Blog #22: Emily Ng: Period 7: 4/28/20

04/28/2020

Emily Ng

Period 7

Aim: How does Orwell criticize society through Boxer and Benjamin?

Do Now:  1) Agree/Disagree: “I can trust those in positions of authority to make decisions that are in my best Interest.”

From today’s discussion, we gathered that many people disagreed with this statement. From this modern era, we observed how authority and government control can be rather biased. For instance, it varies for people with diverse backgrounds. Due to how diverse our population is, there will always be a certain group of people that do not receive the fair end of a decision made by authority. Furthermore, a counter argument that was made was how people would trust authority because of how an individual’s motives are always in regards to the people’s best interest. For instance, a well-known politician’s motives are always in regards to his supporters and the people who rally behind them.

2) If you had knowledge about a situation that could help someone else would you tell them, even though you might get in trouble? Explain.

The majority of the class responded that if they had knowledge about a situation that could help someone else, they would inform them despite possible consequences. We stressed the fundamental idea of the golden rule, which is to treat others the way you would want to be treated. Thus, we agreed that if yourself were to be put into a similar situation, you would want someone to inform you about possible events. In addition, many believed it is morally correct to inform others due to people having the right to understand the truth about a situation. However, a plausible counter argument would be how a situation depends on the specific information being shared. For example, the current outbreak of covid-19 caused mass concerns. It is possible a politician or a health leader would delay information due to possible hysteria and panic amongst a large group of people. Thus, many believed that the truth can alter a situation due to how it will be perceived by the audience.

Whole Class Discussion:

During this activity, we were advised to choose and review two images provided and analyze the audience, the bias, the message,the perspective, and the persuasive technique being implemented. Images varied from advertisements to PSA, etc. A common image people chose was of the PETA advertisements. We observed how the significance of perspective and persuasive technique develops the message being conveyed towards an audience. In that PETA advertisement, we observed the common use of pathos from the perspective of vegans and animal lovers. Thus, the advertisement was utilizing a baby chick to promote the idea of human emotion in order to convince the audience to switch to a vegan lifestyle that would benefit their cause of animal preservation. From this discussion, we were allowed to observe the different tactics of persuasion and the perspective of the creator and how it develops an audience’s message and bias.

According to Aristotle, a tragic hero is “a person who must evoke a sense of pity and fear in the audience. He is considered a man of misfortune that comes to him through error of judgment.”A tragic hero’s downfall evokes feelings of pity and fear among the audience. 

We reviewed the various areas of criteria for a character to be a tragic hero. For instance, a character should involve being born into nobility, endowed with a tragic flaw, exhibits hubris, be responsible for their own fate, realizes their mistakes or flaws, and meets a fateful and tragic death. 

In addition, we also reviewed how the audience would review the character. Oftentimes, a tragic hero would invoke a reader’s fear, pity, compassion, or sympathise with the character. The function of a tragic hero involves the effect or message it gives to the reader. A tragic hero’s downfall would promote wisdom to the audience, invoking such catharsis would develop them to become moral and good citizens of society.

The application of a tragic hero in Animal Farm is well exemplified in Boxer. In the novel, Boxer was considered a tragic hero because his respected and hardworking demeanor ultimately resulted in his fateful death. Boxer’s tragic flaw was his ignorance because he blindly followed the commands of Napoleon without questioning his motives. Boxer was one of the most hardworking animals on the farm, he contributed a great amount towards the success of the animal farm and was well respected by the others. His work ethic also led to his decline in health and limited his ability to perform rigorous labor. This ultimately resulted in his sentence to the slaughterhouse by Napoleon. Moments before his death, boxer finally recognizes his fate, which portrayed pity and allowed the audience to sympathize with Boxer.

Reflection: 

During this lesson, I learned the various applications of perspective in modern media and how a tragic hero plays a significant role towards a book’s plot. The idea of perspective is very consequential towards modern media due to bias and propaganda. Within perspective, I am able to identify how a certain piece of media (advertisements, news, journals, etc.) portrays itself towards the audience. It always roots back to the author or organization and its motive to reach an audience. Along with the stem purpose, they would also use different persuasion tactics to fully grasp one’s attention. Thus, I have learned how to apply these skills to check certain pieces of media for bias or favoritism. Furthermore, I have also learned the significant use of a tragic hero in a book or literary piece. The tragic hero often exemplifies a character that has the possibility to relate to a reader. Often, readers are able to identify certain points in a tragic hero’s character development that can possibly relate to themselves. Due to a tragic hero invoking catharsis, readers feel compassion, pity, and are drawn to their stories. In addition, readers would also find their flaws relatable because of their different backgrounds and stories. Furthermore, I recognized that many books I have read and movies I have watched also portrayed different versions of tragic heroes to draw in audiences and develop a relationship between the audience and the character.