IB oral
Booklist:
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Flight by Sherman Alexie
Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan
Jennifer’s body (novel based on screenplay by Diablo Cody)
1984 by George Orwell
The chosen by Chaim Potok
The sandman preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman
V for Vendetta by Alan Moore
Summaries:
Flight- Zits is a foster child, having spent the majority of his life moving from one negative or abusive
family experience to another. His friend, Justice, introduces Zits to a new way of thinking, and to the
idea of committing random violence. Just in the middle of one of these incidents, Zits is thrust into
the body of a stranger—which would become the first of many similar incidents. The story confronts
Zits' feelings of vulnerability as a misunderstood teenager, orphan, and as a Native American person.
Pride of Baghdad- he story revolves around the brief freedom experienced by a small pride of captive
lions, who escape from Baghdad Zoo during the 2003 invasion of Baghdad by the U.S.-led coalition.
As the lions roam the streets of Baghdad trying to survive, each lion comes to embody a different
viewpoint regarding the Iraq War.
Jennifer’s body- After attending a concert by low Shoulder, Jennifer is kidnapped. After a failed ritual
to sacrifice her to Satan she turns into succubus, craving human flesh. Needy tells Chip about her
discoveries and warns him not to attend the dance. He does not believe her and she subsequently
breaks up with him in order to protect him. Jennifer’s goes after Chip and murders him while Needy
tries to safe him and watches. Needy kills Jennifer after an fight and is sent to an asylum. Because
she was bitten she has gained some of Jennifer’s powers, escapes, and goes out for revenge.
1984- The Oceanian province is a world of perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance, and
public mind control, dictated by a political system under the control of a privileged Inner Party elite
that persecutes all individualism and independent thinking as thought crimes. Their tyranny is
headed by Big Brother, but who may not even exist. Big Brother and the Party justify their rule in the
name of a supposed greater good. The protagonist of the novel, Winston Smith, is a member of the
Outer Party who works for the Ministry of Truth. His job is to re-write past newspaper articles so that
the historical record always supports the current party line. Smith is a diligent and skillful worker, but
he secretly hates the Party and dreams of rebellion against Big Brother.
The chosen- Angered by unsuccessful attempts to hit Reuven's previous pitches, Danny hits a line
drive toward Reuven, shattering his glasses and sending him to the hospital with an injured eye.
While recovering from his injuries, Danny visits Reuven and apologizes and the two become best
friends over time despite the difference in their upbringings. When Mr. Malter makes a speech at a
pro-Israel rally that makes the newspapers, Saunders forbids his son to speak to Reuven, or even
mention his name. Their friendship resumes after modern Israel is founded. Reuven again finds
himself a buffer between father and son when, in the novel's climax, the two friends learn Reb
Saunders's purpose for raising his son in silence.
The Sandman preludes and nocturnes- In 1916, the magician Roderick Burgess attempts to attain
immortality by capturing the embodiment of Death. Mistakenly, he binds Death's brother Dream
instead. After a long time of imprisonment Dream is able to escape but is extremely weak. When he
gets to his realm he discovers it is destroyed. Dream begins a quest to recover his totems of power: a
pouch of sand, a helm and a ruby. After a long journey he gets them all because his lasts opponent,
Doctor Destiny has broken the ruby with the assumption it would kill Dream. In the end of the story
Dream meets his sister Death who tries to motivate him to get back to work.
V for Vendetta- The story depicts a near-future U.K. after a nuclear war, which has left much of the
world destroyed, though most of the damage to the country is indirect, via floods and crop failures.
In this future, a fascist party called Norsefire has exterminated its opponents in concentration camps
and now rules the country as a police state. V, an anarchist revolutionary dressed in a Guy Fawkes
mask, begins an elaborate, violent, and intentionally theatrical campaign to murder his former
captors, bring down the government, and convince the people to rule themselves.
idea/purpose
compare/contrast The sandman preludes Nocturnes / pride of Baghdad ->
 Language and style
 Writers attitude (tone and mood)
 Symbol(s) – sandman: the three items / Baghdad: lions = war ideas
Compare/contrast 1984 / V for Vendetta
 Themes
 Motifs
Both are dealing with a totalitarian state / getting the point across (drawings more value?)
Introduction
During this oral I’d like to discuss four of the books I’ve read by comparing them two by two. I’ll start
with comparing Pride of Baghdad and the Sandman preludes and nocturnes because they’re both
graphic novels with a lot of symbolism included. After this comparison I’d like to discuss 1984 and V
for Vendetta by comparison as well because they’re both novels set in a totalitarian state.
