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English 30-1Novel Study

NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOURNOVEL STUDY

Assignments

Name: PART I


Setting – Mood & Atmosphere

Setting is commonly defined as the time and place of the action of a story. Though this is true, setting is also a more complex element of fiction that is intertwined with both character and plot. In addition, setting plays an important role in creating a mood and atmosphere (a certain feeling or sense about the setting within the reader). As Professor Edward Bloom writes in The Order of Fiction: An Introduction,

The main thing about setting is that it must contribute to the development of plot and character, and never be extraneous to them. Setting is not merely scenic; it is connected with the

happenings of the story. Like character and plot, setting arouses and helps to sustain our thoughts and feelings. Italso calls into play our visual imagination. . . . Setting establishes a place and season (time) for the action, but more significantly it creates an atmosphere and mood (pp. 106-109).

Part 1 – Winston’s Home & Work Place

Directions: For each setting identified below, list three or more specific descriptions or details about that particular setting. For each description you list, attempt to explain the mood or atmosphere the detail creates for the reader. Answer, in complete sentences, the questions that follow.

Winston's Home - Victory Mansions Apartments

Detail or Description Mood or Atmosphere CreatedExample: Poster of Big Brother in the hallway stating that he is watching you.

1.

2.

3.

Creates a threatening or fearful mood; no sense of privacy or freedom

1.

2.

3.

1. How does this setting affect Winston psychologically?2. How does this setting contribute to the plot or action?

Winston's Work Environment - The Ministry of Truth

Detail or Description Mood or Atmosphere CreatedExample: Works in his own cubicle with little personal contact with others

Creates a feeling of loneliness, isolation, mistrust of others


1.

2.

3.

1.

2.

3.

1. How do Winston's work and work environment affect him?

2. How do his work and work environment connect with the plot?

Part 2 - Making Personal Connections

1. How does your classroom or school setting affect your mood (feelings) and attitude?

2. How could your classroom or school setting be altered in order to improve students' attitude towards learning and towards themselves?

3. What setting do you find most uplifting and satisfying? Why?

4. What season of the year do you least enjoy? Why?

5. What setting do you find most frightening or threatening? Why?

6. Think of different environments and the moods and attitudes they provoke. (Examples: doctor's and dentist's offices, your work environment, athletic environments, store and mall environments, church, synagogue, mosque, etc.)

Analyzing Character

Directions: A web diagram is a useful tool for organizing your descriptions of a character into larger categories. Follow the steps below to complete your character web.

1. Write Winston, the name of the character to be described, in the center circle.2. Locate the branch titled Appearance. On the strands provided, write at least four physical

descriptions of Winston. The descriptions can be specific words or phrases that describe what he looks like. Add more web strands if needed.

3. Locate the branch titled Personality. On the strands provided, write at least four descriptions of Winston's feelings, beliefs, personality traits, fears, obsessions, or desires. Add more web strands if needed.


4. Locate the branch titled Relationships. On the strands provided, write at least four descriptions of how Winston relates to specific characters. Include the name of the character and how Winston feels or thinks about him or her, and how he relates with him or her. Add more strands if needed.

5. Locate the branch titled Personal History. On the strands provided, write at least four descriptions of what Winston's past life was like. Look for dreams and flashbacks to aid you. Add more strands if needed.

6. Feel free to create your own categories to include any descriptions that do not neatly fit into one of the four branches listed.

Characterization Methods

There are basically two methods to describe a character:

Direct characterization: The author/narrator directly tells the reader information about the character. Often physical or historical attributes are conveyed in this manner.

Indirect Characterization: Character is described indirectly through:1. his or her actions2. what he or she says3. what he or she thinks, feels, remembers4. what other characters say about him or her


Indirect characterization is used more frequently. This method allows the character to reveal (or to show) himself or herself to the reader. This method also allows the reader to infer the personality and attitudes of the character. The reader must make judgments based on evidence, not direct statements.

Directions: Answer the following questions based on your completed character web.

1. Which descriptions on your web were made using indirect characterization? Place an “I” beside each item on your web indirectly revealed.

