, she notes there has been one benefit related to the process. What benefit dies she mention? The speaker says muslims and westerners live by/are obligated to two different sources of truth. What two sources (two texts) does she mention?

First 1984 Reading Journal

The first 1984 reading journal should deal with the structure of the society by specifically addressing the last slide of the power point (what utopias have in common). It should thoroughly (in multiple sentences and with evidence from the text) address the following: how have they created equality or conformity? How have they reduced conflict, specifically in regards to religion, relationships, and individual rights? How have they created or forced happiness/conformity? Make a claim about this society as either a utopia or a dystopia based the rest of your blog entry.

Listen to some atmospheric electronic pop (like Royksopp's "Poor Leno" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJjhagh8dk4) to put you in a utopian state of mind.

A Boy Namd Sue

Listen to the Johnny Cash rendition of the Shel Silverstein poem.
http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US#/watch?v=-1BJfDvSITY