Is Blogging Helpful?

I enjoy blogging alot. It is the most helpful thing I have done in school all year. I love that you can post your thoughts and feelings about assignments. I was really excited when I found out that we were going to be able to have our own blogs. I loved the Wiki page, which was similar, but I wish we made our own blogs in the beginning of the year. Then I would have had all of my work or thoughts blogged since House on Mango Street. I think this blog would have helped alot when I was reading Frankenstein as well. I love that I can connect thoughts with other students in other classes who are reading the same book. When you read what other people have to say, it opens up your mind and makes you expand your thinking. I get pushed to take my thoughts farther with blogs. They have only benefited me in every aspect of learning more about how I write and what my opinions are. I can point out every theme in a book and find all of the symbolic meaning, however I have noticed with blogs that I tend to see more of one specific theme or symbol and write alot about that. Blogs help my organize what I notice in a book. They help me organize my thoughts about what I have read and they make me more interested in the book I am reading. I really hope I continue to work on blogs next year as well.

Parallels in the World of 1984 to Our World Today.

Propaganda between the book and our world today is a big issue in my opinon. Propaganda brought out by Hollywood or Gossip Magazines is corrupting the younger generations minds. If People Magazine says that Thin is the new Chubby or Pink is the new Orange, then thier readers listen. Girls starve to look like Paris Hilton and spend ridiculous amounts of money on a t-shirt to match Lindsay Lohan. It gets very out of hand and can only get worse from here. When teens watch after parties of the MTV Awards and see Diddy drunk having a great time with all the ladies, they are going to want to be just like him. The only thing celebrities encourage now-a-days is underage drinking and cocaine abuse. Rappers rap lyrics about being locked up for murder, being released, and becoming 50 Cent or Akon. Our propaganda is sending out terrible messages to younger kids and this generation is our future. Everything our society is doing is making more warnings for our future. However no one is going to stop it because people are becoming millionaires. It is all about the money. You catch a picture of Nicole Richie buying a Prada bag and Prada sells six million of the same bag the next day. As long as money is being made, no one sees a problem. In 1984 the propaganda of Big Brother and the propaganda of Goldstein only creates hate and fear. When people walk down the streets of Oceania, they are constantly reminded that they are being watched. Girls are always reminded that there appearance is constantly being watched as well. It makes you feel trapped. No matter what you do or say, Big Brother is always going to find out and torture you. In 1984, the society is also convinced to hate Emmanuel Goldstein. They always see propaganda of the man who betrayed them. If Us Weekly tells you to hate Brad Pitt for cheating on Jennifer Anniston with Angelina Jolie, chances are Brad Pitt's next movie sales will decrease. People love to be told what to do and who to hate and how to think. No one wants to think for themselves anymore. It is so much easier to be part of the crowd. The society in Orwell's novel knows this and does exactly what people do now, they feed into the ignorance.

Warnings From 1984 That George Orwell Was Trying to Get Across.

There was a series of warnings that I noticed throughout 1984. Some of them haven't become a problem in our current society, but can become a problem very soon. One of the first warnings that I noticed was the technology that was discovered. Telescreens made it possible for The Party to know everything from what you ate for breakfast to the conversation you had with one of your kids before bedtime. They were like robotic spies that could reveal your hatred for the government at any time. There were also hidden microphones. This covered the places where telescreens could not be put. These microphones couldn't be seen and were convienient for catching enemies who thought they were safe somewhere far from Airstrip One. In our current society, our government can tap into private phones. Whether this priviledge is going to be abused by our government, we will soon find out. In 1984, there is also Newspeak. This is a way to make the people talk and think less. If The Party is minimizing the amount of words that exist, then people arent going to be able to explain themselves or thier feelings. The new generation of teens have something very similar to Newspeak. When we text or IM eachother, we abbreviate everything. Laugh out loud is LOL, be right back is BRB, talk to you later is TTYL, and nothing much, how about you? is NMHBU. Some people actually take this language out of thier cellphones and computers and use it when they are talking to friends or parents. It is a little worrying to me. I dont want my kids to abbreivate everything by nature! On every street corner, wall, and house, there was posters saying BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU. This is propaganda to fear people into not disobeying the law. Propaganda is everywhere in our current society. Hollywood can make girls become aneorexic, commericals with Anna Nicole Smith can make diet pills look great, and movies or Ads can make underage drinking and drugs look fun. Propaganda plays a huge role in the way new generations are growing up. You are only cool if you have the newest iPod, cell phone, digital camera, or laptop. If you don't have a pair of Uggs or a Coach bag then don't bother trying to be popular. There were plenty of warnings that Orwell brought up. I think it is amazing that everything he predicted in 1948 about 1984 is happening in 2007.Our society has so many similarities it is scary. It makes me worried for my furture or my children's future.

Not Living.

When I put myself into the position of living in Oceania, I get almost upset. I can't imagine living in that much fear all the time. I am a very loud, opinionated person and if I was living somewhere where I wasn't allowed to express myself, I would feel very trapped. I'm sure there are tons of people living in Oceania who feel the same. It makes me feel terrible for these kind of people, even though it is just a book. =]

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Fear of Technology

The technology in this book is frightening. It makes me worried of our future and is a perfect example of how George Orwell warns our society of our possible outcome. In 1984 there are telescreens and hidden microphones. This is one of the worst ways that technology can end up. I would hate to have no privacy at all. I can't stand that there are even security cameras in some places or that the government can tap into people's phones. In Orwell's novel, The Party makes the telescreens and the hidden microphones seem like they are protecting the people from the war or Goldstein. I want to be safe living in my society but there are lines that you can cross. This society definetley has crossed these lines by tricking people into fearing how they live. Once you have feared living a certain way for so long, you stop living all together.

Julia's Rebellion

I think Julia is a facinating character. She has all the right ideas on how to live in this dystopia. She joins all of the goverments clubs and expresses the most hate during Two Minutes Hate. She appears ignorant and loyal to the government. In reality, she knows how wrong her government is. She says to Winston that if she keeps the little rules, then she can break the big ones. The government isnt going to suspect someone who appears loyal and is in the Junior Anti-Sex League, to run away to a rented room with some guy six times a month. If you appear loyal on the surface, then the goverment has nothing to suspect you of. I think Julia knows that people give the government too much power. She knows that they arent as powerful as they say. She can get away with these things because she is smart at "betraying" The Party. I think Winston feels this way too. I think they are going to be the first ones to stop this corrupt government. Either that, or they are going to be killed.