2. Supply descriptions of Winston and evidence for your judgments for each method of indirect characterization listed below.

Example: Description: He dislikes exercise and performs exercises poorly Evidence: Woman in the telescreen reprimands himMethod: Another character's comments

DescriptionEvidenceMethod -

DescriptionEvidenceMethod



3. Are there any descriptions of Winston that were provided directly? If so, explain.

Doublespeak


In Orwell's 1984, doublethink is a form of mind control where a person is able to believe contrary ideas or facts at the same time and to forget that one is consciously doing it. Whatever is deemed to be true by the Inner Party is automatically accepted as true by all Party members even if it contradicts what was said to be true previously. Today the sky is stated by the Party to be green, yesterday it was purple. By using doublethink, both statements are accepted by all as true. Truth is whatever the Party says is true at the moment. This is a satire on the conformity of thought urged and enforced in certain societies during Orwell's time (Germany, Russia, and Spain). Although this extreme form of mass mind control has not taken shape in our present societies, a lesser version has evolved. This version is called doublespeak.

What is doublespeak? According to William Lutz, a professor at Rutgers University who has written books on the subject, it is language that attempts to deceive, hides true meaning, and prevents clear thought.

Doublespeak is language which pretends to communicate but really doesn't. It is language which makes the bad seem good, the negative appear positive, the unpleasant appear attractive, or at least tolerable. It is language which avoids or shifts responsibility, language which is at variance with its real or purported meaning. It is language which conceals or prevents thought. Doublespeak is language which does not extend thought but limits it.

--(William Lutz, “Fourteen of Double Speak”, English Journal, March 1988:40)

The National Council of Teachers of English has been tracking doublespeak since the early 1970s. A Committee on Public Doublespeak was formed to search out abuses of language by the government, industry, advertisers, military, health care, educators, and anyone who influences public policy in our country. This committee gives out annual awards to those who have most abused or misused the language. Below, a partial list of doublespeak expressions the committee has uncovered is printed.

Part 1

Directions: Match each doublespeak expression with its meaning. Write the letter of your answer on the line provided after the expression.

Military Terms Meaning Choices

1. Front-leaning rest exercises _____ a. Retreat

2. Preemptive counterattack _____ b. Invasion

3. Air support _____ c. Civilian causalities

4. Servicing the target _____ d. Push-ups

5. Wood interdental stimulators _____ e. Toothpick

6. Collateral damage _____ f. Bombing


7. Tactical redeployment _____ g. Nuclear bomb

8. Large potentially disruptive _____ h. Killing the enemyreentry system

Business and Industry Terms Meaning Choices

9. Career scanning professional _____ i. Greeting cards

10. Social-expression product _____ j. Fired from the job

11. Non-performing assets _____ k. Plane crash

12. Management turnovers _____ l. Polluted

13. Excessed _____ m. Dump

14. Controlled flight into terrain _____ n. Cashier

15. Negative patient-care outcome _____ o. Bad loans

16. Inhalation hazard _____ p. Prison

17. Resource development park _____ q. Death in a hospital

18. Adult correctional institution _____ r. Poison gas

19. Environmentally destabilized _____ s. Job layoffs

20.Energetic disassembly _____ t. Toilet

21. Guest-relation facility _____ u. Nuclear power plant explosion

Government Terms Meaning Choices

22. Sub-standard housing _____ v. Recession

23. Revenue enhancement _____ w. Ghetto

24. Poorly buffered precipitation _____ x. Taxes

25. Period of accelerated negative _____ y. acid rain growth

Part 2


Professor William Lutz writes that “doublespeak is not the product of careless language or sloppy thinking.” Rather it is "the product of clear thinking and is language carefully designed . . . to mislead . . . to distort reality . . . to corrupt the mind.” (Ibid)

Directions: Select three doublespeak expressions from the list in Part 1 and write them on the following lines. Beside each one explain why this doublespeak expression was created and how it misleads the reader.

1.

2.

3.

