1. Summary of Questia Criticism: George Orwell: Socialism and Utopia. Nice job. At first, I was afraid you were too shallow, but you recovered this with the #2 (using greater detail) and then 3. Your comment about how you could see it applied to both books echoed exactly what I was thinking. 10/10
(Pages 1-22)
1) summary of main arguments
This article summarized how the utopias that are portrayed in George Orwell's books represented his desire for socialism and belief that socialism was the only solution for a government to become an utopia. It states how much the books written by George Orwell portray the socialist ideas of liberty, equality, and fraternity. This journal article starts out summarizing the ideas of Marxism, which influenced George Orwell, by saying that Marx thought that socialism is inevitable and all ethical considerations are strictly beside the point. This idea is called "vulgar Marxism". However, George Orwell did think of socialism as "morally necessary" but not historically necessary as failures were seen through leaders such as Hitler. This is why George Orwell, along with other writers at his time that believed in socialism, is called an "ethical socialist." It's stated that he believed that revolution didn't necessarily need violence involved as socialism with democratic approach could also work. The article also summarize other ideas of Orwell that is similar with Marxism and Socialism such as education, class equality, and morality.
2) something surprising or interesting learned
The article stated that George Orwell was raised in a pretty good environment with good financial status. He wasn't that privileged but he had a decent upbringing overall. So I wondered, "Then why would George Orwell feel attracted to Socialism?' Why would he even care for the lower class/middle class people? The article explained it in the further pages. It says that he joined the "British colonial police in Burma at the age of 19" and that " he came to realize the intolerable nature of his position as a foreign oppressor in an occupied land". This was the experience that made him devoted to the fight against injustice and oppression of every kind. And these devotions are portrayed in his novels that warn about the dangers of totalitarianism and praise socialism. I used to think that he was brought up in a poor environment since usually, people with such experience care about the lower class people and write about ways to achieve an equal utopia.
3) agree/disagree with the ideas and then apply this to a scene or example from the book
In the article, there's a line which says that According to the article, George Orwell thought that as long as people are feeling a sense of inequality, people will never feel a sense of solidarity or of belonging to the same social project. I don't agree to this idea. People, regardless of economic status, education level, and so forth, tend to feel bonded to others in some way. Whether it's ethnicity, age, country, or others, people eventually find somewhere that they belong and feel comfortable in. But this idea does convince me through how it's used in both of the books. In 1984, the presence of the Big Brothers, the higher social class, shows an unequal social class system and the plot later on proves how people feel disconnected and detached due to the social inequality. In Animal Farm, the animals all start out as feeling as if they are all in one social project but at the end, the pigs betray the other animals and say that "some animals are greater than others", which differs from their original motto that all animals are equal. The presence of social difference in both of the books portray George Orwell's belief in that social inequality bothers people from feeling solidarity.
Ideas explored: Socialism, Marxism, Utopian Community
1/27/2010
2. Summary of Book Criticism: Student Companion to George Orwell
(Pages 120-136)
1) summary of main arguments
In this chapter called "All Animals Are Equal, but...: Animal Farm", the author, Mitzi M. Brunsdale, informs the readers about the historical- biographical context as well as an alternate critical perspective about Animal Farm. The chapter starts out with a plot summary about the book. And then the author states historical- biographical information about George Orwell and the age of WW2 that showed some connection to the plot. For instance, the whole betrayal story between the Soviet Union and the Nazis was described with many details and then he criticized how the British leaders were fooled by that event. The author comments that the Soviet Union becoming one of the allies shouldn't have been perceived by the intellects at that time to mean that totalitarianism was good and that totalitarianism was a great way to rule a country. George Orwell tried to show his frustration about the corrupt communism and totalitarianism government and the similarity, rather than difference that other people saw, between Nazi's facism and the Soviet's totalitarianism, by publishing this story.This chapter also describes how Stalin became a violent ruler after Nazis were defeated by actions such as engineering the death of Kiov and exiling Trotsky. Brunsdale also gives insight to his own alternate critical perspective on economic determinism. This was about a major political concept by Karl Marx that states that primary influence on human life as economic, the drive to possess or control goods. Therefore, the human society was always a clash between the capitalist class (the "haves") and the working class (the "have nots").
