I personally did not expect the book to end the way it did. I was hoping that Winston was going to win and over through the party like he wanted to in the beginning of the book. Other than that, I liked how George Orwell ended the book in a depressing state of mind. It leaves the reader in shock because most people expect the usual happy ending. I think the reason behind the ending was to bring the readers back to reality. Not everything has a happy ending or goes the way you planned and the ending of 1984 really put that into perspective. One theme that can be gained from the end of the novel is fear. Winston fears for his life for years while he is in the ministry of truth, Winston is physically and mentally tortured to point where he thinks he is going to die. When Winston is sent to “Room 101” he is strapped to a chair and his biggest fear gets put in front of him and has to betray Julia in order to spare his own life. One thing that 1984 has taught us is that we should not believe everything that others say for example O’Brien kept telling Winston that 2+2 =5 it was to the point where Winston had to believe him because he just didn't know what the correct answer was. Also, we can learn it is ok to have your own opinion and you don't always have to go along with everyone else, it is ok to be your own person and stand out.
Old Navy Back to School Commercial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dQRCOEeHaY
Everyone struggles to find the perfect first day of School outfit and this commercial is the answer for everyone. I found this Old Navy commercial online by looking up propaganda commercials on google. The commercial starts off with a boy named Hunter on his first day back to school. His mother (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) dress hunter in the most prestigious clothing for the occasion. Hunter is wearing a blue and white striped button-down shirt with cuff links, a red tie, and a cream coloured vest over top. Hunter says that he looks like the family lawyer. As they are pulling up to the school Hunter sees some other kids and thinks that they look very cool wearing their “everyday” clothes. Hunter is embarrassed by what he is wearing and wants to look just like to other kids. At the end of the commercial, we get informed that everyone can get these very affordable clothes at Old Navy. This back to school commercial is trying to convince the viewers that everyone can look stylish and buy good quality clothing for an affordable price. Old Navy is looking to draw customers in by creating this funny and somewhat relatable commercial. The three different propaganda techniques that I found in the advertisement were bandwagon, plain folk, and card stacking. The first major technique used is bandwagon, the commercial is attempting to convince its viewers that they should shop at Old Navy to get the latest clothing trends. Hunter displays this when he sees the group of kids walking up the sidewalk in their trendy cool clothes, and asks why he can’t just dress like them. Hunter wants to join the bandwagon and dress like all the other kids. The second technique I found was plain folk. Instead of using all celebrities in the commercials the directors just cast Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the mother and a bunch of ordinary kids. This helps to promote the products because the viewers can relate more to what is trying to be sold because the viewers will know that they too will look good in the clothes. The final technique that was used is card stacking. In the commercial when Julia Louis-Dreyfus asks the kids where they got their clothes, they say Old Navy and proceed to say how much it all costs. One pair of jeans was 8 dollars and a shirt was 4 dollars. At the end of the commercial, a box comes on the screen that says 60% off. The Old Navy commercial is only using key pieces of information to promote their products and to get the viewers to shop there. I personally think that this Old Navy commercial is effective because they are connecting to their target audience. I find this a very important factor in advertising because if you are not connecting with your viewers then your not going to get good business. I also think it is effective because the commercial has humour, humour is important because it makes the viewers enjoy what they are watching and engage in the commercial. In conclusion, I think this is a very effective piece of propaganda. Link: https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_abani_muses_on_humanity
Write a well-structured blog, as a group, that connects the ideas presented in the talk to an idea discussed in 1984. Use quotations from EACH text in your blog. In the TED Talk, ‘Muses on Humanity’, Chris Abani discusses the humanity he witnesses during times of adversity. During the difficult times, people he didn’t even know reached out to help him and his family. His ideas on humanity have many similarities to the ideas explored in the novel 1984 by George Orwell. For example, Abani talks about how the Igbos build their own gods. He says that the people pray to the gods, but “...if the god became unruly and began to ask for human sacrifice, the Igbos would destroy the god. They would knock down the shrine, and they would stop saying the god's name. This is how they came to reclaim their humanity.” Abani points out that people should not lose their humanity because of someone else, even if that other is a god. A similar idea is explored in 1984. Winston thinks to himself, “They could be tracked down by enquiry, they could be squeezed out by torture. But if the object was not to say alive but to stay human, what difference did it ultimately make? They could not alter your feelings: for that matter you could not alter them yourself, even if you wanted to” (Orwell 174). In the world Winston lives in, the Party is a god-like figure. Winston believes that humanity stays within a person, no matter what others do to a person, which connects to what Abani says in his talk. Additionally, in his talk, Abani discusses a South African phrase called Ubuntu. He states that “Ubuntu comes out of a philosophy that says, the only way for me to be human is for you to reflect my humanity back at me” (Abani). Abani believes that humanity is preserved when you can see humanity in others. In 1984, Winston sees humanity in a prole woman singing. When Winston looked that the woman singing, he “wondered how many children she had given birth to. It might easily be fifteen...her life had been laundering, scrubbing, darning, cooking, sweeping, polishing, mending, scrubbing, laundering, first for children, then for grandchildren, over thirty unbroken years. At the end of it she was still singing” (Orwell 228). To Winston, the woman was proof that humanity still existed. The simple act of singing allowed Winston to believe in humanity and, in a way, connect to Ubuntu. Both TED Talk speaker Chris Abani, and author George Orwell explore ideas relating to humanity. They emphasize that people should not lose their humanity because of what someone else does or says. In addition, they discussed that humanity is preserved when you can see humanity in others. I personally think that Snowden is a hero because he exposed the National Security Association for invading people personal privacy. Snowden put a target on his back for the benefit of American citizens. I think that everyone deserves to have the right to privacy and the National Security Association violated that right. This ted talk relates to the novel 1984 by George Orwell because peoples privacy is being invaded: “On each landing, opposite the lift shaft, the poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. it was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption beneath it ran” (Orwell 3). Big brother is constantly watching the people of Oceania through the telascreens that are in peoples homes and throughout the city.