Part 3

Finally, Professor William Lutz claims that doublespeak is very dangerous and can “ultimately destroy the function of language.” As he writes,

The use of doublespeak can spread so that doublespeak becomes the language of public discourse, with speakers and listeners convinced that they really understand such language. After a while we may really believe that politicians don't lie but only "misspeak," that illegal acts are merely "inappropriate actions". . .. If we really believe that .. . such language communicates and promotes clear thought, then the world of Nineteen Eighty-four with its control or reality through language is not far away. (Ibid)

Directions: Do you think that doublespeak is dangerous? Explain your opinion using reasons and examples. Write your answer in paragraph form.


Part II – Chapters 1-4

Opposites Attract

Part 1

Directions: Winston Smith and Julia have both similarities and dissimilarities in their characterizations. Using a Venn diagram, write appropriate descriptions for each character for each item listed. If the description is different for each character, write your answer in the large non-intersecting portion of the circles above each name. If the characteristic is the same for both characters, write your answer in the intersecting space.

1. age/physical condition 7. attitude towards Big Brother

2. job responsibilities 8. intellectual understanding of Party

3. community groups 9. attitude towards physical relationships

4. memories of the past 10. hopes about the future

5. experience in deception 11. personal fears

6. reasons for rebelling against Party

Part 2


Directions: Answer the following questions completely in paragraph form.

1. Winston's paperweight, described in the last paragraph of chapter 4, symbolizes their relationship. Why is it an appropriate symbol and what does it foreshadow?

2. What would be another object that could be used to symbolize their relationship? Explain why.

Part 3 - Love Letters

Now that you have read part 2, chapters 1-4, and reviewed the motives of Winston and Julia regarding their relationship, actions, and feelings, you are now able to write a love letter as one of these characters.

The purpose of your letter is to inform the other person why you have entered this relationship, why you are rebelling against the Party, and why you are willing to join the Brotherhood.

Directions:1. Choose a partner and then decide which character each of you will represent (Winston or Julia).

2. Writing as that character, compose a letter to be sent to your lover.

3. Your letter should follow these guidelines:

Salutation: Dear (Winston or Julia),

Paragraph 1: State the purpose of your letter.

Paragraph 2: Describe your feelings for the other person and why you entered into the relationship. Note especially any changes you experienced in your

emotions or motives since your relationship began.

Paragraph 3: Describe your feelings and attitude toward the party and specify why you are willing to rebel against it. Explain how far you are willing to go in this

rebellion and what you are not willing to do.

Paragraph 4: Explain your hopes for the future of mankind and for your own personal future together as a couple.


Complimentary closing: Love, (Winston or Julia)

4. Brainstorm your ideas first using your Venn diagram and write your final letter on a separate piece of paper.

Language, Irony, and Paradox

Part 1

Directions: Using your text, define the following terms.

1. Telescreen (pgs. 3-9)

2. Thought Police (pgs. 4-5, 12, 15–16 & 21)

3. Two Minutes Hate (pgs. 13 - 18)

4. Big Brother (pgs. 3, 16, 20-22 & 38)

5. The Brotherhood (pgs. 15-16)

6. Newspeak (pgs. 5,6, 45-47)

7. Ingsoc (pgs. 4, 28, 38, 46, 49, 50)

8. Inner Party (pgs. 12 & 27-48)

9. Outer Party

10. Proles (pgs. 55-56, 68, 72-75, 78, 85, 87-90, 92 & 98)

11. Doublethink (pgs. 9, 28 & 30)

12. Vaporize (pgs. 21, 25 & 44)

13. Airstrip One (pg. 63)


Part 2

Directions: Answer each of the following questions using Part 1 of the novel as a reference.

1. What are the four ministries that govern Airstrip One?

2. In what way is each ministry ironic in its purpose and function?

3. What are the three “sacred principles” of Ingsoc? (pg. 28)

4. Why is Newspeak so important? How is Newspeak ironic? (pgs. 45-47)

5. What are the three Party slogans? (pgs. 6, 18 & 29)

6. A paradox states an apparent contradiction that also contains a kind of truth when seen in a certain way. For example, when a poet says that the beloved's coldness towards him only serves to make the fire of his love grow stronger, this is a paradox. Coldness does not create fire, but in the context of a relationship, the woman's coldness to the man may make him love her more deeply or become more determined to win her love as he desires the person who is not attainable.