2) something surprising or interesting learned
The article stated that George Orwell was numerously rejected when he asked for his book to be published because at that time, when Soviet had betrayed Hitler for the allies, the British loved the Soviets, rather than to see through the disguise and criticize the corruptness of totalitarianism. The British government even tried to get rid of Orwell's script because it was criticizing the allies. Orwell's book was finally published in 1945 when the war was over, which was also when the Soviet's usefulness perished as well. It was surprising to read about how Orwell's home was once destroyed in 1944 by a V-1 rocket, sent to destroy his manuscript, but George Orwell miraculously managed to dig out the blitzed manuscript. The Soviet even tried to block the publication through a secret agent in the British Ministry of Information. All of this information was very interesting in that the government tried to control the publication of Animal Farm, just because it criticized the government form of one of the Allies. It's hilarious that they even sent a rocket to his flat because Orwell wouldn't give up on publishing his book. People who once attacked his book during the WW2 later on praised his book for the excellence in criticizing the totalitarianism and paralleling it with Hitler's fascism.
3) agree/disagree with the ideas and then apply this to a scene or example from the book
In the article, there's a line which says that " for Orwell, the Soviet technique of constantly rewriting history to make it conform to their preset aims was one of the most sinister new manifestations of the Soviet's will to power." I totally agree to this idea. Countries that deny to accept their faults in history or countries that rewrite their history are people that are greedy or selfish. The Soviets, as well as other totalitarianism or communist countries, frequently changed their history to fit their current aims and to persuade the people through propaganda. In Animal Farm, Napoleon changes his motto from "All animals are equal" to "All animal are equal BUT some animals are more equal than others." The other animals watch Napoleon and his followers partying noisily on their hind legs with the human they now strongly resembled. This scene exactly portrays what Orwell hated about the Soviet's totalitarianism. The pigs used to have a motto to make the other animals follow them but they changed it instantly when their aim switched to allying with the humans who the other animals hated. This fits in with the Soviet's actions of rewriting history every time their goal and aim switched to convince the people who were being exploited that they were right. Countries with a shameful past oftenly deny to accept them when their past could always teach them a lesson. Dictators and corrupted leaders could change their history that the future students learn in order to make their policies and plans look successful. These actions can only be seen as will to power, not a method for the better of the country.
MLA Citation:
Brunsdale, Mitzi. Student companion to George Orwell. Westport, Conn: Greenwood, 2000. Print.
The Soviets (and other countries) renamed ALL the streets to deny the history and go more with the Soviet goals. Then when the Berlin Wall fell and basically so did their communism they destroyed many old statues and renamed the streets again. I don't know why I find this sinister, but a denial of historical origins always worries me.
How do the concepts in this book tie to your other book? 10/10
3. Summary of Questia Criticism: Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini: Totalitarianism in the Twentieth Century (Pages 95-125)
1) summary of main arguments
The chapter that I focused on was titled, "Propaganda, Culture, and Education." An odd combination indeed but this chapter explains how these three are nothing different in a totalitarian community. The chapter explains that propaganda usually consists of nothing but lies. However, culture and education can always become propaganda in subtle forms and they were are connected to each other. It explains how totalitarian leaders used culture and education as propaganda to support their state and popularize their policies. For example, this chapter states that education was changed and controlled into supporting the regime and to brainwash the youth just like Hitler's youth. It also states how propaganda was easier when people were un-educated since the government could implement totally new ideas into the people's mind. Everything that people read to learn was controlled and deceived. Culture comes in as the government of Totalitarian states controlled not only education to enforce their propaganda but also magazines, films, poems, plays, radio scripts, and even scientific papers were censored by the government beforehand. Then this chapter goes on specifying how specific things enhanced the power of propaganda such as use of children, as well as problems, such as the free press in Italy and geographic influences.
