Mrs. Moritz's 9th Honors English

Thursday, April 05, 2007

6th Hour 1984 Scribe

Hi 6th hour! Today we started out with greening Mrs. Moritz as usual. The desks were already set up and ready to go for our first fishbowl presentation. The first presenters that went today were Haley, Caitlin, and Rachel. All of the people on the inside circle sat in their places and the rest sat on the outside circle. A few minutes after class started two representatives from journalism came in to talk to our class about journalism classes for next year. If you would like more information on journalism, please go to the meeting tonight at 7:00PM in E9.
The next thing on the agenda was to take the quiz prepared by the presenters. If you were absent today, you will need to see Mrs. Moritz or one of the presenters for a copy of the quiz.
The inside circle discussers for today were Sarah, JoAnn, Tessa, Devon, Chelsea, myself, and, of course, the presenters. Many people also volunteered for the two open seats. Among those were Natalie J., Natalie H., Liz, and Kaytie. All offered some great points to the discussion. Following are some of the questions that were discussed.
• Why did Winston decide to write the diary? Who was he trying to communicate with?
• Orwell discusses the few cubic centimeters inside a person’s head that are only their own. Are these cubic centimeters just space or is it possible to actually have thoughts?
• Can the Party truly watch every single person at one time via the telescreens? Or are the telescreens more of part of a threat?
• What drove the society in the book to such a state of life? How could the situation possibly have gotten to be this bad?
The homework for tonight is to read up to page 69 in the novel. If you are presenting tomorrow, please come prepared with a blog question, quiz, discussion questions, and whatever else you may need.
All people on the outside circle don’t forget to blog tonight in response to the presenters’ question. Also, your notes are due tomorrow to Mrs. Moritz if you didn’t already turn them in today. Have a great night, everybody!
If you have any questions, please ask Mrs. Moritz or the presenters if it relates to today’s discussion. Thanks, everybody, and have a great day!

~Emily


Question from Rachel, Haley and Caitlin:
Discuss, in detail, the ironys of each ministry...Ministry of Truth, Ministry of Love, Ministry of Peace, Ministry of Plenty.

posted by mmoritz at 4/05/2007 01:17:00 PM

12 Comments:

  • On page 4 it says that the:
    Ministry of Truth was for news entertainment and fine arts (also for editing things so it made the government always right),
    Ministry of Love was for maintaining law and order,
    Ministry of Peace was for war
    and the Ministry of Plenty was for rationing.
    All of these Minisries are exactly the opposite of what they should be. This reflects the slogan of the Party in a sense, "War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength". It seems that in the world these people live in, they are taught that the gifts that we have in our world (freedom, knowledge etc.) are bad things and therefore the opposite is good.

    By Blogger Natalie Jones, at 4:48 PM  

  • The irony of each Ministry is the fact that whatever it says it stands for, in reality they each stand for the complete opposite. The Ministry of Truth does not actually tell people the truth, only what the Party wants the comrades to believe is true, therefore emphasizing Big Brother's power and "good judgement". The Ministry of Peace does not actually keep the peace, but rather monitors Oceania's wars, primarily between Eastasia and Eurasia. The Ministry of Love punishes ppl if they disagree with the Party and they justify it under keeping the order. The Ministry of Plenty is supposed to help the economy and keep people supplied with the essentials, but it doesn't. It doesn't really provide ppl with anything at all.

    The Party makes everyone believe that good things are bad, and bad things are good. This is the basis of the entire book, as shown in the Party slogans.

    ((Agreeing with Natalie J))

    By Blogger .hardcore.love., at 6:06 PM  

  • I agree with what Natalie said on how they were all opposites of eachother. the irony is that these names are decieving like Big Brother and Oceania's government. The ministrieshave names that bring out emotions in peope that makr them feel safe and good. In reality, the ministries are dealing with subjucts behind the citizens back like war, changing the history, etc. Big Brother does this by having security and trying to assure people that they are wel protected. Really, all they systems of protection are to make sure that Big Brother stays as head honcho. The security is to make sure no one is disobeying and rebelling against the government. It is also ironic how the Ministry of Love is the scariest place. Love is a word that makes people feel open and happy, but the builing has no windows, so it is dark, and is secured so no one can enter.

