Book: 1984
Author: George Orwell
Pages read this week: 15
Pages read this semester: 1235
Weekly Style: Questions
Summary
Winston works in Ministry of Truth and uses a machine named ‘speakwrite,’ which types as he dictates into it. His work, like thousands of others, is to rewrite the past. His job involves correcting Big Brother and Party’s past predictions to match with the current results. Then, Winston has lunch with a man named Syme who is working on a revised edition of Newspeak dictionary. Syme tells Winston that the new dictionary will transform Newspeak and limit the extent of thoughts by deleting the words which express discontent and rebellious feelings. Winston fears that Syme is too intelligent and his intelligence may get him vaporized someday.
Questions
Que. 1: What do you not like about the story? Why?
Ans.: I did not like the way the writer has so far narrated the story. In my opinion, he has been too negative and pessimistic so far. Since this novel was written after WWII, it depicts Communism and Totalitarian governments as very dictatorial and manipulative. People at that time had a fear of dictators and that fear drives this book. I understand that human rights and freedoms are grossly violated under such regimes, but I do not think that it is possible up to that extent. Also, I find it ridiculous that one person rules over a huge strip of land, which involves many countries, and still there is nobody to challenge him.
Que. 2: What does the author do well as a writer?
Ans.: As a writer, the author has done a good job in setting up the tone for the rest of the novel by laying a good foundation. He has described everything in an elucidated and detailed manner. A writer’s job is to raise awareness in common masses about a cause so that they do not lose their ability to think and act properly. In 1984, George Orwell has given a glimpse of many ways the government can limit the freedom of thought and speech; and breach the privacy of the citizens. The people should be aware of their rights and duties and should know what is going on in the country and the rest of the world. The people need to participate in the democratic process or they will lose their rights and liberties.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Blog 13A
Book: 1984
Author: George Orwell
Pages read this week: 14
Pages red this semester: 1220
Weekly Style: Quotation
Summary
It was his neighbor at the door and she requests Winston to repair his sink. At his neighbors’ house, he is troubled by the kids who are junior spies. Back in his apartment, Winston remembers a dream in which a man's voice—O'Brien's, he thinks—said to him, “We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness.” Winston writes in his diary that his thought crime makes him a dead man, and then he hides the book. At night, he dreams of his mother sinking in ship and blames himself for that. He awakes in the morning, hearing a loud voice from the telescreen which signals that it is exercise time. While exercising, he thinks about how the party does his propaganda.
“War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength.”
This quotation is the slogan of the Party in the novel 1984. It represents the propaganda done by the party to brainwash the people. To me, it presents how the meanings of words can be changed by a totalitarian regime. Demagogues like Hitler expanded the sizes of countries by rousing the people through speeches and propaganda. And here, the slogan seems to convey the idea that war is peace because war can result into expansion of the nation, and if the whole world or a huge area is under the control of one country, that country has a lot of resources and is more powerful. Freedom is slavery because one becomes slave of himself, his urges of mind. He becomes undisciplined. So, everyone should be under the control of a central power which sets up moral and behavioral extremes and absolutes. If you know more, you are more troubled and hence you lose the peace of mind. So, the best thing is to ignore what others are doing (here it means government) and just go with the flow. A nation whose citizens are strictly controlled by the government and their lives are heavily influenced by it, including the flow of necessary items, is a nation with no freedom.
Author: George Orwell
Pages read this week: 14
Pages red this semester: 1220
Weekly Style: Quotation
Summary
It was his neighbor at the door and she requests Winston to repair his sink. At his neighbors’ house, he is troubled by the kids who are junior spies. Back in his apartment, Winston remembers a dream in which a man's voice—O'Brien's, he thinks—said to him, “We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness.” Winston writes in his diary that his thought crime makes him a dead man, and then he hides the book. At night, he dreams of his mother sinking in ship and blames himself for that. He awakes in the morning, hearing a loud voice from the telescreen which signals that it is exercise time. While exercising, he thinks about how the party does his propaganda.
“War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength.”
