Blog #11 - Arianna Gold - Period 9 - 3/3/2020

3/3/20
Arianna Gold
Blog #12
Period 9 Sophomores 2020

Aim- How can foundational knowledge of history and an author’s experiences add insight to the rationale for their works?

Do now: Think/Pair/Share How would you feel if you lived in a society where you worked more than half a day for little pay; under poor working conditions? How would you feel if that society denied or severely limited your education?
We began our discussion with a mention of our current AP World Topic, communism in Russia. The answers to this question were compared to living in Russia when communism was present because the question mentions similar conditions in which the citizens of Russia faced during this time. Many answers included feelings like that of animals or slaves. These unfair conditions would, mentioned by many students, lead to revolution. Furthermore, an interesting answer brought up was “ignorance is bliss”. She mentioned that if she had lived her entire life one way, she would not think that it is bad, she would be unknowing of any other situation.

Activity- We continued to discuss the biography of George Orwell, the author of Animal Farm. This was a good introduction to our next lesson, Animal Farm, because it explained and reminded us of the bias that the novel might carry while we read it. The article mentions that Orwell grew up as a “charity case” because he went to a rich prep school on a scholarship. This allowed the other kids with more money to pity him, which led Orwell to grow up feeling that money was the only power in life. Furthermore, after experiencing the military first handed, Orwell soon lost faith in the government which gave him inspiration to write Animal Farm. Additionally, we had to answer questions related to the article in a group method. In this new method, we are required to work at an equal pace. This, in my opinion, is a representation of communism, in the sense that other people’s talents were suppressed in order to make those without them feel equally. This was ironic and a very
hidden touch of a classic interactive lesson.

Vocabulary Rules Related to Animal Farm
1) Capitalist system: free enterprise; if you work hard you can get ahead; you can start your own business and become a millionaire, or lose every penny
2) Socialist: a person who wants to change society
3) Communist system: everyone works to his or her ability and receives according to his or her need; totally economic equality; no one gets ahead, but no one starves either.
4) Czarist government: a government ruled by a Czar, who had absolute powers similar to a king
5) Deported: sent away from a country into exile
6) Idealistic: overly optimistic (positive) thinking
7) Totalitarianism: a one-party-rules-everything type of government

Link to Summary of Communist Russia:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fWbj4QYULYNxMYRN_mjrRs66ORasjQwrJb1nmxh
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What Did I Learn?
● Bad conditions can create amazing writers
● Revolutions can spawn new ideas along with new government
● George Orwell was the perfect person to write Animal Farm

Why Did I Learn It?
● To have a greater understanding of Animal Farm and the reasoning behind it

How Will I Use What I Learned?
● To understand the underlying bias in Animal Farm