    By Blogger kayla f, at 6:11 PM  

  • I totally agree with Natalie because the irony of each Ministry is really that it is contridiction itself. Another thing is that the Ministry of truth (like natalie said) is for entertainment and news but it is also rewriting history. I find it strange how the ministry is about the truth when really it is altering the truth to fit the standards of Oceania. This reality that the people live in is almost like an alternate reality in which many things are opposite such as the Ministrys, the slogans, and even the way that kids go against their parents. Sure, kids rebel against their parents nowadays, but very few would actually turn them in for arrest and be claimed as a child hero for it. Everything, even the morals of Oceania seem to be unparallel to ours today.

    By Blogger sVanDenover, at 6:14 PM  

  • Wow, everyone is going to enjoy reading my comment, which says (surprise!) pretty much exactly what everyone else has been saying.

    IRONYIRONY. Ministry of Truth.
    By today's definition of 'truth,' the truth is a statement in accordance with reality. '1984's definition of truth is different. Rewritten articles presented as fact show Big Brother and the Party as infalliable, always right. These articles change from day to day and what is in accordance with reality is not in accordance the next day. (Min. of Truth is responsible for altering said articles.)

    MINISTRY OF LOVE.
    Again with the contradiction between a '1984' definition and a present-day definition, 'love' today is thought of as compassion and acceptance, where 'love' in the novel is more of an enforced agreement with the powers that be. (Min. of Love is responsible for punishing dissenters.)

    MINISTRY OF PLENTY.
    Plenty. Today, 'plenty' is enough for everyone. In '1984,' 'plenty' is rations, bare minimums. (Min. of Plenty is responsible for rationing.)

    MINISTRY OF PEACE.
    Well, we know how 1984 portrays peace. War Is Peace. Anyway, by today's standards, peace is a state of non-conflict. To the citizens of Oceania, conflict is so perpetual that a world without it would be disrupted- unpeaceful, at war. (Ministry of Peace is responsible for war-timey things.)

    Sorry I am kind of laaaate on this! It is only 12 minutes, that is okay, right?! It will not happen again.

    By Blogger laura h., at 7:13 PM  

  • Similarly to everyone else, they irony is all the same. Each ministry does the exact opposite of what they say they are going to do. They ministry of peace, for example, makes sure that Oceania is always at war. This relates to the 2 minutes of hate, and the comrades loving/needing war. The ministry of love also relates to the 2 minutes of war because Goldstein, who was a traitor is the main person during the 2 minutes. The comrades are taught to hate buy the ministry of love. The ministry of plenty, in the next chapter, says that the chocolate ration will stay the same. Really, later they change the ration, because of this, the ministry of truth has to cover up their mistake. The ministry of truth has to re-write the literature that states the ration is staying the same.
    The overall irony of each ministry is they all are opposite. This ultimately makes the Party almost flawless because all the tracks are covered.

    By Blogger Liz, at 7:31 PM  

  • All four of the ministries in 1984 are ironically named to those reading the book; however it is very likely that most characters in 1984 don’t find these names ironic, considering all of the brainwashing and propaganda.
    Ministry of Truth: The news in 1984 is anything but truthful, because it is all re-written by the government. The ministry of Truth also controls entertainment, but since when has entertainment been truthful. Nowadays, we have “reality” TV, but that is anything but real, and even movies based on true stories aren’t totally true, so why would entertainment in 1984 be any different.
    Ministry of Love: This ministry is like the police and prison system, but how are police and prison loving. From Winston’s description of the Ministry of Love, it seems like there would be no love in there at all.
    Ministry of Peace: The Ministry of Peace controls war affairs. This makes absolutely no sense. History is most commonly split up into sections of war times and peace times. Most history books have almost polar opposite definitions of war and peace.
    Ministry of Plenty: This ministry may be the least ironically named. It controls the economy, which is pretty bad, but no one is starving to death, so it is at least providing the people with something, though it is definitely not plenty.

