Need Some Help For A Paper...
Discussion
In my high school English class, we are currently writing research papers concerning British authors and their works. As my topic, I chose to compare and contrast Orwell's Britian in 1984 to modern day Britain.
I guess that I am looking for ideas and/or resources about this topic. I assume this has been alluded to in the past, however the search function is "temporarily disabled" so I cannot do a search right now... So, does anyone care to help me out? Perhaps a good rant or two?
I guess that I am looking for ideas and/or resources about this topic. I assume this has been alluded to in the past, however the search function is "temporarily disabled" so I cannot do a search right now... So, does anyone care to help me out? Perhaps a good rant or two?
Someone's unresearched, unsubstantiated rant would certainly not be acceptable to me as support material. How would you even know that the 'ranter' had even read the book? Indeed, have you read it? If not, that might be a good starting point. What are the public perceptions of what it says compared with what it actually says?
How about looking for book club forums where people have commented, or searching newspaper archives?
It's an awfully big subject you've picked, how many words have you got? I'd narrow it down to one element of the book (how about 'Big Brother is Watching You').
Right, that's enough; I reckon you've got some work to do
How about looking for book club forums where people have commented, or searching newspaper archives?
It's an awfully big subject you've picked, how many words have you got? I'd narrow it down to one element of the book (how about 'Big Brother is Watching You').
Right, that's enough; I reckon you've got some work to do
Podie said:
In order to compare, you need to define "modern Britain"...
Good point Podie, and it brings up another one - you can't compare modern day Britain with 'Orwell's Britain'. 1984 was set in Oceania, not in Britain.
Personally, there is no way I'd touch this subject with a bargepole; it's littered with tripwires. If you had enough time, it might be interesting to do a compare and contrast of the role of the Press. Say look at Newspeak, the British Press and the French Press.
What does 'High School' mean anyway? How old are you?
rude girl said:
1984 was set in Oceania, not in Britain.
Wasn't 1984 set in London ?, Oceania was the superpower controlled by Big Brother. One thing for sure there are infinitely more cameras now than Orwell could ever have imagined
my pet peeve.. I'd need to read it again to give a definitive answer but you might want to look into why the UK has by far and away more CCTV and other cameras per square mile than any other country in the world and what if and it's a big if, those cameras were all under the auspices of 'Big Brother'. Was that what Orwell had in mind ?
Indeed Hilts. So you could compare Orwell's London with modern London, but not the two states (although if High School is equivalent to secondary school, it's unlikely to matter at that level).
I still wouldn't touch it, especially not for an English project. You'd have to be very careful not to make it a political or sociological study and it presents unlimited opportunities to make sweeping statements, undefined assumptions, present opinion as fact etc. Hard work. If he's looking at something equivalent to A level, then he's unlikely to have more than 500 or 1000 words to cover the subject too. I can think of a lot of things that would be easier.
Wouldn't mind reading it when it's done.
I still wouldn't touch it, especially not for an English project. You'd have to be very careful not to make it a political or sociological study and it presents unlimited opportunities to make sweeping statements, undefined assumptions, present opinion as fact etc. Hard work. If he's looking at something equivalent to A level, then he's unlikely to have more than 500 or 1000 words to cover the subject too. I can think of a lot of things that would be easier.
Wouldn't mind reading it when it's done.
I would suggest a comparison to the extremes of the EU and Oceania (Britain) as some indicators and just throwing some ideas out the freedom of expression under the fundamental rights charter yet the banning of Religious Headscarf’s in French Schools an extremely heavy-handed approach taken by the French.
The drive towards a United Europe, corruption in the EU, the MEP expenses fiasco, maybe a discussion on the growing strength of the right wing parties in Europe and how a Federal Europe could potentially be ruled by an extreme right wing party.
List is endless
The drive towards a United Europe, corruption in the EU, the MEP expenses fiasco, maybe a discussion on the growing strength of the right wing parties in Europe and how a Federal Europe could potentially be ruled by an extreme right wing party.
List is endless
First question, have you read 1984?
Have you read anything else by Orwell? Animal Farm for instance?
If you have then you will know that 1984 was written in 1948 and that Orwell was basically a British Communist which in 1948 was considered politically subversive.
If you research Orwell the man and also the social environment that Orwell was writing in this will give you an excellent insight into why he wrote the book and also what he was trying to say.
I read both Animal Farm and also 1984 as school projects back in the 1970's and at that time the questions were more to do with 1984 will we be there in 10 years time?