2) something surprising or interesting learned
This chapter states that Soviet propaganda wasn't all successful. They say that propaganda could have looked successfully to others but the truth was that it wasn't within the country itself. In newsreels, people of the Soviet Union were cheering and shouting for Soviet's victory but this chapter explains that this could be all but a cover-up of how people wanted a revolution. It states that the Soviet Union, under a totalitarian government, couldn't have gotten an accurate public opinion since they never had free elections or public opinion surveys. People were starving and always running away to other borders rather than to feel safe and happy to be in the Soviet regime, unlike how it was portrayed to other people to make other countries convert to totalitarianism. The totalitarian states excercised a far greater control of the mass media and cultural outlets than id the democracies. This was interesting to me because I always thought propaganda's main subjects were people inside the country. However, the real subjects of the totalitarian states' propaganda was towards other people in foreign countries to appeal totalitarianism. This chapter even states that the people in totalitarian states were actually more suspicious about everything that the government told them, even when it was true.
3) agree/disagree with the ideas and then apply this to a scene or example from the book
This chapter states that "propaganda works best only with those people who are already inclined to believe it." I agree to this idea. If people are presented with an outrageous propaganda that people are not inclined to believe it, it's likely to fail. For example, if I'm a strong believer of Christianity and a propaganda that states that God does not exist is presented to me, I wouldn't be affected at all. Propaganda, in my opinion, works well for people that are in need of hope or a new idea. This is why propaganda worked well in wars, which is when people need the most comfort or somewhere they could rely on and lean on. Dictators of that time used this mentality to gain their support by spreading propaganda that people need to support them in order to regain peace or to make the other side look eviler than actual to make the people feel innocent about hurting them. The book also stated that propaganda works better when older ideas are renovated to fit the current situation. I agree to this idea as well. A new, strange idea usually can't convince lots of people into believing the propaganda. However, if older ideas are changed slightly or modified a bit to fit the goal that the dictator is trying to achieve, propaganda can bring the maximum affect. For example, in Animal Farm the pigs easily spread the propaganda that makes the other animals think of Snowball as a evil dictator by describing him with humanly descriptions because the other animals had already thought of the humans as evil. In 1984, the Big Brothers easily make the people believe that their excessive exploitations and control over their lives are necessary, not evil, by saying that it's all required to maintain peace, which is what the people of the country had wanted for years as the war between Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia lengthened. Even though the people of Oceania knew that Big Brothers were dictators and corrupted, their inner desire for peace made them convinced that all of the spying and extreme punishment for minor rebellion was necessary for peace.
MLA Citation:
Pauley, Bruce F. "Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini: Totalitarianism in the Twentieth Century." Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini: Totalitarianism in the Twentieth Century (2003): 95-125. Questia School. Questia Media America, Inc. Web. 7 Feb. 2010. <http://www.questiaschool.com/read/111569085?title=Hitler%2c%20Stalin%2c%20and%20Mussolini%3a%20%20Totalitarianism%20in%20the%20Twentieth%20Century#>.
