Common Module: Texts and Human Experiences How does 1984 illustrate the ideas the module raises? IDEAS EXAMPLES IN THE TEXT Individual Experiences A crisis of identity, Collective Experiences Constant War, 2 Minutes Hate “The horrible thing about the Two Minute speech was not that one was obliged to act a part, but that it was impossible to avoid joining in.” Human Qualities Memory Human Emotions Winston’s complex emotions -when he sees Julia, feelings of defeat, guilt, Anomalies, paradoxes and inconsistencies 2 Minutes Hate (Winston’s desire to conform/rebel) Dreams The paradox of loving his torturer ànovel’s ending words “he loved big brother”. Winston feels comforted by the love of O'Brien à “he was the tormentor, he was the protector, he was the inquisitor, he was the friend”. Page 198 Behaviour Suspicion, resistance Motivation Resistance, fear, need for authenticity, hope THESIS STATEMENTS Role of storytelling Goldstein Particular Lives and cultures Religion Universal themes Fear, resistance, TEXTUAL FORM Form, mode and medium Text Narrating voice: Third person Representation of human experiences Lack of freedom, oppression Literary devices Paradoxes Context Confusion and fear of early cold war era (soviet union vs the USA) Purpose To look at communism its worst Structure Prose fiction Stylistic and grammatical features Use of symbolism, imagery - - Telescreen dreams/memories LANGUAGE ● Way to express and share ideas and emotions ● A tool of manipulation that can induce a state of unconsciousness and confusion ● A tool for control ● Orwell represents how crucial language is to the human experience ● Can be used to strip individual and collective identities ● Compare and evaluate ● ● Dialogue our present existence and experiences Can be distorted, shaped, reshaped, to satisfy our particular agenda How did the party manipulate and erase the facts and language of cultural and historical heritage? - Through the manipulation of the Ministry of Truth BB was able to control the past, present and future of human language, thoughts and history. - The reduction of language through newspeak reduces the ideas that people are exposed to and limit their expression of thoughts and emotions - “In the end, the whole notion of goodness and badness will be covered by only six words— in reality, only one word.” - Symm, p60 - BB using language as a form of emotional control - People are unable to express hatred against the party Through the manipulation of language and expression people are unable to think of the deceptions that big brother might be pulling “He who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past” Language prevents the individual from transcending the misery of their current condition by entertaining hopes of a better world: - Imagination/curiosity and urge to rebel in every human experience Language is a tool for control in 1984 and can be used to strip individual and collective experiences by manipulating people’s minds and limit their thoughts in order to make sure they have no sense of hope in them and no imagination of a better world, as they want people to believe that they are living exactly how they should be and there is nothing else outside of the Party and its agenda. How does Orwell consider and explore the power of memory and the human experience? How does Big Brother control collective and individual memory? Looking at Winston, his dreams and the diary-Where can you find specific evidence of this? 1984 shows us how distorted language, as well as the overpowering authority the Party has, can be used to strip individual and collective identities, reduce people’s capacity for critical and creative thought and independent reasoning. Big Brother controls the collective and individual memory through acts of brainwashing in telescreens that invade people’s personal lives, 2 Minutes Hate and preventing one from keeping written records of their lives. The Party aims to eliminate freedom of expression, independent thoughts and one’s curiosity of the past. By reconstructing the past, the party is able to control the present and future. People would become more emotionless, have confined thinking and subjected to ideas the party induces on them. They would be unable to experience happiness, unable to compare their memories with something else. - “Why should one feel it to be intolerable unless one had some kind of ancestral memory that things had once been different.”-Winston Page 69 - “Orthodoxy means not thinking-- not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.” -Syme Page 61 (lunch scene) Syme tells Winston, the ultimate goal of Newspeak is to manipulate the language of the citizens to such an extent that they would change consciousness, to eliminate the possibility of thoughtcrime. - “It appeared that there had been demonstrations to thank Big Brother for raising the chocolate ration to twenty grammes a week. And only yesterday, he reflected, it had been announced that the ration was to be r educed to twenty grammes a week. Was it possible that they could swallow it, after only twenty-four hours? Yes, they swallowed it…” At the start of the novel, Winston challenges this by being curious and reflective of the past-writing in his diary, searching for his past memories through