I personally think that it is unnecessary to be watched 24 hours a day by the technology we have in our homes. I Agree that it may be convenient and cool to just ask google what the temperature is, to play a song, or to turn on the light. But I don't think that is right to have it constantly listening to everything we're doing. I personally find it creepy and now want to turn Siri off on my phone. Also, the company of these products may say that the device stops listening to you after an allotted period of time but is that actually true. My family does not own any smart home systems so this does not affect me personally, but if we did I think that it would change my whole outlook on these situations.
While writing my short story I was struggling to come up with Ideas that I could write about in detail about a past experience. I was getting so frustrated with my self and did not know what to do. I asked my mom what she thought I could write about and she ended up telling me to write my short story on how I didn't know what to write about. I thought this was a great idea because it was relevant and I would know exactly what to write because I would have just lived it. So I ended writing my short story called Writers Block. Writer's block is about a girl named Willow who has an English assignment and has to write a short story. Willow was struggling to find a topic to write about and her time was slowly running out before she had to hand it in. This related directly to me because I was struggling to write my short story as well.
I think the classic saying “sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me” is not all true. Words can be very strong and can impact people positively and negatively. In the story Two Words by Isabel Allende, Belisa has a natural gift with words and makes a living off of it. She sells words to people to help improve dreams, cast off enemies, and drive away melancholy. These words can be very magical and helped the people have a better life. Although most of Belisa’s words were kind and helpful, not everyone's are. El Mulato came to Belisa cans told her that if she didn’t help him to write his presidential speech he would shoot her. El Mulato’s words were very negative and impacted Belisas decision because she was being threatened. I do believe it is possible to change a person through words, Belisa changed so many people's lives by giving them words. I think if you were to change a person through words you should be careful about what you say because you could be hurting the person without even knowing it.
I think our human nature stays the same. In the short story The Shining Houses by Alice Munro. Both of the different generations have many things in common. Both of the generations wanted to spend time with the people who are important to them. Mrs. Fullerton was waiting and hoping for her husband to come back even tho she knew it probably wouldn't happen. The neighbours on her street spent time with each other at events and gatherings. Another thing that both generations have in common is pride. Mrs. Fullerton doesn't want to be seen as an older lady, and she won't accept charity from others. The neighbours don’t want to be seen living next to Mrs.Fullerton’s house because it looks like a barnyard and brings a bad look to the rest of the neighbourhood. To make up for the look of the house all the neighbours dress very nicely for the party. Both of the generations had many things in common that they did not know about.
I think the character that I am most like is Cordelia because she is kind, selfless, and loving. I know that I am a very kind and loving person, I may not be the most selfless person ever but I do like to help people when they're in need. One thing that Cordelia has taught me is to be more optimistic about life. King Lear banished Cordelia form the kingdom for not professing her love to him. Instead of begging Lear to stay Cordelia went off with France but didn't stop loving her father for what he did to her, instead she decided to find some way to help him. This has taught me that whatever life throws at me, I should look for the good in the situation and not dwell on the bad. Another, important lesson Cordelia has taught me is honesty. I sometimes struggle with being honest. Cordelia has really shown me that no matter how bad the circumstance being honest is always the best policy. She was honest with Lear in the being of the play and by the end, she had gained the most love and utter trust from her father. Overall, I think I am most like Cordelia because we share some of the same personality traits and she has taught me a lot throughout the play.
Yes, I think it is possible for an insensitive person change. I don’t know an insensitive that has changed, but I do know that in order to change the person needs to recognize that what they are doing is wrong. Change in the person is not going to happen immediately, it takes time to change the bad habits and create new ones. First, the person needs to change the way they react in a certain situation. Then they can take baby steps in the right direction to have a more positive attitude toward other people's feelings and make the appropriate changes they need as they are learning on the way
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AuthorLauren Abbott Archives
December 2018
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