Lauren, each of your summaries is really biographical and historical. That works except that you are setting yourself up to talk about his life and this will just be a repeat of what you have learned from others rather than using your own thoughts. You need something that pushes you to see the book as something literary rather than just a reflection of history or biography. If there is nothing there, then the book has no literary merit. Regardless of this, good summary -- 10/10
SUMMARY DUE DATES:
January 28, Thursday (DONE)
February 3, Wednesday (skip)
February 8, Monday (2 done)
PAPER DUE DATES:
Thesis and outline – February 18 (10-15 points) (First rough due 11,12)
First 4 pages due and workshop – February 22
Individual Meetings -- February 24-26
Workshop and Peer Editing of paper – March 4
Paper finished -- March 11
Author: George Orwell
Books: Animal Farm and 1984
1. Summary of Questia Criticism: George Orwell: Socialism and Utopia. Nice job. At first, I was afraid you were too shallow, but you recovered this with the #2 (using greater detail) and then 3. Your comment about how you could see it applied to both books echoed exactly what I was thinking. 10/10
(Pages 1-22)
1) summary of main argumentsThis article summarized how the utopias that are portrayed in George Orwell's books represented his desire for socialism and belief that socialism was the only solution for a government to become an utopia. It states how much the books written by George Orwell portray the socialist ideas of liberty, equality, and fraternity. This journal article starts out summarizing the ideas of Marxism, which influenced George Orwell, by saying that Marx thought that socialism is inevitable and all ethical considerations are strictly beside the point. This idea is called "vulgar Marxism". However, George Orwell did think of socialism as "morally necessary" but not historically necessary as failures were seen through leaders such as Hitler. This is why George Orwell, along with other writers at his time that believed in socialism, is called an "ethical socialist." It's stated that he believed that revolution didn't necessarily need violence involved as socialism with democratic approach could also work. The article also summarize other ideas of Orwell that is similar with Marxism and Socialism such as education, class equality, and morality.
2) something surprising or interesting learned
The article stated that George Orwell was raised in a pretty good environment with good financial status. He wasn't that privileged but he had a decent upbringing overall. So I wondered, "Then why would George Orwell feel attracted to Socialism?' Why would he even care for the lower class/middle class people? The article explained it in the further pages. It says that he joined the "British colonial police in Burma at the age of 19" and that " he came to realize the intolerable nature of his position as a foreign oppressor in an occupied land". This was the experience that made him devoted to the fight against injustice and oppression of every kind. And these devotions are portrayed in his novels that warn about the dangers of totalitarianism and praise socialism. I used to think that he was brought up in a poor environment since usually, people with such experience care about the lower class people and write about ways to achieve an equal utopia.
3) agree/disagree with the ideas and then apply this to a scene or example from the book
In the article, there's a line which says that According to the article, George Orwell thought that as long as people are feeling a sense of inequality, people will never feel a sense of solidarity or of belonging to the same social project. I don't agree to this idea. People, regardless of economic status, education level, and so forth, tend to feel bonded to others in some way. Whether it's ethnicity, age, country, or others, people eventually find somewhere that they belong and feel comfortable in. But this idea does convince me through how it's used in both of the books. In 1984, the presence of the Big Brothers, the higher social class, shows an unequal social class system and the plot later on proves how people feel disconnected and detached due to the social inequality. In Animal Farm, the animals all start out as feeling as if they are all in one social project but at the end, the pigs betray the other animals and say that "some animals are greater than others", which differs from their original motto that all animals are equal. The presence of social difference in both of the books portray George Orwell's belief in that social inequality bothers people from feeling solidarity.
MLA Citation:
Marks, Peter. "George Orwell: Socialism and Utopia." George Orwell: Socialism and Utopia. 41 (1995): 1-22. Questia School. Questia Media America, Inc. Web. 28 Jan. 2010. <http://www.questiaschool.com/read/5028336984?title=George%20Orwell%3a%20Socialism%20and%20Utopia>.
Ideas explored: Socialism, Marxism, Utopian Community
1/27/2010
2. Summary of Book Criticism: Student Companion to George Orwell
(Pages 120-136)
1) summary of main argumentsIn this chapter called "All Animals Are Equal, but...: Animal Farm", the author, Mitzi M. Brunsdale, informs the readers about the historical- biographical context as well as an alternate critical perspective about Animal Farm. The chapter starts out with a plot summary about the book. And then the author states historical- biographical information about George Orwell and the age of WW2 that showed some connection to the plot. For instance, the whole betrayal story between the Soviet Union and the Nazis was described with many details and then he criticized how the British leaders were fooled by that event. The author comments that the Soviet Union becoming one of the allies shouldn't have been perceived by the intellects at that time to mean that totalitarianism was good and that totalitarianism was a great way to rule a country. George Orwell tried to show his frustration about the corrupt communism and totalitarianism government and the similarity, rather than difference that other people saw, between Nazi's facism and the Soviet's totalitarianism, by publishing this story.This chapter also describes how Stalin became a violent ruler after Nazis were defeated by actions such as engineering the death of Kiov and exiling Trotsky. Brunsdale also gives insight to his own alternate critical perspective on economic determinism. This was about a major political concept by Karl Marx that states that primary influence on human life as economic, the drive to possess or control goods. Therefore, the human society was always a clash between the capitalist class (the "haves") and the working class (the "have nots").