In what ways can the Party slogans express paradoxes?

7. Describe the kinds of relationships that exist between the following pairs of people in Airstrip One. How are these relationships ironic when compared to similar relationships that exist today?

Parent/child - The Parson Family

Husband/wife - Winston and Katherine

Worker/worker - Winston and coworkers (Tillotson, Symes, O'Brien)


Goldstein’s Book

Part 1

Directions: Read each of the statements below and decide whether they are supported by Goldstein's book. Place Y (yes) before statements that agree with Goldstein's analysis and N (no) before statements that do not. Be prepared to explain the reasons for your judgments.

War Is Peace

Literal Level

_____1. The central purpose of war is to destroy human lives.

_____2. The central purpose of war is to destroy or consume the products of human labor to create shortages.

_____3. War can be won by any of the superstates.

_____4. Most of the fighting takes place in the unorganized territories.

_____5. The three government systems Ingsoc, Neo-Bolshevism, and Obliteration of the self are incompatible and distinct from one another.

_____6. War cannot be won by any of the superstates.

_____7. Each superstate is self-sufficient.

_____8. The superstates fight for ideological and materialistic reasons.

_____9. The superstates fight for possession of the slave labor (coolies) and resources of the undeveloped territories.

Analytical Level

_____10. Technology and industrialization threaten the Party by raising everyone's standard of living.


_____11. In this novel the future society will be poorer than the present one.

_____12. Scarcity of material goods helps to create class distinctions.

_____13. The psychological dimension of war is as important as the physical destruction of war.

_____14. The world of 1984 is less advanced and less affluent than the world before 1914.

_____15. Because war is continuous, it ceases to be dangerous._____16. More people were killed in past wars than in present. Applied level (Apply what you understand

about the Party to our present society and government.)

_____17. The development of the "Star Wars" space based defense system, which began during the Reagan Administration, would be applauded by the Party.

_____18. It is easier to control public ideas and opinions in our technologically superior society than in an undeveloped third world society.

_____19. The Party would applaud our efforts to reduce the stockpile of our nuclear weapons.

_____20. Our present efforts to trim the military in size and cost would not be tolerated by the Party.

_____ 21. The new computer "information highway" would be seen as a threat by the Party.

_____ 22. When we are made to feel threatened by war, we willingly hand over our power to a small elite group who will protect us.

_____ 23. War today could not be waged for the same reasons as it is waged by the Party.

Ignorance Is Strength

Literal level

_____ 24. A person is born into the Inner or Outer Party.

_____ 25. A hierarchical society like the Party depends on poverty and ignorance.

_____ 26. Outer Party members have no freedom.

_____ 27. Inner Party members have total freedom.

_____ 28. Proles are usually selected to fill the ranks of the Outer Party.

_____ 29. Entrance into the Party is by examination.

_____ 30. The Proles are harmless because they are kept ignorant.

_____ 31. Collectively the Party owns everything in Oceania, but individually Inner and Outer Party members own nothing.


_____ 32. In practice, bright Proles are eliminated.

_____ 33. A few foreigners are allowed to visit Oceania because the Inner Party wants the Outer Party to see foreigners as friends who are similar to themselves and not as enemies who are different.

Analytical Level

_____ 34. The higher up you are in the Party, the more enthusiasm, war fever, and mind control you must show.

_____ 35. The higher up you are in the Party, the less loyalty and mind control you must show.

_____ 36. The Party is concerned with passing down positions from "father to son."

_____ 37. The Party is concerned with keeping the Inner Party in control and maintaining the present structure of society.

_____ 38. Collectivism has made every Party member equal and has destroyed class distinctions.

_____ 39. The Party must seem infallible.

_____ 40. A Party member must practice controlled insanity.

Applied Level

_____ 41. Technology today provides us with more privacy than ever before.

_____ 42. We only know how rich or poor we are if we have a standard of comparison.

_____ 43. It is conceivable that present-day politicians can practice doublethink in regards to their policies and practices.