dreaming as a way of rebelling and questioning BB’s control. Winston’s writing in his diary allows him to record and reflect on the past, as well as demonstrating Winston’s desire to break free from the Party’s control. Writing in his diary also allows him to search for his own life history, to understand who he is. Winston’s dreams of his mother, sister and Julia (searching for his memories of the past?) Winston is conscious of the complete truthfulness, desires to question “He tried to squeeze out some childhood memory…” -Winston struggles to think of his early childhood. Page 5 To the future or to the past, to a time when thought is free, when men are different from one another and do not live alone – to a time when truth exists and what is done cannot be undone” -Page 32-Winston writes in his diary to refer to a time when there was only the truth. Evidence: “It was curious that he seemed not merely to have lost the power of expressing himself, but even to have forgotten what it was that he had originally intended to say.” -writing in his diary Page 10 -Newspeak was made for the purpose of not letting individuals express themselves (reduction of words) What impact does this have on the historical record? What effect does the shaping and re-shaping of the past affect the collective experience of the present and the future? The constant shaping and re-shaping of history force the people who work in the ministry of truth to question the world around them. Those of whom directly change history question Big Brother, more than those who know nothing about what is going on with the party. The constant shaping and re-shaping also means that no one is really sure about what has happened in the past or what effects this would have on the future. “delicate pieces of forgery in which you had nothing to guide you except your knowledge of the principles of Ingsoc and your estimate of what the Party wanted you to say.” this quote shows audiences what they do to history and how it is job to change history, perhaps leading to Winstons inability to trust the party. Representation and Perspective How ideas are presented and represented in texts: - Language features - Form - Structure - Views on characters, events, ideas - Attitudes, beliefs and values the texts are presenting//reinforce or challenge Power of Control-Language ● Newspeak ○ Form of control ○ Reduces expression e.g. nobody can even think of resistance ○ Eliminates adjectives and synonyms ○ Removal of possible individual thought ○ Through the use of newspeak, they provide the party with constructive power ○ Linguistic decay ○ Language is a medium that allows oneself to evaluate themselves ○ Newspeak is a means to manipulate individuals and defies the truth ○ By controlling language and information, the party succeeds in mind control of their subjects/population Language and Power in 1984 ● The control and manipulation of laguage in 1984 is a clear indicator of the power BB holds ● Newspeak ○ Reduces expression through elimination of adjectives ○ Nobody can think of resistance ○ “In the end, the whole notion of goodness and badness will be covered by only six words— in reality, only one word.” - Symm, p60 The control and manipulation of language in 1984 shows just how far Bigh Brothers Despotism reaches. Through the use of Newspeak and the destruction of adjectives and synonyms, the party is able to unconsciously control the minds of all those they govern. When discussing the creation of newspeak, Symm states that “In the end, the whole notion of goodness and badness will be covered by only six words— in reality, only one word.” - p60. This is referring to the use of good, ungood and doubleplusgood as a way of reducing forms of expression and disabling the public's ability to criticize. This linguistic decay is also shown to have invaded media and the different ways it is consumed. Books and music are no longer individually composed but mass produced in ‘machines’ that rewrite the same stories over and over “The best books... are those that tell you what you know already.” This production of useless media is used as a way to pacify the prolls, feeding them useless tales that stop them from engaging in thoughts of a better life. In all of these ways Big Brothers intentions are clear. By reducing the language and media accessible to the public, they reduce their ability to think and criticize the actions of the party. If one doesn't even understand how to express anger or know of the word bad, then they cannot relate that to the party, they cannot even think of rebellion. Page 59: “We’re destroying words...We’re cutting the language down to the bone” imagery of deprivation Big Brother = Totalitarian domination Language is used to operate and manipulate society. Language is an oppressive device Part 3: Chapter 2 & 3 Interrogation between Winston and O’Brien ● OB justifies reality to W ● “Only the disciplined mind can see reality, Winston. You believe that reality is something objective, external, existing in its own right. You also believe that the nature of reality is. When you delude yourself into thinking that you see something, you assume that everyone else sees the same thing as you.” Purpose of 1984 ● Orwell wants to show how authority figures can impact