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Mr. Geib's webpage for George Orwell's terrifying brilliant novel of dystopia, "1984." |
"WAR
IS PEACE!
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY!
LOVE IS HATE!"
Ingsoc Party Slogan
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"1984"
UNIT PREVIEWS:
The End of
"Progress"?, The
Center Cannot Hold, Control and Terror,
Individualism
vs. Collectivism, Totalitarian Culture,
The Catholic Inquisition,
Nazism and Communism,
The Great Leader, Enemies
of the People, and The View From 1947.
"He
who controls the past controls the future; he who controls the present controls
the past."
-- O'Brien
"He who controls the past controls the future; he who controls the present controls the past." -- O'Brien
"Freedom
is the freedom to say two plus two equals four. If that is granted,
all else follows."
-- Winston
"How
many fingers am I holding up, Winston?"
-- Room 101
"Two
gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was
all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He
had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother."
"BIG
BROTHER IS
WATCHING YOU!"
TASKS:
About the Author: First, research here and here about the colorful life and times of George Orwell, as it significantly affected his work.
Setting: Download George Orwell Sets the Scene. Pay special attention to the mood Orwell paints in the first few pages!
Personal Copy: If you desire, you may buy a copy of 1984 online.
Vocabulary: Check it out!
Inspiration: Click here to download Plot Cycle file. Technology as the Enemy of Freedom, Winston vs. Julia, Big Brother Stays in Control, Inquisition vs. Ingsoc, and Winston's Cure files.
Mid-20th Century Historical Primary Sources: Adolf Hitler: Perverse Political Genius, "Pain and Humiliation," by George Orwell, "Shot Through the Neck" by George Orwell.
Relevant Mid-20th Century Literature: "The Second Coming" by W. B. Yeats," "Now its Happened" by D.H. Lawrence," "The Poisons of Left and Right" for Czeslaw Milosz by Les Murray, and "I know the truth - give up all other truths!" by Marina Tsvetayeva.
"1984" Food for Thought: Homo Homini Lupus, Murder and Destruction, Book Burning and Censorship, Man the Animal in the Atomic Age, and The Good Must Combine.
Secondary Sources: Check out the Newspeak Dictionary!
Big Brother the TV Reality Show: The official CBS links from Season 2 and Season 3. There is also a Big Brother show in Australia.
Tyrant Tutorial: How to be a Good Dictator.
Final Essay: Do your best!
Honor's Final Essay: Check it out!
Culminating Project: Brave New World? Or Slouching Towards Gomorrah?
One Final Parting Note: Orwell in his novel "1984" held very little hope for humanity; he had initially wanted to call his bleakly pessimistic vision of the future, "The Last Man." Winston Smith was this "last man." There is no hope, Orwell tells us.
But after having digested Orwell's "1984," please read Faulkner's famous 1950 Nobel Prize Speech to get a different point of view. All is not lost: hope lives on. Even after 1984
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Last updated on November 04, 2002. |