MGP+Group+15

== =Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)=

By george Orwell
Winston Smith knows there is something wrong with the world. Surely it hasn’t always been tasteless food, gray, stringy clothing, a dispiriting job, and always the same fear and suspicion of everyone around you? But if life did used to be different, how does he know it was? What makes him question Big Brother, who is always watching, and the Party, who is always right? Why does he instinctually avoid the all-knowing tele-screen, and secretly abhor the Two Minute Hate that everyone else revels in? These are the questions that plague Winston’s mind constantly. He knows he’s different, but doesn’t know why, and doesn’t know how to find out without detection. The world as he knows it is filled with hate, anger, and fear, but deep down he longs for answers, and for beauty. He’s always wondering about the past, and whether the facts that Big Brother comes out with daily are the truth, or nothing but lies. The past is constantly being rewritten by the Party, and it’s Winston’s job to help change the facts to suit the current day’s needs. He both loves and is horrified by his job but sees nothing he can do about it. Winston can’t take the monotony anymore and one day starts a very small rebellion of his own by starting a diary, which is forbidden (and punishable by death). A chance meeting with a dark haired girl at the Ministry where he works slowly leads to an illicit affair, which awakens feelings in him he never knew existed. He is filled with love and lust for Julia, and their passionate romance awakens another feeling- all out rebellion against the party. They meet secretly as often as they can, talking about the world and making love in secret rooms. To Winston, it’s paradise. Another chance meeting leads him to O’Brian, an Inner Party member he believes to be associated with a conspiracy against the Party, part of a secret society known only as the Brotherhood. He and Julia immediately join, and promise to do whatever they can to help the Brotherhood. O’Brian promises them that nothing will ever happen in their lifetime, and their service with the Brotherhood will most certainly lead to torture and death by the Party. This doesn’t bother them in the slightest.

=Why read 1984? = 1984 is an interesting look into the future of mindless followers of the party whom answer to their all powerful leader ‘Big Brother’. There is a secret group of non party followers who revolt against big brother, and Proles who live in ignorance of what is going on around them. The book includes mystery, love, adventure, and terror. 1984 is a book that will satisfy all of your desires. So what are you waiting for?

Criticism:
While the book 1984 was being written the Cold War was taking place. The Cold War was consisted of Russian Spys and communist threats all throughout the world. Since this was going on I strongly believe that George Orwell was influenced by it all and based this book off his thoughts about what life would be like if we fell into the craziness that was going on throughout the world. If the Cold War was not taking place I his thoughts about what the future would be like would be completely different. So thanks to the Cold War, the book __1984__ was produced. __**Maddie's literary project- **__

[[image:Picture1.jpg width="154" height="154"]]
The picture above is a picture of and eye in the sky watching over the world. This reminds me of how in the book "1984" there are things called telescreens set up everywhere watching the every move of the followers of the party. __**what was going on during 1984?**__ The Cold War was going on during the time George Orwell was writing 1984. What is the cold war?: The Cold War was the continuing state of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars (using 3 rd parties as substitutes for fighting each other), and economic competition that existed after World War II (1939–1945). It was between the Communist World, which was primarily the Soviet Union and its allies, and the powers of the Western world, which was primarily the United States and its allies. During this time period England was our ally, meaning that they too had all the troubles of supposed Russian spies trying to steal top secret information. Because George Orwell was writing during this time period I believe his book was greatly influenced by the things that were going on around them. Such as Spies, communism, socialism, dictatorship ect. This is a picture of a diary. I believe that the diary is one of the most important items in this book. When Winston first starts writting in his diary it is the begining to the rest of revolts he makes against Big Brother.

=Bryan's Literary Portfolio= Throughout the novel Winston is looking for something to give him confirmation that the way of life in Oceania is worse than it was before the rule of The Party. The way that we think of marriage in today's society is that of what it has always been; two people that love each other living together and sharing their love with a family. However in the world of 1984 the way that we think of marriage is completely abolished. People marry simply to have children as their duty to The Party. There is little to no love between people and a couple's own children will turn their parents into the thought police without a second thought.