human life ● A cautionary tale against totalitarian and dictatorial governments ● Orwell was wary of Stalin’s totalitarian rule of communist USSR Human experience is already pre-organised and shaped by --- forms. “Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Not in the individual mind, which can make mistakes.” Bastardisation refers to corruption in linguistics, the idea that language change constitutes a degradation in the quality of writing and language. Where and how is language bastardised? - Elimination of songs and literature - Palimpsest: a manuscript or piece of writing material on which later writing has been superimposed on effaced earlier writing - Eradication of history Decadence: moral or cultural decline as characterized by excessive indulgence in pleasure or luxury Language is a basic medium of social interchange and connectedness: - - Orwell shows how language can be manipulated to induce a state of unconscious thought, creating more powerful control for the Governing group and unchallenged conformity Orwell represents how humans feel a sense of connectedness by removing the ability to express feelings through language and accentuating the loss of community in society Orwell uses the elimination to highlight how language is needed for everyone in the social hierarchy to connect, no matter what level they’re at Language is a tool that people can use to rebel “War is Peace” oxymoron (paradox/words are opposite) Used to convince the people that the constant state of war that they live in is ‘normal’ Defective memory: being unable to remember real events Malleable: can be reshaped or shaped into anything you desire Is memory malleable? POWER AND LANGUAGE Quotes Techniques Power + Language “WAR IS PEACE FREEDOM IS SLAVERY IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH” Paradoxes Repetition Paradox’s Caps Movement of conformity Weakens the independence and strength of individuals Repetition Evoking a sense of fear within individuals No individualism “We’re destroying words...We’re cutting the language down to the bone” Imagery, Personification “If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself.” Paradoxes, inconsistencies “‘Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don’t care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! Not me!’” Powerful Exclamation marks Shows how even thought are controlled by BB Orwell is trying to caution us about totalitarianism government What are the individuals meant to do and what do they do? Despotism: full control by a government of everything said or written or even thought by its citizens that characterise totalitarianism - The breaking down of mankind The lives of individuals are externally controlled and where history and truth is determined by political rulers Controlled through the use of technology How government control governs social existence Why do we classify Winston as an anomaly? Language is replaced by mechanical, de-personalised means of communication Systematic, automatic action Calling people as their number instead of their actual name (dehumanising) Language is a direct expression or reflection of human character and values Language can be honest, sincere, courageous, deceitful, hypocritical, corrupt How does language in 1984 reflect the politics and culture of a society? - ‘The Eleventh Edition is the definitive edition,’ he said. ‘We’re getting the language into its final shape—the shape it’s going to have when nobody speaks anything else. When we’ve finished with it, people like you will have to learn it all over again. You think, I dare say, that our chief job is inventing new words. But not a bit of it! We’re destroying - words—scores of them, hundreds of them, every day. We’re cutting the language down to the bone. The Eleventh Edition won’t contain a single word that will become obsolete before the year 2050.’ “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength” paradox By controlling language and information, the party succeeds in mind control of their subjects/population “Big Brother is watching you” create fear in the population and encourages humanisation Reliance on big brother “It is impossible to found a civilisation on fear and hatred and cruelty. It would never endure… It would have no vitality… It would commit suicide” Appendix: - No room for ambiguity or thinking around the objects they refer to The compound words are used for political and social reasons and it controls the way people think and feel Linguistic isolation (vocab c) “The individual is powerless, so there’s really no point in trying.” ● Conformity “Freedom is slavery” “Two plus two makes five” “God is power” Texts and Human Experiences Lecture: Trial Exam 1: ● Reading time 10 min ● Working time 1.5 hrs ● USE BLACK PEN Section 1 ● Short answer questions ● Reading/comprehension style ● 45 min for sections ● Out of 20 marks Section 2 ● 1 essay question ● Analytical response ● 45 min for section Key concepts: - What: concepts, ideas, assumptions - How: Technical features (literary, visual, persuasive, poetic) Attack the question: - Underline the verb (explain, analyse, discuss, evaluate, identify) - Circle the focus (what do I have to target?) - Triangle the plural Visual texts: - Gestures - Framing - Types