This quotation is the slogan of the Party in the novel 1984. It represents the propaganda done by the party to brainwash the people. To me, it presents how the meanings of words can be changed by a totalitarian regime. Demagogues like Hitler expanded the sizes of countries by rousing the people through speeches and propaganda. And here, the slogan seems to convey the idea that war is peace because war can result into expansion of the nation, and if the whole world or a huge area is under the control of one country, that country has a lot of resources and is more powerful. Freedom is slavery because one becomes slave of himself, his urges of mind. He becomes undisciplined. So, everyone should be under the control of a central power which sets up moral and behavioral extremes and absolutes. If you know more, you are more troubled and hence you lose the peace of mind. So, the best thing is to ignore what others are doing (here it means government) and just go with the flow. A nation whose citizens are strictly controlled by the government and their lives are heavily influenced by it, including the flow of necessary items, is a nation with no freedom.
Blog 12A
Book: 1984
Author: George Orwell
Pages read this week: 20
Pages read this semester: 1516
Weekly Style: Fan fiction
Summary
Winston Smith lives in London, a city of Airstrip One, which is part of Oceania. This is April 1984. The world is divided into three nations/land masses- Oceania, Eurasia and East Asia. Airstrip One is under strict control of party and Winston works in Ministry of Truth. Still, like everyone else, his life is under strict scrutiny by the party. At the beginning of the novel, Winston comes back home for lunch and thinks about his surroundings. His chain of thoughts is broken by a knock on the door.
Fan Fiction
Winston Smith is a 32 year old social preacher in a church who used to work in a reputed computer company in Silicon Valley of California. He has a very good professional life: good salary, good reputation and good amount of benefits. However, he does not have a family. He had one, but no longer enjoys the warmth of a family. His parents got divorced when he was young. They wanted to live heir separate private lives, without any interference from one another. Neither of them wanted Winston. So, he was kept under supervision of court, and was later raised by a nice family who had adopted him. Forgetting his troubled childhood, he worked hard to become an engineer. Unfortunately, he lost that family in terrorist attacks of 9/11. However, they left a huge amount of property and estate. He was left heavily grief-stricken with no one to share and divide it. He tried to find a soul mate, but all he discovered in people was their likelihood for his money. He was hurt to find that materialism and hedonistic attitude has penetrated deeply into lives and minds of people. Deeply disappointed, he decided to devote his life to spread his message to the world. He joined a charity and began preaching about and raising awareness about social and religious issues.
Author: George Orwell
Pages read this week: 20
Pages read this semester: 1516
Weekly Style: Fan fiction
Summary
Winston Smith lives in London, a city of Airstrip One, which is part of Oceania. This is April 1984. The world is divided into three nations/land masses- Oceania, Eurasia and East Asia. Airstrip One is under strict control of party and Winston works in Ministry of Truth. Still, like everyone else, his life is under strict scrutiny by the party. At the beginning of the novel, Winston comes back home for lunch and thinks about his surroundings. His chain of thoughts is broken by a knock on the door.
