5th hour Scribelicious

First we said the typical Hello Mrs. Smith, Hello Class, ect, ect. Then Smith started the day by reminding us that it is IMPERATIVE that we do not put our full names on our wikis and voice threads! Afterwards, Ms. Smith proceeded through the daily plan with us. We also turned in our summary-responses on the political cartoons. Before turning them in, however, we all took out our handy-dandy planners and filled in our homework for the evening.

HOMEWORK: Read pgs. 37 - ??? (Don’t know the exact page, but I believe its 60-something. Sorry), Check wiki and voice thread for full names and correct if there (remember - first name, last initial ONLY. No more. Nada.), Grammar exercises 6 & 7, and last but not least, work on your group presenting project (Unless you are Selena, Matt W, Lauren, or Morgan T – then you are already done and do not need to worry about this assignment)

People commenced to scurry around the room as the presenting group prepared. The group consisted of SelenaM, LaurenC, MorganT, and MattW. (By the way, nice pants Selena! And I liked Morgan's and Lauren's shirts! Very colorful indeed :) And Matt…well… not much to say about you…just kidding ;) ) Their plan for the day consisted of all of us participating in collaborative group discussions and then going into a big group discussion, after which we were to take a quiz.

We followed their plan and split into to groups to discuss the questions that our facilitators (AKA: Selena, Morgan, Matt, and Lauren) gave us. Then we returned to the big group to discuss the answers we came up with. We had a great discussion. It went as follows:

Question: Why do the slogans of the Ministry of Truth seem to contradict themselves? Why do you think they are this way? – all used to confuse the people with contradictions, do the people have separate meanings for the slogans, making it okay,

Ignorance is strength - ignorance creates a buffer around you, knowledge saps your strength, knowledge causes you to second-guess yourself and your ideologies, no one questions. Ignorance is easy to control – makes the government happen, blindly doing one's typical citizen job

War is peace – you have to fight to gain peace, war becomes the norm, meaning of war changes, creates inner peace, always been at war – don't know any different

Freedom is slavery – If you're free then you have to take care of yourself and if you're a slave you're taken care of by others, slavery you don't have to worry about certain things, blind the people, "no one is truly free" – always a slave to something,

Question: Similarities and differences between 1984 and Fahrenheit 451?
-TV used as control
-Take away all resources of people
-change info to fit what they need
-Controlling figurehead
-Opposition eliminated
-Take away things that provoke thought or doubt
-F451 has more of a control and trust in the ignorance of their people
-Society trying to make everything perfect
-Big Brother has opposition and people know it
-1984

Question: Why do think people in the 1984 society view their lifestyle's as acceptable?
-because it was
-Lack of intelligence
-memories re-written
-they don't know anything else
- get pulled in
-think the government saved them
-Constantly in a fear for your life
-"Anything's better than death"
-No history, no truth
-monkey see, monkey do
-Not any exposure to other viewpoints
-Security over rebellion


Question: What do you think the cover art means? What about the colors in particular?
- an eye, being watched
- eyes
- important characters have significant eyes
- big brother's eyes are blue
- Blue, water washing away everything
- Red type for blood
- Blonde hair, blue eyes, ideal race
- Blue, noticeable color
- Black at center - abyss

Question: In Winston's diary he writes "down with big brother" repeatedly. Does anyone else feel this way?

- No. At least subconsciously
- Government trains them to think that they can't think those thoughts – they simply can't do it

We, well, Melissa and Jordan, to be specific, also came up with a startling revolution concerning the language the author uses to paint a mental picture for the reader. They mentioned that they saw the story unfold in black and white, and many others agreed, though not all. Some said they saw colors, but, curiously, only on the Big Brother posters and the diary. Still others said that they saw it in washed-out colors, some even said that they saw it no differently, and there were a lot who either didn’t comment, or I didn’t hear what they said. Anyway, it seemed the vast majority (of those who spoke out) agreed that they either saw it in black and white with shades of gray or in faded, washed-out colors. Interesting food for thought, I’d say.

As the discussion came to a close the room filled with apprehension as we awaited the *dun, dun, dun* Quiz. It actually turned out really good. Thumbs up to them. Anywho, after such time as quiz time we had a few minutes to pack up, in which we were reminded by Ms. Smith that we were not animals waiting for slaughter and therefore should not crowd the door waiting for the bell to ring at the end of class. Rather, we should sit quietly in our desks until we were excused. We were then required to go back to our seats and wait till Smith told us to “have a nice day” and that we were excused.