1984 Essays - Themes: Madison and Clay (3rd White)

Madison and Clay,

Since you two are the only ones in your class working on a themes paper, I will correspond with you on the blog. Please feel free to ask questions. I will try to post comments on your posts and suggest a few resources.

Thanks,
Mrs. Robinson

1984 Essays - Themes: Danger of Permanent Totalitarianism

If you are writing about the Danger of Permanent Totalitarianism in 1984, please use this space to post your ideas, helpful resources, key passages, and/or questions.

1984 Essays - Politics

If you are writing about how Orwell was influenced by political elements in Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia, please use this space to post your ideas, helpful resources, key passages, and/or questions.

1984 Essays - Themes: Individuality vs. Tyranny

If you are writing about Individuality vs. Tyranny in 1984, please use this space to post your ideas, helpful resources, key passages, and/or questions.

1984 Essays - Themes: Destruction of Human Values

If you are focusing on the theme of Destruction of Human Values in 1984, please use this space to post your ideas, helpful resources, key passages, and/or questions.

1984 Essays - Themes: Subjective vs. Objective Reality

If you are writing about the theme of Subjective vs. Objective Reality in 1984, please use this space to post your ideas, helpful resources, key passages, and/or questions.

1984 Essays - Themes: Alienation and Isolation

If you are focusing on the theme of Alienation and Isolation in 1984, please use this space to post your ideas, helpful resources, key passages, and/or questions.

1984 Essays - Holocaust Denial

If you are writing about a connection between those who deny the Holocaust ever happened and the treatment of history in the world of 1984, please use this space to post your ideas, helpful resources, key passages, and/or questions.

1984 Essays - Mind Control

For those of you looking for techniques the Party uses to control the population's minds in 1984, use this space to post ideas, helpful resources, passages you are considering using in your essay, and/or questions.

1984 Essays - Existentialism

For those of you working on comparing Winston and Daru as existentialist heroes, please use this space to post ideas, helpful resources, passages from 1984 or "The Guest" that you are considering using, and/or questions.

1984 Book One, Chapters 1-4: Discussion Points to Ponder

Big Brother

Goldstein

Two Minutes Hate

Youth Spies

Party slogans

Winston's diary

O'Brien

the Parsons

Thought Police

Winston's job

Oceania, Airstrip One, London

Family relationships

Junior Anti-Sex League

Newspeak

Physical Jerks

Inner Party, Outer Party, Proles

the dark-haired girl

propaganda (war film)

Oceania, Eurasia, Eastasia

Comrade Ogilvy

Writing about Writing

In his famous essay "Why I Write," George Orwell explains how he first got interested in writing, and he argues that there are four possible motivations that authors have for writing. After you have taken time to read the essay and to consider his life experiences, his philosophy on writing, and his reasons for writing, I want you to use this space to respond however you wish. You may decide to highlight interesting arguments, puzzling portions of the essay, identify relatable experiences you have had, or ask questions to which your peers and I can respond in a class discussion. You may even want to use the essay and what you know of 1984 so far to make some predictions about themes or issues in the text. My only requirement for this response is that you clearly show you have read and intellectually pondered the essay (Hint: Quoting the essay demonstrates that you have taken time to consider it in your response).

For those of you up for a challenge, consider posting an analysis of his poem that is within the essay: "A Happy Vicar I Might Have Been." This task will take some time because it requires you to do some connotative and historical research to understand the layers of meaning, but it's well worth the effort it takes!