Fan Fiction
Winston Smith is a 32 year old social preacher in a church who used to work in a reputed computer company in Silicon Valley of California. He has a very good professional life: good salary, good reputation and good amount of benefits. However, he does not have a family. He had one, but no longer enjoys the warmth of a family. His parents got divorced when he was young. They wanted to live heir separate private lives, without any interference from one another. Neither of them wanted Winston. So, he was kept under supervision of court, and was later raised by a nice family who had adopted him. Forgetting his troubled childhood, he worked hard to become an engineer. Unfortunately, he lost that family in terrorist attacks of 9/11. However, they left a huge amount of property and estate. He was left heavily grief-stricken with no one to share and divide it. He tried to find a soul mate, but all he discovered in people was their likelihood for his money. He was hurt to find that materialism and hedonistic attitude has penetrated deeply into lives and minds of people. Deeply disappointed, he decided to devote his life to spread his message to the world. He joined a charity and began preaching about and raising awareness about social and religious issues.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Blog 11A
Book: Sunrise Over Fallujah
Author: Walter Dean Myers
Pages read this week: 75
Pages read this semester: 1496
Weekly Style: Questions
Summary
The whole unit is feeling the loss of Pendleton. The first squad is asked to accompany another officer to Fallujah. They were to hold talks with a Sheik over there. The talks went as planned and both sides assured each other of mutual cooperation and trust. The squad had to spend a night in a hospital in Fallujah, where conditions are unsanitary and bad. Captain Miller, who is a doctor, goes on to inspect the hospital. Early in the morning, when Robin goes to bathroom, he saves Captain Miller from being raped by two Iraqis. Miller is completely shaken by this disgusted incident. People who need their help are not respecting the saviors. After that, the squad is sent to Doha for some rest. After that, they are sent to an area near Iran-Iraq border where they will work with secret ops to get acquire detonators used to make IEDs from a tribe. In the ambush, Jonesy is killed while Robin is wounded. After that “successful” operation, the squad is disbanded and everyone is sent to different places with all wondering whether or not they will meet again. The writer beautifully portrays the randomness of the war once again.
Questions
Que. 1: Why did you choose this story? Has it met your expectations so far? Why or why not?
Ans.: I chose this story as I wanted to feel the reality of war and experience it. After reading A Farewell to Arms, I had a desire to find out how a soldier in two of America’s notorious wars (Iraq or Vietnam) felt. My decision to read this book was made before we decided to read The Things They Carried in class. I wanted a true picture of war in Iraq because the news media often painted a blurry image of Iraq and the government is, perhaps, covering up stuff. For the most part, it met my expectations. I was exposed to new variety of sentence structure and style which best fits the theme and background of the novel. The author has done a fairly good job of correctly portraying picture of how a soldier feels in a war where neither the motive nor the enemy is vivid.
Que. 2: What does the story make you wonder about, and why?
Ans.: When I finished reading this book, I could not help thinking about the warriors who are fighting in Iraq, and about those who are awaiting their safe return. I even had dreams of fighting in a war. I was not into this book, but into the war. I can feel the war. For the first time in my life I realized that no matter how much courage one has, death is death, and bullets are bullets. It takes a huge amount of courage to both. I had known this, but realized it now.
Author: Walter Dean Myers
Pages read this week: 75
Pages read this semester: 1496
Weekly Style: Questions
Summary
The whole unit is feeling the loss of Pendleton. The first squad is asked to accompany another officer to Fallujah. They were to hold talks with a Sheik over there. The talks went as planned and both sides assured each other of mutual cooperation and trust. The squad had to spend a night in a hospital in Fallujah, where conditions are unsanitary and bad. Captain Miller, who is a doctor, goes on to inspect the hospital. Early in the morning, when Robin goes to bathroom, he saves Captain Miller from being raped by two Iraqis. Miller is completely shaken by this disgusted incident. People who need their help are not respecting the saviors. After that, the squad is sent to Doha for some rest. After that, they are sent to an area near Iran-Iraq border where they will work with secret ops to get acquire detonators used to make IEDs from a tribe. In the ambush, Jonesy is killed while Robin is wounded. After that “successful” operation, the squad is disbanded and everyone is sent to different places with all wondering whether or not they will meet again. The writer beautifully portrays the randomness of the war once again.
Questions
Que. 1: Why did you choose this story? Has it met your expectations so far? Why or why not?
Ans.: I chose this story as I wanted to feel the reality of war and experience it. After reading A Farewell to Arms, I had a desire to find out how a soldier in two of America’s notorious wars (Iraq or Vietnam) felt. My decision to read this book was made before we decided to read The Things They Carried in class. I wanted a true picture of war in Iraq because the news media often painted a blurry image of Iraq and the government is, perhaps, covering up stuff. For the most part, it met my expectations. I was exposed to new variety of sentence structure and style which best fits the theme and background of the novel. The author has done a fairly good job of correctly portraying picture of how a soldier feels in a war where neither the motive nor the enemy is vivid.
Que. 2: What does the story make you wonder about, and why?