of shots - Images - Body language - Layout - Salient features - Composition - Symbolism - Reading paths Key terms: - Text - Purpose - Audience - Composer - Techniques Connect the texts: - By comparison… - By contrast… - A parallel can be drawn with... - A similar technique/iodea is used in... - Another way of portraying discovery is shown in… General tips: - Use quotations even if the question doesn't ask for them - Be succinct (answer the question explicitly) - Practice papers are essential - Look up previous markers’ reports - Use the reading time to read all the texts and keep reading until the end before you start answering Q1 - Be judicious in the selection of quotations to support - Be sensible in the amount of time you spend on each question - 3 marks: 2-3 techniques with strong analysis - 4 marks: at least 3 techniques with strong analysis - 7 marks: 5-7 techniques with strong analysis 1984: - Rubric Sample questions: - Through the telling and receiving of stories, we become more aware of ourselves and our shared human experiences - It is a story’s ability to ignite new ideas about human behaviour that allows us as readers to see the world differently - Storytelling gives us insight into the paradoxes... “It is a story’s ability to ignite new ideas about human behaviour that allows us as readers to see the world differently” To what extent have you found this to be true in you study of your core text? - Underline the key words/phrases Brainstorm synonyms for those words Rephrase the question in your own words An aspect of human behaviour that Orwell explores: - The interaction between individual and the state Evidence from the text to develop this idea (including consideration of the narrative form and Orwell’s purpose): - Imagery - Symbolism - Structure Link - the new insights that this idea offers and connection to our own world: Context: - English imperialism - World war one - Russian revolution - The great depression - Spanish civil war - World war two - Orwell: - Democratic socialism - Dystopian warning of the dangers of totalitarianism - Recognised the complexities of politics on left and right - Seeks to show the ways that many government structures are prone to totalitarianism Questions that the text raises: - How should society be organised - What sorts of political powers should government have - Should governments be allowed to limit the freedom of the individual - What should the relationship between the state and the individual be - What human experiences are needed for individuals to live a meaningful life - What is the impact of new technology and surveillance on individuals - What is the role of language and literature in exploring the human condition Human experiences in 1984: - The systematic stripping of individuality and the deliberate curtailment of any rich and meaningful human experience - A world where belonging, connection, language and thought are controlled - Control is exerted through language, fear and violence, surveillance and controlled collected experiences - Individuals subjugated by fear Human connection and interaction have been lost in the pursuit of the collective and blind faith in Big Brother Winston: - “Was it not a sign that this was not the natural order of things…” - “Why should one feel it to be intolerable unless one had some kind of ancestral memory that things had once been different?” - He appears to have a moral, emotional sensibil - Ity that is at odds with the rest of his society - He is our guide through this dystopian horror - His questions help us to see the paradoxes - Doesn’t even connect with himself at the end of the text: “a bowed, grey-coloured, skeleton-like thing was coming towards him…” Winston and Julia: - “Winston picked his way up the lane through dappled light and shade, stepping into pools of gold wherever the boughs parted” - “It was as though it were a kind of liquid stuff that poured all over him and got mixed up with the sunlight that filtered through the leaves” Language: - The medium through which we organise, comprehend and co-create reality - The means by which we compare, evaluate and dialogue our present existence with both our past histories and future potentialities In 1984 we see how the systemic manipulation and destruction of language can have profound… New ideas about politics: power and control - Totalitarian governments take away the ability of individuals to exercise agency in their lives and diminish the quality of their human experience - Orwell suggests that powerful governments will not strive for equality but will enjoy privileges for themselves whilst allowing the general populace to live in poverty - Orwell shows us how political expediency triumphs over empathy, dignity and human compassion New ideas about political complacency: - Julia’s lack of concern for the broader political structure challenges us to consider how easy it is to ignore history and truth - The Proles’ inability to look beyond the immediacy of their everyday, mundane lives challenges us to consider times when we’ve ignored political events for our own political expediency - Orwell challenges us to consider our contribution to the world politically and socially and consider the impact of our actions and behaviours beyond ourselves