Pride of Baghdad VS The sandman
As I said earlier both pride of Baghdad and The sandman include a lot of symbolism. Both the novels
have this symbolism in their characters. In pride of Baghdad this includes all four of the lions and the
other animals they meet. In The sandman this includes the dreams and nightmares, the gods and the
humans.
Pride of Baghdad:
 Noor: only sees oppression in captivity. represents frustrated liberationists everywhere, not
feeling trusted by others, being a idealist about freedom.
 Safa: has had a terrible experience (rape) which she sees as freedom (advantage to captivity)
this reflects for how freedom was in Iraq before the war.
 Ali: represents immature optimism , represents the feeling of the authors about captivity.
 Monkeys: Here representing those that take advantage of other's misfortune.
 Zill: cynical, apathetic soul. Pessimism, a view many others also have on the war.
 Turtle: "It's about losing your wife, your kids, every worthless friend you've ever made…".
Here, we finally see a firm statement from the writer and artist. This is, undoubtedly, the
price of all war.
 Bear/Fajer: A tyrant, the young optimist eventually ceases the threat but it gives a clear view
that it doesn’t matter from which point of view you see the war it is always more
complicated.
The sandman:
 Dream: Dream is both lord and personification of all dreams and stories, in the story also
known as Morpheus.
 Cain and Abel: Cain is an aggressive, overbearing character. Abel is a nervous, stammering,
kind-hearted man. Cain frequently kills Abel which refers back to the bible story.
 Destiny: probably refers to John Dee : immersed himself in the worlds of magic, astrology,
communication with angels and Hermetic philosophy. (in the book uses ruby for power)
 Mortals in the dinner café: the mortals in the café represent all kinds of ‘normal lives’ and
their usual, in this story unimportant problems.
The sandman includes a lot of characters which represent things one way or another but I
thought these were the most important in the story.
If you compare Pride of Baghdad and The sandman in this way you can see that both graphic
novels were written for very different purposes. Pride of Baghdad talks about war, a serious
issues and tries to convey a message while The sandman’s only intention is for entertainment. It
does have several deeper meanings to make the story more interesting but it doesn’t convey a
message. This contrast is also really visible in the mood and writers attitude in both novels. Both
graphic novels have a heavy tone and mood, they’re dark stories with quite a lot of violence and
abuse but in the sandman it eventually has a ‘happy end’ which shows it was meant to entertain.
1984 VS V for Vendetta
Both 1984 and V for Vendetta are stories set in a totalitarian state in the same period in time.
1984 was set in 1984, obviously and V for Vendetta was set in a time between the 1980’s and
90’s. The books both have several of the same themes of which I’ll mention the two most
important ones:
The Dangers of Totalitarianism
1984 was written to warn society for the possibility of a totalitarian state in the near future. The
story was written in 1948 with the threat of the cold war. The party has taken control and
everything and everyone is being watched. Orwell wanted to show the dangers of communism
and what it might lead to in his book by creating the most extreme of the possible outcomes,
complete totalitarianism.
While 1984 is written with the threat of a nuclear war, the cold war, V for Vendetta is set after
this nuclear war happening. This war has left much of the world destroyed, giving the
opportunity to a fascist party, Norsefire to take control and create their totalitarian state.
Both books discuss the means of this control and the complete oppression by the communist and
fascist parties.
Technology
Both books talk a lot about technology which is used as the main tool to control society.
In 1984, the party has the possibility to monitor everyone everywhere by microphones and
telescreens. 1984 reveals that technology, which is generally perceived as working toward moral
good, can also facilitate evil.
In V for Vendetta this technological control also happens. There is "the Head" which is the main
computer system. the Finger"—the secret police force."the Eye"—the visual surveillance branch.
"the Mouth"—the branch in charge of broadcasting propaganda. and "the Ear"—the audio
surveillance branch.
Although all these overlap the main difference between both novels is the plot. While V for
Vendetta warns about a totalitarian state in an direct manner, V is a terrorist actually trying to
destroy the fascist government to create an Anarchy with the people in controll, 1984 does this
in a less direct manner. 1984 Shows us the emotional side of living in a totalitarian state by being
in Winston’s head.
Psychological manipulation is also really evident in both novels. In 1984 it is used by the party to
punish thought crime and prevent doublethink but in V for Vendetta it is used by V which is quite
surprising as he is supposed to be the main ‘good character’.
Conclusion:
Of all four books I’ve read I liked Pride of Baghdad and 1984 the most. Both were stories I liked to
read while I had trouble getting through the rest.