=Zack's Literary Portfolio=

Artifact 1 -
My first artifact was a balloon. The way that the balloon symbolizes the human mind is two-fold. Firstly, the very nature of the balloon, the entrapment of air, symbolizes the way that the Party confined the party member's minds to ensure complete orthodoxy. Also, the elasticity of the balloon symbolizes the apparent elasticity of the human mind beyond basic human principles. Human principles would find great offense with what is happen, the fact that this is nowhere in the novel shows that the human mind has been stretched beyond these principles.

Artifact 2 -
1984 Diary

Both the writing style and the content of this entry speak to the tone of the novel. The simplistic and short tone used in this entry show the level of poverty and oppression that Winston lived in. The content outlines some of the issues that Winston had to deal with in his rebellion against Big Brother.

Artifact 3 -
I chose this song not only because Propagandhi is my favorite band, but the song is obviously inspired by the book "1984". The song basically compares the U.S. under Bush to Oceania under Big Brother. Propagandhi is famous for being believers in human rights as well as heavily criticizing the right-wing conservative America. Despite one's personal political beliefs, very few Americans enjoy being manipulated and the country being run by these major corporations that only benefit the rich, wealthy, elites. The song covers that concept as well as the drug war, the media, the "War on Terrorism", and the declining value of democracy and human rights. It really makes you wonder how close are we going to let America become Oceania.
 * __Willie's Literary Portfolio__**
 * Artifact 1-** I used the ending clip from the documentary __Fahrenheit 911__ by Michael Moore. The film criticizes "The War on Terrorism" and George Bush while connecting everything to the attacks on the world trade centers on september 11th. I agree with most things in the film, but I used the ending quote especially because it uses a quote from the book "1984" and cleverly compares them with the United States. The quote from the film reads, "It's not a matter of whether the war is not real or if it is. Victory is not possible. The war is not meant to be won. It is meant to be continuous. A hierarchical society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance. This new version is the past and no different past can ever have existed. In principle, the war effort is always planned to keep society on the brink of starvation. The war is waged by the ruling group against its own subjects. And its object is not the victory over either Eurasia or East Asia but to keep the very structure of society intact." The two main points that I thought were important was the Eurasia and East Asia comment and the part about the war being waged on it's own people. The whole war was not exact on which country in the middle east we were attacking or at war with. When Eurasia is shown in the film, it shows Bin laden. When East Asia is shown in the fim, it shows Sadaam Hussein. Hence Eurasia and East Asia. The Army also goes straight to the poor areas with poor kids who are usually minorities to recruit first. In a lot of ways they are manipulated and in some cases killed. Hence the war waged upon its own people.
 * Artifact 2- [|Propagandhi- War is Peace] []**
 * Artifact 3-** I wrote a letter to the main character in the book, "Winston" comparing America to Oceania yet again. Three of the five main topics in my letter come from the slogan in Oceania itself. "War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength." The other two were the mindset that violence is okay and sex is not, and how the U.S. system of government (plutonomy) is not all that different from the system of government in Oceania. I backed these claims up with my citing my facts and using my own personal opinion.

=﻿Nick's Literary Portfolio=

Artifact 1-
My first artifact was an article that I found on the web []. This article is about how the britains rewrote indian history to make it look like everything that was great in India came from Britain. This is like in 1984 where the party rewrites history to keep the people not know what actually happens. This gave me a better understanding of why "the party" rewrote the history.

Artifact 2-
I think the diary was something that winston and anyone of Oceania would be fond of because it represents freedom. One reason that diaries were illegal is because anybody can write anything they want in them and it could be thoughts against "the party". So I think it is very important when Winston starts writing in it because it starts the whole book and it's the first sign of rebellion in the book.

Artifact 3-
My last artifact is the trailer for Animal Farm [] at 1:10 it has a pig saying that from now on pigs will run the farm. This starts all the problems in that book. But the commity of pigs in that book is like "the party" in __1984__. They control every aspect of the farm like the party involves every aspect of Osceania. At 1:40 it has the head pig saying any animal that is against the rules will be punished. This is exactly like in __1984__ where the party will kill (or force them into agreeing with its ideas) anyone that is against it.