Part III – Chapter 1

Structure of Society

Directions: Now that you have read through Part 3, chapter 1, you should have a clearer understanding of how the society of Oceania is structured. Using Goldstein's book and your general understanding of 1 984 as a reference, follow the instructions and answer the questions.

Part 1

1. On a separate piece of paper, sketch the geometrical shape that best represents the shape of the societal power structure of Oceania. Select a shape from one of the following: square, rectangle, triangle, diamond, inverted triangle.

2. Using your shape as a kind of graph, draw two horizontal lines through your shape to indicate the percent of the population comprised by the Inner Party, the Outer Party, and the Proles. Identify each section of your graph by the name of the group it represents.

Part 2

1. Which group makes up the largest percentage of this population? Approximately what percentage is this?

2. Which group makes up the smallest percentage of this population?

3. Which group represents the middle class? The lower class? The upper class?

4. Who benefits most from the products and luxuries of this society? Is this just based on the percentage of the population this group represents?

5. Which group has the most freedom? Is this ironic?

6. Which group controls the power to make decisions that affect all of society? Is this just?

7. Where does Big Brother fit in this diagram of society?

8. Goldstein explains that the government of Oceania is an oligarchical collectivism (oligarchy = rule of a few; collectivism = everything is owned by the collective community together, there is no private ownership of land, goods, etc.). Based on what you know of this society, is this true? Do all levels of society possess goods equally in this collective society?


Part III – Chapter 1-4

Re-Education of Winston Smith

Part 1

Directions: Read the following statements. Number each statement in the correct sequence in which it occurs during Part 3, chapters 1-4.

_____1. Winston Smith meets O'Brien for the first time in the waiting room.

_____2. Winston witnesses a prisoner beaten in the face for attempting to give bread to a starving man.

_____3. Winston is told that Julia has betrayed him and that she is converted to orthodoxy.

_____4. Ampleforth admits to Winston that one of his crimes was using the word "God" in a translation of a poem.

_____5. Winston dreams of the Golden Country and wakes up crying out Julia's name.

_____6. Parsons has been turned in by his own daughter as a thought criminal.

_____7. Winston sees himself in the mirror, a starved and decaying man.

_____8. Electric shocks to the temples are used to destroy part of Winston's memories.

_____9. Winston feels love for O'Brien even though O'Brien tortures, drugs, and interrogates Winston relentlessly.

_____10. Winston writes FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, TWO AND TWO MAKE FIVE, and GOD IS POWER.

Part 2

Directions: O'Brien leads Winston through three stages of his "reintegration" into society: learning, understanding, and acceptance. Read and answer each question below as O'Brien would answer it.

1. Why is Winston considered a lunatic?

2. Why does the Party take the time to reindoctrinate its criminals if they will eventually be killed?

3. Why is it important for the Party to make Winston betray Julia?


4. What is the Party's motive for power and how does this motive differ from past governments, such as the German Nazis and Russian communists?

5. How is the image of a "boot stamping on a human face—forever" an appropriate image of this future anti-utopia?

6. What is in room 101? Why is this kept for the last torture?

1. Objective Reality or Illusion

a. Is reality objective, existing independently of our perception of it as Winston believes? Or is reality subjective, existing only in our perception of it as the Party believes? Can two people see the same reality differently? If so, which is the real reality?

b. Peter Jennings once said, "Whoever controls the media, controls reality." Do you agree? Do we believe the news we read and see on television? Can the news media be used to manipulate us?

c. Henry Kissenger wrote, "History is the memory of states." Is history unchangeable, existing independently of human memory or human records, or can history be rewritten using different records and different points of view (or different peoples' memories)? (Example: A European versus a Native American Indian account of the settlement of the United States.)