2) something surprising or interesting learned
The article stated that George Orwell was numerously rejected when he asked for his book to be published because at that time, when Soviet had betrayed Hitler for the allies, the British loved the Soviets, rather than to see through the disguise and criticize the corruptness of totalitarianism. The British government even tried to get rid of Orwell's script because it was criticizing the allies. Orwell's book was finally published in 1945 when the war was over, which was also when the Soviet's usefulness perished as well. It was surprising to read about how Orwell's home was once destroyed in 1944 by a V-1 rocket, sent to destroy his manuscript, but George Orwell miraculously managed to dig out the blitzed manuscript. The Soviet even tried to block the publication through a secret agent in the British Ministry of Information. All of this information was very interesting in that the government tried to control the publication of Animal Farm, just because it criticized the government form of one of the Allies. It's hilarious that they even sent a rocket to his flat because Orwell wouldn't give up on publishing his book. People who once attacked his book during the WW2 later on praised his book for the excellence in criticizing the totalitarianism and paralleling it with Hitler's fascism.
3) agree/disagree with the ideas and then apply this to a scene or example from the book
In the article, there's a line which says that " for Orwell, the Soviet technique of constantly rewriting history to make it conform to their preset aims was one of the most sinister new manifestations of the Soviet's will to power." I totally agree to this idea. Countries that deny to accept their faults in history or countries that rewrite their history are people that are greedy or selfish. The Soviets, as well as other totalitarianism or communist countries, frequently changed their history to fit their current aims and to persuade the people through propaganda. In Animal Farm, Napoleon changes his motto from "All animals are equal" to "All animal are equal BUT some animals are more equal than others." The other animals watch Napoleon and his followers partying noisily on their hind legs with the human they now strongly resembled. This scene exactly portrays what Orwell hated about the Soviet's totalitarianism. The pigs used to have a motto to make the other animals follow them but they changed it instantly when their aim switched to allying with the humans who the other animals hated. This fits in with the Soviet's actions of rewriting history every time their goal and aim switched to convince the people who were being exploited that they were right. Countries with a shameful past oftenly deny to accept them when their past could always teach them a lesson. Dictators and corrupted leaders could change their history that the future students learn in order to make their policies and plans look successful. These actions can only be seen as will to power, not a method for the better of the country.
MLA Citation:
Brunsdale, Mitzi. Student companion to George Orwell. Westport, Conn: Greenwood, 2000. Print.
The Soviets (and other countries) renamed ALL the streets to deny the history and go more with the Soviet goals. Then when the Berlin Wall fell and basically so did their communism they destroyed many old statues and renamed the streets again. I don't know why I find this sinister, but a denial of historical origins always worries me.
How do the concepts in this book tie to your other book? 10/10
3. Summary of Questia Criticism: Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini: Totalitarianism in the Twentieth Century (Pages 95-125)
1) summary of main arguments
The chapter that I focused on was titled, "Propaganda, Culture, and Education." An odd combination indeed but this chapter explains how these three are nothing different in a totalitarian community. The chapter explains that propaganda usually consists of nothing but lies. However, culture and education can always become propaganda in subtle forms and they were are connected to each other. It explains how totalitarian leaders used culture and education as propaganda to support their state and popularize their policies. For example, this chapter states that education was changed and controlled into supporting the regime and to brainwash the youth just like Hitler's youth. It also states how propaganda was easier when people were un-educated since the government could implement totally new ideas into the people's mind. Everything that people read to learn was controlled and deceived. Culture comes in as the government of Totalitarian states controlled not only education to enforce their propaganda but also magazines, films, poems, plays, radio scripts, and even scientific papers were censored by the government beforehand. Then this chapter goes on specifying how specific things enhanced the power of propaganda such as use of children, as well as problems, such as the free press in Italy and geographic influences.