    By Blogger kyle, at 7:40 PM  

  • Sorry it took me so long to finally blog. Blogger definately wouldn't let me on to blog unless I signed up for a google account (there was no way around it) so now I am blogging from my new google/blogger account?!?!

    To get on to the questions
    THE MINISTRY OF TRUTH
    shows irony in its naming in the sense that the name ministry of "truth" would suggest that they are devoted to making sure the truth is available for the public to read or absorb. This, however, is not the case. They rewrite the past to make it untruthful or truthful in the sense that in BB's dillusional mind, this is the real or truly stated facts of oceanic life as it is right now.
    MINISTRY OF PEACE
    shows irony in the sense that it is about keeping oceania in war and developing through war efforts.
    MINISTRY OF LOVE
    shows irony in the sense that it is not showing love and compassion towards others but rather upholding the laws and making sure that the comerades do as well. I find it ironic that Winston is most scared of the Ministry of Love because it is surrounded by such heavy securtiy restrictions it would almost seem like a jail in a sense.
    MINISTRY OF PLENTY
    shows irony in the way that it rations the goods to the consumers, thus implying that there is not plenty of anything.

    Each ministry has been named to do the reverse of what their name would imply. They are named for something positive, but in reality do something we would consider negative.

    By Blogger Emma Grace, at 7:43 PM  

  • This is Erik, becuase i forgot the pass of my other account.

    I think the Ministrie's ironies have been well explained, the comrades and other people living in this sociaty, live in a topsy turny world. All of the Ministries do the opposite of their name.

    I think that Big Brother and the Inner Party created them like that on purpouse. The comrades can't think for themselves or make any good decisions because everything they know is backwards, opposite, and messed up. With all of this confusion the Inner Party has created, the people cant think for themselves. Then, when all these people are confused and helpless, Big Brother can take total advantage of them. He can lead them any way he wants to.

    By Blogger Lundgren, at 8:29 PM  

  • Piggybacking on Erik and Shane's thoughts, Big Brother (the system) has been successful at confusing people as demonstrated by Winston's inability to cleary recall his own past.
    Natalie J's dad

    By Blogger DJones, at 9:32 PM  

  • The Ministry of Truth is ironic because its for entertainment and fine arts, which they don't have any of in the city. The Ministry of Love keeps law and order, but it is the same punishment for any crime, so if you kill someone its the same punishment as for writing down thoughts. The ministry of peace controlled war, which is ironic because they have been in war for a long time and people don't even notice that they are fighting anymore. The Ministry plenty is to Ration all of the goods, but nobody has plenty of anything.

    By Blogger hmadsen, at 7:42 AM  

  • The irony of the Ministry of Love is how Winston describes it as a place that no one nears except those who work there because of its haunting and unwelcoming appearance. Without windows it seems as if everything that goes in stays in and no secrets are allowed out. Love would be something that is the complete opposite.

    The irony of the Ministry of Truth is the whole nature of work that takes place in the building deals with destroying the real truths in the memory holes that lead to the furnaces adn rewriting history as Big Brother means for it to be written. All that is truth is really the lies that change as often as Big Brother snatches his citizens so they disappear and never truly existed...

    The irony of the Ministry of Peace is how they believe peace is derived from a constant state of being in war and that war is peace and causes peace. Logically, one may think that peace can only occur when war is absent but the whole objective of the Ministry of Peace appears to be the focus on the slogan "war is peace."

    The irony of the Ministry of Plenty is deeply tied to the Ministry of Truth which rewrites history. Because it rewrites history, an example of the connection, appears in the reading when Winston reads into the speakwrite that Big Brother had not in fact announced 1984 to be a ration-free year but that he said a ration increase was likely sometime in April.. So whatever Big Brother says goes and went in the case of all things past.

    Thank you again Mrs. Moritz, I will certainly fix this issue with blogging, hopefully tomorrow at lunch because its a big pain! See you tomorrow!
    -Chelley-

    By Blogger mmoritz, at 1:29 PM  

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