Q2L 10 ELA discussion

This week we have two questions for you. Please respond to both in separate paragraphs:

ONE:

Nineteen Eighty-Four, along with Fahrenheit 451, is a dystopian novel. The word dystopia is a play on the word "utopia," which means “no place” or “good place.” What might be the point of writing a dystopian novel? What purpose would a writer have in setting a narrative in a terrible place or time? Consider some recent dystopias: V for Vendetta, The Giver, Children of Men, Brave New World, Minority Report, Blade Runner, The Planet of the Apes, The Hunger Games, and The Matrix.

TWO:

Eric Blair, using the pen name George Orwell, published Nineteen Eighty-Four in the year 1949. Based on the publication date alone, what might be some thematic or historic influences on the novel? You might want to do a little research to answer this question. We'll feature the best answers to this question in class, and those students will pick up bonus points.

David and Orlando

1. The point of writing a dystopian novel is to show what the writer might believe the future will be like. Though then that would mean that a ton of people believe that the world will go to hell, and that seems kind of dark.

2. Eric Blair was writing a book about how he believed the future was going to turn out. 1949 was a year in which many wars were going on. Perhaps he thought all that war would lead to a destroyed land with an oppressive government leading the people.

The point in writing a dystopian novel would be so that people can learn how to not make a society that way. Also to prevent the government from maybe making societies like that. Another reason is just for entertainment. In movies or book's it is always funnier when things don't always work out as planed.

1) Dystopian novels serve not only as good backdrops for gripping stories, but also to give a possibility of what the future may be like. As described previously by David in the thread info, a Dystopia is a "Negative-Utopia". Dystopias can, and most often do, reflect a utopia gone bad.

2) I've noticed a lot of parallels between our history and this future that Orwell has created. The fact that INGSOC means "English Socialism" has to stand for something itself. The whole society itself seems very similar to Soviet Russia, with lots of censorship, indoctrination, etc.

1. The point of writing a dystopian novel is to give the reader a compelling plot with a good story. If you write a utopian novel, it may be less interesting because everything is so perfect and there is no conflict to overcome. Then, the story would probably be bland/boring, and would not sell.

2. One thematic/historic influence Eric Blair a.k.a George Orwell may have used was the fact that technology was being used in more people's homes, and people were also getting more violent (like in the prohibition, 1930). This may have been a future prediction, or a worst case scenario type story.

Dystopian novels tells us what society would be like if such things would happen. Almost like a alternate-universe. It makes people aware of the other side of the spectrum. With this knowledge you have the power to change or improve the existing society. In the movie/book "V for Vendetta", it showed how "the people" could overthrow the totalitarian government, you can take down the powered. V, the main character united the people by killing off government officials. This caused a rebellion in society.

Prior to the year 1949, there were a lot of things going on. In the early 1920's in Russia, Joseph Stalin was determined to change the Soviet Union into a more industrial state. He forced peasants to give their land to the government and work on collective farms. Stalin created a new government called the totalitarian state, the government controlled all aspects of life.
In Germany, Adolf Hitler took command of the Nazi Party. Around the 1930's, Hitler used harsh tactics to make sure people did not oppose the Nazi rule. The Gestapo or secret police imprisoned those suspected of this. Jews were made the target of persecution and were often killed or sent to concentration camps.
In Italy, Benito Mussolini created the Fascists Party. As prime minister, he organized a secret police and censored the press.
I think George Orwell was influenced by these leaders and their government which was in complete totalitarian. George Orwell's book Nineteen Eighty-Four demonstrates what a totalitarian government would look like.

I believe that the point of writing a dystopian novel is to show how the world could be in the future, and ways that we can avoid getting to that point. When one writes a story set in a dystopian world, she is analyzing the many aspects of what makes us human and deconstructing them. She is also deconstructing the layers of our society, down to what we may be without the bounds of social and moral codes.

When Eric Blair wrote this book, World War II had recently come to an end, marking the start of a new era for our race. Two atomic bombs had been dropped, and America was now manufacturing such deadly weapons by the dozens. The threat of continuing war, and possibly nuclear war, was probably always hanging overhead, like a guillotine about to drop. Blair was almost certainly influenced by these feelings to write one of his most respected works, 1984.

Dystopian writing can be difficult because you have the task of designing a new society, and the decisions that you make will govern the rest of the story. This requires a good deal of creative energy. The person telling the story will have to tell the setting in complete detail. Again the writer has construct a setting and a society.

Some influences that Eric Blair contributed to his writing is capitalism, World War One and i think he may have included Totalitarianism.The People's Republic of China is officially proclaimed. The Soviet Union recognizes the People's Republic of China. The Democratic Republic of Germany DDR is officially established. Severe flooding hits Guatemala. Foley Square trial of Eugene Dennis and ten other CPUSA leaders ends in New York City (until then, the longest trial in US history); all defendants are found guilty and all but one sentenced to five years of prison. Civil war ends in Greece with a communist surrender. Chinese communist troops take Guangzhou. Chinese communist troops fail to take Quemoy in the Battle of Kuningtou; their advance towards Taiwan is halted. An airliner flying from Paris to New York crashes in the Azores island of São Miguel. Among the victims are violinist Ginette Neveu and French boxer Marcel Cerdan.