2) something surprising or interesting learned
This chapter states that Soviet propaganda wasn't all successful. They say that propaganda could have looked successfully to others but the truth was that it wasn't within the country itself. In newsreels, people of the Soviet Union were cheering and shouting for Soviet's victory but this chapter explains that this could be all but a cover-up of how people wanted a revolution. It states that the Soviet Union, under a totalitarian government, couldn't have gotten an accurate public opinion since they never had free elections or public opinion surveys. People were starving and always running away to other borders rather than to feel safe and happy to be in the Soviet regime, unlike how it was portrayed to other people to make other countries convert to totalitarianism. The totalitarian states excercised a far greater control of the mass media and cultural outlets than id the democracies. This was interesting to me because I always thought propaganda's main subjects were people inside the country. However, the real subjects of the totalitarian states' propaganda was towards other people in foreign countries to appeal totalitarianism. This chapter even states that the people in totalitarian states were actually more suspicious about everything that the government told them, even when it was true.
3) agree/disagree with the ideas and then apply this to a scene or example from the book
This chapter states that "propaganda works best only with those people who are already inclined to believe it." I agree to this idea. If people are presented with an outrageous propaganda that people are not inclined to believe it, it's likely to fail. For example, if I'm a strong believer of Christianity and a propaganda that states that God does not exist is presented to me, I wouldn't be affected at all. Propaganda, in my opinion, works well for people that are in need of hope or a new idea. This is why propaganda worked well in wars, which is when people need the most comfort or somewhere they could rely on and lean on. Dictators of that time used this mentality to gain their support by spreading propaganda that people need to support them in order to regain peace or to make the other side look eviler than actual to make the people feel innocent about hurting them. The book also stated that propaganda works better when older ideas are renovated to fit the current situation. I agree to this idea as well. A new, strange idea usually can't convince lots of people into believing the propaganda. However, if older ideas are changed slightly or modified a bit to fit the goal that the dictator is trying to achieve, propaganda can bring the maximum affect. For example, in Animal Farm the pigs easily spread the propaganda that makes the other animals think of Snowball as a evil dictator by describing him with humanly descriptions because the other animals had already thought of the humans as evil. In 1984, the Big Brothers easily make the people believe that their excessive exploitations and control over their lives are necessary, not evil, by saying that it's all required to maintain peace, which is what the people of the country had wanted for years as the war between Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia lengthened. Even though the people of Oceania knew that Big Brothers were dictators and corrupted, their inner desire for peace made them convinced that all of the spying and extreme punishment for minor rebellion was necessary for peace.
MLA Citation:
Pauley, Bruce F. "Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini: Totalitarianism in the Twentieth Century." Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini: Totalitarianism in the Twentieth Century (2003): 95-125. Questia School. Questia Media America, Inc. Web. 7 Feb. 2010. <http://www.questiaschool.com/read/111569085?title=Hitler%2c%20Stalin%2c%20and%20Mussolini%3a%20%20Totalitarianism%20in%20the%20Twentieth%20Century#>.
Lauren, each of your summaries is really biographical and historical. That works except that you are setting yourself up to talk about his life and this will just be a repeat of what you have learned from others rather than using your own thoughts. You need something that pushes you to see the book as something literary rather than just a reflection of history or biography. If there is nothing there, then the book has no literary merit. Regardless of this, good summary -- 10/10
SUMMARY DUE DATES:
January 28, Thursday (DONE)
February 3, Wednesday (skip)
February 8, Monday (2 done)
PAPER DUE DATES:
Thesis and outline – February 18 (10-15 points) (First rough due 11,12)
First 4 pages due and workshop – February 22
Individual Meetings -- February 24-26
Workshop and Peer Editing of paper – March 4
Paper finished -- March 11