Transcript 1984 PowerPoint - Intensive English 2

Directions: As you are introduced to some of the ideas
presented in 1984, you will be asked to come up with
theories and predictions about the text. You will have a
minute or so to think and write, then share your ideas
with your assigned partner. When you are finished
discussing, add something you learned from your
partner.
My Theory:
My Partner’s Theory:
*Students will randomly be called on to share your ideas
as well as summarize and respond to what others have
said.
About the Author
Eric Arthur Blair, known by his pen name, George Orwell, was
a British author who lived from 1903 – 1950. As an English
novelist and journalist he is most known for his dystopian
novels, 1984 and Animal Farm.
Orwell's work continues to influence popular and political
culture, and the term, “Orwellian – descriptive of totalitarian or
authoritarian social practices – has entered the language along
with several other phrases from his works including Cold War,
Big Brother, thought police, doublethink and thoughtcrime.
There are various ideas as to the
meaning of the book’s title. It is
widely thought that Orwell simply
switched the last two digits of
year in which he wrote it.
the
(1948).
What is dystopian literature?
A futuristic, imagined universe in which oppressive, societal
control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained
through corporate, bureaucratic, technological, moral, or
totalitarian control. Dystopias, through an exaggerated worstcase scenario, make a criticism about a current trend, societal
norm, or political system.
Examples: Specials, The Hunger Games, Divergent, A
Brave New World, Matched
Nineteen Eighty-Four (sometimes 1984) is a darkly
satirical, political novel. The story is meant to take place
in a futuristic society in which the government enforces
perfect conformity among citizens through indoctrination,
fear, lies and ruthless punishment.
The World of Nineteen Eighty-Four
In his novel, Orwell creates a world in which citizens have no
right to a personal life or personal thought. Leisure and other
activities are controlled through strict laws.
The novel introduced the concepts of the ever-present, allseeing Big Brother, and the thought police who use
telescreens (televisions that contain a surveillance camera
found in almost every room of every home).
How would your life be different if telescreens
you could not turn off were in every room of your
home, every public building and in all public
areas?
Who is Big Brother?
The mysterious head of
government is the omniscient,
omnipotent, beloved Big
Brother, or "BB."
Big Brother is described as
"a man of about forty-five,
with a heavy black moustache
and ruggedly handsome
features."
He is usually displayed on
posters with the slogan
"BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING
YOU."
The menacing
figure of Big
Brother has
been variously
interpreted to be
that of
Soviet leader
Josef Stalin and
Adolf Hitler.
The world described in Nineteen Eighty-Four has
striking and deliberate similarities to the Nazi Party and the extensive and
institutional use of propaganda.
The three slogans of the Big Brother Party,
visible everywhere, are:
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
They echo the
slogan "Arbeit
macht frei" ("Work
Makes Freedom")
on the gates of
Auschwitz and
other Nazi
concentration
camps.
As you read, look
for other
similarities to the
Nazi party.
Party Slogans
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
•
•
•
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
Notice the definition of each is an antonym.
Discuss why a government might want to indoctrinate
its citizens with these ideals.
The world is controlled by three similar authoritarian
“Superstates” engaged in perpetual war
with each other:
Oceania –
British
Empire, the
US,
Canada,
Latin
America,
Australia,
and the
Southern
part of
Africa
Eurasia – Soviet Union and
Continental Europe
Eastasia -China, Japan, Korea,
and India
The ideologies of the three superstates are basically the
same, but the population is led to believe that the other two
ideologies are detestable.
The Ministries of Oceania
Oceania has 4 “Ministries” or Agencies
The Ministry of Peace
Minipax is the newspeak name for the Ministry of Peace, which concerns itself
with making war
The Ministry of Plenty
Miniplenty in Newspeak, it is the ministry involved in maintaining ubiquitous
poverty in Oceania
The Ministry of Truth
Minitrue is the propaganda arm of the Ingsoc State. They distribute the leaflets,
porno, and of course the telescreens. Winston Smith spends his daytime hours
“correcting” historical records in Minitrue.
The Ministry of Love
Miniluv is a gigantic windowless building devoted to torture and brutality. The
home of the thought police, it is surrounded by a maze of barbed wire and
machinegun towers.
With your partner, come up with a theory …
The Ministry of Peace
Why would a government be concerned with making war?
The Ministry of Plenty
Why would a government be concerned with creating poverty? How might the
Ministry of Peace
support what the Ministry of Plenty does?
The Ministry of Truth
Why would a government attempt to “correct” historical documents?
The Ministry of Love
Why would a government attempt to hide that it is involved with torture?
Newspeak
Newspeak, the "official language" of
Oceania, is extraordinary in that its
vocabulary decreases every year; the
state of Oceania sees no purpose in
maintaining a complex language, and so
Newspeak is a language dedicated to the
"destruction of words."
Come up with a theory:
Why would a government want to
destroy words? What purpose would
this serve?
Newspeak:
"Of course the great wastage is in the verbs and
adjectives, but there are hundreds of nouns that can be
got rid of as well... If you have a word like 'good', what
need is there for a word like 'bad'? 'Ungood' will do just
as well... Or again, if you want a stronger version of
'good', what sense is there in having a whole string of
vague useless words like 'excellent' and 'splendid' and all
the rest of them? 'Plusgood' covers the meaning, or
'doubleplusgood' if you want something stronger still....
In the end the whole notion of goodness and badness will
be covered by only six words; in reality, only one word."
(Part One, Chapter Five)
The true goal of Newspeak is to take away the ability to
adequately conceptualize revolution, or even dissent, by
removing words that could be used to that end. Since the
thought police had yet to develop a method of reading
people's minds to catch dissent, Newspeak was created
so that it wasn't even possible to think a dissenting
thought. This concept has been examined (and widely
discounted) in linguistics.
Can History Ever Be Changed?
While we don’t have governmental employees
“correcting” historical documents, there are numerous
examples of contradictory beliefs, messages attitudes
about historical events and people.
Example: To this day, there are organizations who
question whether millions of European Jews were
actually killed during the Holocaust.
Example: To this day, our nation celebrates Columbus
Day despite the documented reality of what Columbus
did. For example, he used germ-warfare tactics
deliberately giving Native Americans blankets used by
small pox victims.
Example: To this day, there are people in some Southern
states that advocate the South won the Civil War.
How Could Things Change So Quickly?
The main character, Winston, remembers when he was
young how things were different before Big Brother. This
was only about 30 years ago. How is it possible that
things could change so quickly?
Your Turn:
What do you know about society 30 years ago—say in
the late 1970’s and early 80’s? How different was life
then compared to today?