May 28th, 2020
Paul Khoury
Ms. Peterson Pd. 3
Sophomores 2020
Aim: How is the theme, "the importance of having knowledge about the past
in order to understand the future" exemplified/elucidated through Winston’s time in the Prole District?
First order of business : Housekeeping and reiteration of the expectations for remote learning.
No quiz!!
Do Now - Think/Pair/Share:
What are some of the “lies/stories” parents tell their children?
Why do you believe they tell these stories, rather than the truth?
What might be a history “lie/story” a school has taught/told you?
- A common white lie our parents tell us is that carrots are good for our eyesight.
- This lie is propagated because it benefits us, and accomplishes our parents’ agenda of keeping us eating healthily
- Funnily enough, this lie was actually created by the British Wartime government to conceal the new classified radar technology
- Another lie: don’t keep the light on in the back of the car
- Yet another lie: Santa Claus and the Easter bunny. Reason for those lies: Incentivizes people to behave
- COMMON THREAD linking the liars (even if they’re harmless) they have more knowledge than those being lied to
- The actual history of the genocide of the Native Americans by european settlers is heavily sugarcoated when told to students, especially younger ones.
Big Takeaway, as paraphrased from Ms. Peterson : “The government can manipulate history very easily, especially to keep people happy and complacent.”
Group and Class Discussions:
“ 2 + 2 = 5 ” quote serves to exemplify the degree to which the Party controls thought, and the perception and understanding of truth itself.
The Pyramid/Hierarchy serves to illustrate how even a very small but powerful minority can hold tremendous influence over the vast majority
Because Winston is on his quest for the past, he questions his sanity. He looks to the past to give him solace about his sanity and to reassure him that things were at one time better.
Important Symbols: His ulcerative flare-ups indicate an act of rebellion, and the coral paperweight represents the shielded protection of being in a home, which he craves.
The Room, which has no telescreen, and which Winston keeps returning to, is a place the party and its intrusive tentacles have not yet reached and taken complete control of. It represents freedom in many ways.
“Hope lies in the Proles” because 1) they are much greater in number 2) since they are seen as less than human by the party, Big Brother would be least prepared to sustain an attack from that “front”. Additionally, Big Brother is so unweary of the proles that they don’t even spy on them (no telescreens)
Reflection :
Today’s lesson could be summed up as the truth about lying. It helped me better understand how some, particularly those in positions of power, serve to gain from propagating lies. In an age where fake-news is insidious as it is, this lesson is particularly important. Having knowledge about the past, studying history, and most importantly remembering the events of our own lives is incredibly important. In the immortal words of philosopher George Santayana “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This lesson also showed how hope and change may arise from the unlikeliest of places, just as the proles have become a source of hope for Winston. In this day, where both formal media and social media are saturated with calls for change, sometimes it is important to know that perhaps the government isn’t the best place to look. This class not only has implications for the present and future, but for pieces of the past which we are already forgetting. One such example is the Katyn Woods massacre, where Soviets rounded up thousands of the Polish intelligentsia and slaughtered them in cold blood and in secret. Discussion of the educated elite was a part of today’s discussion, and it directly relates because it was discussed how those who possess knowledge are very dangerous to despots and authoritarians because they are powerful, and that is threatening to regimes. I will apply what I learned as I continue to read 1984, and it will aid in my understanding of the central struggle. Furthermore it will motivate me to preserve knowledge of the past, at least for myself.
No comments:
Post a Comment