Blog #40 Holly Denig Period 2 5/19/202

Sophomore 2020

5/19, #40, Holly Denig, period 2 

Aim:Aim: How and why does Winston manage to resist the manipulative power of language and mob mentality?

First we kicked off the lesson with the Do Now, in which we had to observe 3 classmates and report what we saw to “Big Brother”. The points system was used to motivate us to “snitch” on our classmates. This was used to show us how the government system in 1984 was configured to make people snitch on each other. 

The next slide included a bulleted list summarizing the unfair qualities about 1984. Overall, the system manipulated people in order to control their thoughts. For example, fear, and limiting the words that people knew were used to regulate the public’s thoughts. People were manipulated to praise and obey big brother. 

After this, we reviewed Thoughtcrimes. Crime Think is essentially betraying the government by thinking something that you are not supposed to think. These are controlled by Newspeak, which was used to limit the availability of words. If you don’t have the word to express a thought, you can’t think that thought.

Then we analyzed double think, which is a contradictory statement, such as “war is peace.” We did a team activity where we had to create examples of double think as a motto for NYC. Max P shared the example of “rich city with poor people”, and Max M had said “poverty Is wealth.” Both of these exemplify double think because the statement contradicts itself.

Working at home does pose its challenges but I’m getting more and more used to it and falling into a routine. Although it can be difficult to stay motivated and focused, i'm doing my best to keep a good schedule and stay on top of my work with all subjects, especially with my upcoming Ap exam and certiport certification assessment, which are both factors of stress for me in this new system. Today we switched back to zoom from google meets, which was a difficult transition for some students. I didn’t really struggle much and personally, I prefer zoom and am happy to be using it again. 

As for my personal feelings about what’s happening right now, I’m worried about the city jumping the gun on opening back up. I’m seeing that some stores are opening again, and many people aren’t still social distancing. I still think that it is important to continue wearing masks and gloves, and for people to not go and see other people that they are not quarantined with. 

Reflection: 

Today I learned more about doublethink and was able to develop a deeper understanding of it by creating my own examples. I now understand how they can be used to manipulate people, by causing them to associate two things or think a different way, which I will apply to my readings of 1984. I also better understand Thoughtcrimes, and the motivation behind regulating thoughts. Everything I learned today will help me to grasp a fuller understanding of the novel, as well as the concept of big brother watching and controlling people, and how this is done.