Ans.: When I finished reading this book, I could not help thinking about the warriors who are fighting in Iraq, and about those who are awaiting their safe return. I even had dreams of fighting in a war. I was not into this book, but into the war. I can feel the war. For the first time in my life I realized that no matter how much courage one has, death is death, and bullets are bullets. It takes a huge amount of courage to both. I had known this, but realized it now.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Blog 10A
Book: Sunrise Over Fallujah
Author: Walter Dean Myers
Pages read this week: 89
Pages read this semester: 1421
Weekly Style: Quotation
Summary
The troops are feeling the heat of the sun and war as anything can kill them. They do not want to get out of Green Zone. Robin receives a letter from home and thinks that he lacks valor. A marine patrol vehicle is wasted by an IED. One of the soldiers, Victor receives a dead monkey as a gift from somebody in Wyoming. The First Squad names it Sergeant Yossarian. The monkey accompanies them everywhere. The first squad helps out some Iraqis who were injured in an air strike. Few days later, they hold a soccer game with the kids of that place. Jonesy and Sergeant Harris almost got into a fistfight. Random changes and rules were not helping the soldiers. And Pendleton gets killed in another ambush later, saddening the whole unit, especially Robin.
“It’s hard to be brave when you can stumble across a world of hurt any corner, where dying becomes so casual you don’t even notice sitting it next to you.”
Robin Perry is remarking about valor and new developments in war after receiving a letter from home. He is trying to present a real picture of the sophistication that had recently entered into the Iraq War and how it affected the state of mind of a soldier. The beauty of this sophistication is its simplicity. Simple and homemade weapons like IEDs are getting on nerves of the greatest army in the world there. You may think that you are safe, but death can be hovering overhead. And as a soldier, you are not sure if you will be ever back alive. The thought of dying in an actual full-fledged war can and does make a soldier proud of him serving his motherland. But, in Iraq, it is a proxy war, a hidden war. Death can come in any form. But just like Vietnam, Iraq is becoming a burden. Not just a financial burden, but a moral and mental one too. Soldiers don’t know who is friend and who is foe. They are unsure about the plans and motives. And to add fuel to the fire, the apprehension of an untimely ambush and death gives a strong setback to their morale.
Author: Walter Dean Myers
Pages read this week: 89
Pages read this semester: 1421
Weekly Style: Quotation
Summary
The troops are feeling the heat of the sun and war as anything can kill them. They do not want to get out of Green Zone. Robin receives a letter from home and thinks that he lacks valor. A marine patrol vehicle is wasted by an IED. One of the soldiers, Victor receives a dead monkey as a gift from somebody in Wyoming. The First Squad names it Sergeant Yossarian. The monkey accompanies them everywhere. The first squad helps out some Iraqis who were injured in an air strike. Few days later, they hold a soccer game with the kids of that place. Jonesy and Sergeant Harris almost got into a fistfight. Random changes and rules were not helping the soldiers. And Pendleton gets killed in another ambush later, saddening the whole unit, especially Robin.
“It’s hard to be brave when you can stumble across a world of hurt any corner, where dying becomes so casual you don’t even notice sitting it next to you.”
Robin Perry is remarking about valor and new developments in war after receiving a letter from home. He is trying to present a real picture of the sophistication that had recently entered into the Iraq War and how it affected the state of mind of a soldier. The beauty of this sophistication is its simplicity. Simple and homemade weapons like IEDs are getting on nerves of the greatest army in the world there. You may think that you are safe, but death can be hovering overhead. And as a soldier, you are not sure if you will be ever back alive. The thought of dying in an actual full-fledged war can and does make a soldier proud of him serving his motherland. But, in Iraq, it is a proxy war, a hidden war. Death can come in any form. But just like Vietnam, Iraq is becoming a burden. Not just a financial burden, but a moral and mental one too. Soldiers don’t know who is friend and who is foe. They are unsure about the plans and motives. And to add fuel to the fire, the apprehension of an untimely ambush and death gives a strong setback to their morale.
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