2009, Form B. Many works of literature deal with political or social issues. Choose a novel or play that focuses on a political or social issue. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the author uses literary elements to explore this issue and explain how the issue contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
As World War II came to a close, Communism and its ideals threatened the ‘free’ countries such as England and the US. George Orwell’s novel 1984 explores the political issues of Communism’s control over people’s lives. In 1984, Orwell used language and details to explore how, if England kept progressing the way it was, it soon would be a great Communist nation with out any rights. The whole meaning of this work is to bring to our attention the political patterns of our own country.
The language used in 1984 has a lot of symbols. The telescreens are symbolic in that they are always present. One can never turn them off completely as they are always spurting news or propaganda about the Party. They also have a more sinister function of spying on the residents, watching for any misbehavior. This symbolizes to what extent a totalitarian government can abuse technology instead of putting it to good use and benefiting its civilians. It also supports themes throughout the novel such as the abuse of technology, the dangers of totalitarian governments, the control of information and psychological manipulation. Big Brother is another symbol that Orwell uses through out his novel. The words “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” are posted on posters everywhere in Oceania. Big Brother is symbolic of the government and how its protective, in reference to brother, yet ominous, in reference to always watching. It is an obvious abuse of power by the government of the inalienable right of privacy.
Many details in the novel help push the political issue of Communism into the minds of its readers. Orwell uses such details as the government banning sex with people to really push into the minds of his readers just how far this government has gone and abused their power, how Communism is controlling people’s lives and that this could happen to them. Another detail is that by the end Winston loves Big Brother. Tortured for months and brainwashed, O’Brien finally makes Winston love Big Brother taking away the individuality treasured among people and his ability to think for himself. Both of these are fears that Orwell has about Communism that he is conveying to us.
Orwell’s fear of Communism after World War II led him to write 1984 about how Communism has taken over the rights and minds of its people. Though he doesn’t ever come out and say it, he is warning us with this political novel that our country too could become like Oceania if we aren’t careful.
I really like your introduction paragraph in this post. You did a good job following the structure of the AP introduction. I would just question the last sentence when you mention that the meaning of the work is to bring attention to the political patterns of our own country, because I don't think that is really saying anything. Perhaps you could be a little more specific about what the political patterns are and what they say about the country. Good job analyzing the details and symbolism in the work. Symbols are usually really important in any well-known literary work and usually say a lot about meaning. I would suggest devoting more of the essay to discuss meaning, just to make it very clear. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI want to point out immediately that you may wish to use a seperate word processor to format your writings before copy-pasting them blogspot, as this allows for easier reading and comprehension, something that would be beneficial when the grading period comes around. You may also wish to bold the prompt to emphasize its difference from the essay, or insert a space between paragraphs to prevent confusion.
ReplyDeleteOther than that, I think your intro is very sound, althoug it may do with an increased amount of background on the book to allow the minimum necessary information to comprehend your literary references (though not necessary, as I see you later provided more substance; it is for the purpose of curtailing later descriptions and historical segments of the essay). Assuming your thesis encompasses the last two sentences, I would aso also say it is sound, except for the fact that since you explicitly stated the literary elements you plan on using, you ought to state more than two; the use of two alone is lacking from what I can recall of our in class lectures; three is minimum if I recall correctly.
You may wish to comment on Orwell's intended message in the second paragraph to better emphasize meaning, e.g. 'he intends to push the message that a populace should not tolerate governmental abuse of authority' etc. etc. Other than that, I would say this is good and properly incorporates the AP structure.
As for the third paragraph, I am not sure how the detail is integrated in the actual piece and how it would then qualify as a detail, though this confusion would definitely be dispelled should you have included a direct quote and jumped from there.
As for the rest, if you included one more literary technique and more meaning discussion I would say it would be complete and a good essay. You may also want to reassess the meaning, and discuss rather what exactly Orwell wishes to communicate, as bringing something to attention is more a technique of emphasis that then pushes some kind of ideology or attitude in a literary work.