Winston Smith’s Dreams


George Orwell uses dreams as a literary device frequently in his novel 1984. This device is employed for a number of purposes:

to flashback important information about the character's past or history of the society

to foreshadow certain events in the plot to create suspense

to characterize Winston more thoroughly and deeply, especially on the psychological level

Part 1

Directions: Reread the assigned dreams listed below. Summarize the key details of the dream in the space provided. Determine whether the dream functions as flashback or foreshadowing and explain why you think this. Tell how the dream helps to extend your understanding of Winston's character. Finally, answer the discussion questions that follow.

1. Dream of O'Brien (Part 1, chapter 2, page 27)

a. Summary

b. Circle one: flashback foreshadowing

c. Reasons

d. What does this dream reveal about Winston's character?

2. Dream of mother and sister (Part 1, chapter 3, page 31)

a. Summary


c. Reasons


3. Dream of Golden Country (Part 1, chapter 3, page 32)

a. Summary



c. Reasons


4. Dream of the Rat (Part 2, chapter 4, page 151)

a. Summary


c. Reasons


5. Dream of Mother & Sister (Part 2, chapter 7, page 167)

a. Summary


c. Reasons


6. Dream of Julia (Part 3, chapter 4, page 292)

a. Summary


c. Reasons

d. What does this dream reveal about Winston's character?Is Big Brother Watching You?

http://www.surfboard.org.uk/floob/bigbrother/bb_eyes.jpg


Despite the end of the Cold War, the collapse of Soviet communism, and the fall of the Berlin Wall, many issues raised in Orwell's novel 1984 remain as prophetic warnings to our society today. Two of the most important issues are the loss of one's right to privacy and government control of the media (censorship).

Part 1 - Right to Privacy

Directions: List at least 10 ways that the Canadian/U.S. government or Canadian/U.S. businesses monitor and keep track of the lives of private citizens.

1. __________________________ 6. __________________________

2. __________________________ 7. __________________________

3. __________________________ 8. __________________________

4. __________________________ 9. __________________________

5. __________________________ 10. _________________________

Part 2

Directions: What do you think constitutes an invasion of privacy? Read each statement below and circle I if you think the action invades an individual's right to privacy; circle S if you think that society (businesses, government) has a right to know; circle U for undecided if you are not sure. Be ready to defend your answers.

I S U 1. Selling a person's address, telephone number, and information about buying habits from one telemarketing group to another

I S U 2. Providing access to a person's credit rating or insurance claims to anyone for any reason

I S U 3. Requiring mandatory and random drug testing of students, athletes, and employees

I S U 4. Recording a person's image and actions on hidden surveillance cameras in any public place (including schools)

I S U 5. Tapping and monitoring employees' telephone calls made at work even if they are personal calls

I S U 6. Requiring everyone to carry a photo I.D. that bears personal information

I S U 7. Bugging the work place to eavesdrop on employees

I S U 8. Searching students upon entering school and classrooms for drugs and weapons

I S U 9. Secretly reading a computer user's E-mail or monitoring what web sites he or she uses most frequently

I S U 10. Having all your financial investments and savings records available to others through computer records without prior authorization


Part 3

Directions: Answer each assigned question below in your learning log and be prepared to share and discuss your answers.

1. Should it be mandatory for everyone from the ages of six on up to carry a valid picture I.D. at all times or to face a fine or punishment?

2. Should municipalities/provinces have the power to enforce mandatory curfews for certain age groups?

3. With the constant improvement in computers, will a person's right to privacy further diminish?

4. Should televisions be made interactive, allowing the television companies to see and record the viewer any time the television is turned on? (This has been done in small sample tests to record viewing habits of people.)

5. Without any invasion of privacy, would crimes, illegal drug use, and violence increase?

6. Are there times when an invasion of privacy is necessary in order to help maintain a safe society or community?

7. Should an individual's right to privacy outweigh the community's or society's right to know?

8. Should any public official or celebrity have the right not to be photographed or filmed if he or she is in the privacy of his or her own home or hotel room and is not acting in an official capacity or performing a public job or duty?

9. Should photographers and paparazzi (supermarket tabloid and magazine photographers who catch "private" photos of famous people) have the right to photograph anyone they want at any time?

10. Can Orwell's world of 1984 occur today in our country?

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