I believe the point of dystopian fiction is to raise awareness of current flaws in our society and show people what the future will behold if these issues are not addressed. These books often carry important messages that extremely easy to discern from the text. For example, in F451, Ray Bradbury is telling us that due to the rapidly quickening advance of technology, we are having to think less and less.

The rise of communism and Stalin's rule over Russia as a totalitarian state seem to greatly influence George Orwell's writing of 1984. Additionally, World War II may have had influence on his work.

There are many reasons to create a dystopian novel, many more then it is possible to list in a small post. Though the most relevant to all of these is social commentary. Think of the matrix, not only an amazing film, but it talks about some relevant social issues of the time, such as the increasing prevalence of technology in our lives. The novel 1984 was a cultural cullination of the fears, and sympathies for communism. In created a political, and current event, language for the culture, and steps to achieve a communist state. If you doubt that it needs to be a dystopia think of fahrenheit 451 as an utopia.... you cant do it right?

As I said before, 1984 was made when the fear of the Iron curtain and fall of capitalism, was at its height. And Eric / George was no stranger to political commentary, another novel he wrote was Animal Farm. Animal Farm is almost a play by play account of Stalin's rise to power, and crushing of ignorance, and the weak.

A dystopian novel can be written for many reasons. I believe the main reason would be to show the idea of perfect never quite works out so well. A lot like communism, the idea is to split everything evenly and everyones happy however it ends up becoming the most corrupt and unfair government. Much like that these books strive to show not only how a government in which seems to only worried about the people and their "happiness" is actually much more concerned with control and power. Both books have shown that the government no longer attempts to enforce something such as burning books because they believe its whats right for the people but because its whats best for them, to keep them in power, and to keep the people from questing that power. They also strive to show the threat of technology how it easily distracts the mind with momentary pleasure from seeing the big picture and how easy it is for the government to keep you distracted and under surveillance with it. Most utopia novels strive to send a message, each on may slightly vary however the main ideas stay the same; Stay aware and involved in your government and country, fight for your rights, and don't allow fake happiness brought by ignorance and "fun" to overpower your life (with or without a dystopian society).

I believe the based on the date the author might have had the influence of the Russian revolution in mind as well as the Nazi's in world war II. In the Russian revolution the Bolsheviks in order to maintain power used technology and secret police to spy on people and make sure no one was plotting against them. They set fear into the peoples hearts so no one wanted to rebel and got rid of those who opposed them in order to assure their power. In WWII the Nazi's had an organization of little kids that were taught to catch those unloyal and to become fanatics about politics much like in 1984.

1) A dystopian novel would be written for mulitple reasons but a main reason i see is because many people question how our society would actually be when its horrible. The hunger games is a great example because it shows a form of how the government can take over.

2) Eric most likely had a major thought of what 1989 would be like because of the wars he was witnessing during this time. World War 2 had just ended i believe and there were the first atomic bombs used during this time period so he knew the power of our techonolgy.

. The point of writing a dystopian novel is to show what the writer might believe the future will be like. Though then that would mean that a ton of people believe that the world will go to hell, and that seems kind of dark.

. Eric Blair was writing a book about how he believed the future was going to turn out. 1949 was a year in which many wars were going on. Perhaps he thought all that war would lead to a destroyed land with an oppressive government leading the people.

There are many reasons for writing a dystopia novel. From personal experinces, I would say the main reason for writing these is for the expierence. When I wrote mine (I have no idea where it went) I wanted to know how it would be like to live in a post apctolyptic setting (the setting was a nucluer war based from Fallout). I made myself get into a characters shoes, and went threw the struggles he went to.

The events following up to WW2 seem to be his influence on the book's ideals.

1.There are many reasons to write a dystopia novel but the one that seems the most clear to me is also the most obvious. Dystopia novels serve as cautionary tails to warn us about world our actions could cause us to live in. Granted it would take a lot of stupid people to make those choices.
2.A pen name serves a few purposes. Some people who write cautionary novels, or controversial novels don't want to be hunted by angry readers. Frankly I don't blame them.

1. The point of writing a dystopian novel is to stay focused on the characters so you don't have to worry about the setting so much. They also give a back round of what the future might look like. It is also very different and unique from other stories.
2. George Orwell was influenced by events occurring during the Spanish Civil War. He was influenced by personality that surround European dictators. Like Franco, Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin.

1) what made the actor right dystopia? well you really look at which time he came from. which was for World War 1, which was run by powerful leader. he saw the outcome of the war as a dystopia. so I guess he's writing a dystopia to show the results of what a Society run by a powerful leader like hilter would be like.

2) once again he was influenced by World War 1

I believe the point of a "no place" fiction is to raise awareness of current flaws in our society and show people what the future will behold if these issues are not addressed. These books often carry important messages that extremely easy to discern from the text. For example, Ray Bradbury is telling us that due to the rapidly quickening advance of technology, our thinking is decreasing and decreasing.

I think the based on the date the author might have had the influence of the Russian revolution in mind as well as the Nazi's in world war II. In the Russian revolution the Bolsheviks in order to maintain power used technology and secret police to spy on people and make sure no one was plotting against them. They set fear into the peoples hearts so no one wanted to rebel and got rid of those who opposed them in order to assure their power. In WWII the Nazi's had an organization of little kids that were taught to catch those who were not loyal and to become fanatics about politics much like in 1984.