My feeling is that NuLab have taken us to and beyond even Orwell's depressing view of state control.
Have you read anything else by Orwell? Animal Farm for instance?
If you have then you will know that 1984 was written in 1948 and that Orwell was basically a British Communist which in 1948 was considered politically subversive.
If you research Orwell the man and also the social environment that Orwell was writing in this will give you an excellent insight into why he wrote the book and also what he was trying to say.
I read both Animal Farm and also 1984 as school projects back in the 1970's and at that time the questions were more to do with 1984 will we be there in 10 years time?
My feeling is that NuLab have taken us to and beyond even Orwell's depressing view of state control.
I answered a very similar question for english A-level about seven years ago. The question wasn't as harshly 'loaded' as it is now, what with the 834,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,003 camera's that seem to adorn every available space, and the acceptance of 'nannyistic' government tactics.
Even so I got a pants mark for it because I tended to make those sweeping generalisations you've been warned about. I agree that its a horrible question that's ripe for critisism once its done, regardless of how well you've done it unfortunately. So good luck with it!
Even so I got a pants mark for it because I tended to make those sweeping generalisations you've been warned about. I agree that its a horrible question that's ripe for critisism once its done, regardless of how well you've done it unfortunately. So good luck with it!
Hilts said:
One thing for sure there are infinitely more cameras now than Orwell could ever have imagined
I'd need to read it again to give a definitive answer but you might want to look into why the UK has by far and away more CCTV and other cameras per square mile than any other country in the world .....
Here are a few pointers
1. The only country in the developed world with a population density greater than ours would appear to be Japan
2. Our crime rate is one of the worst in Europe
3 Drug use in Britan is higher than many other comparable places
4. Our Criminal Justice system has fallen into such disrepute that no-one wants to be a witness anymore. A videotape doesn't have to take time off work to give evidence, nor suffer the stress of cross examination nor will it be subject to harrassment or intimidation or have to go on a witness protection plan.
5.Proffessional witnesses such as the Police are continually being required to corroborate their evidence with photographs and/or video. For instance people accused of minor motoring offences are demanding to see video evidence.
While this sorry state of affairs continues, we will continue to see a rise in the number of cameras.
Ask cortinaman for a view. He's a cctv operator
>> Edited by sparkythecat on Tuesday 15th March 10:22
Thank you for your responses so far...
I have read the book, a few times in fact. And by "modern Britain" I am referring to Britain today, give or take a year. Oh, and I'm 17 years old.
The interesting thing is that I had thought this was a rather limited topic when I started out, and I was concerned about finding enough material.
I have read the book, a few times in fact. And by "modern Britain" I am referring to Britain today, give or take a year. Oh, and I'm 17 years old.
The interesting thing is that I had thought this was a rather limited topic when I started out, and I was concerned about finding enough material.
Poor you, I had to read the book for GCSE English Lit. Film was on TV a month ago and watched it for the god knows what time.
Can't think of any facts/figures of the top of my head but:-
1. CCTV - In 1984 there is a constant theme that BB is watching you all the time. When this was written this was a million years away. Today the average person in the street is captured on film 10s, if not 1,000's in a big city, of times a day.
2. Credit/Debit Cards - How much you spent, were you spent it and when you spent it.
3. Store cards and loyalty cards - All as per No 2 plus exactly what you spent it on.
4. Mobile phones - 'They' can trace you wherever you are if you have one turned on and they are bothered to do so.
5. Look at the major rows over what we are told, how we are told about it and what we are not told - eg WMD.
6. Politicisation of the Civil Service.
7. Constant changing of allies - 1980's USSR bad, 1990's Russia good, 00's Russia bad.
8. If you want to rant - restriction on movement - increased cost of travel impacting on this, mainly due to duties imposed.
9. To be topical you could look at the events of last week and the anti-terror legislation where the government was seeking to provide them with the power, for the most laudable of reasons of course, for the legislature to imprison those who might be a threat without the inconvenience of first going through the judiciary .
Can't think of any facts/figures of the top of my head but:-
1. CCTV - In 1984 there is a constant theme that BB is watching you all the time. When this was written this was a million years away. Today the average person in the street is captured on film 10s, if not 1,000's in a big city, of times a day.
2. Credit/Debit Cards - How much you spent, were you spent it and when you spent it.
3. Store cards and loyalty cards - All as per No 2 plus exactly what you spent it on.
4. Mobile phones - 'They' can trace you wherever you are if you have one turned on and they are bothered to do so.
5. Look at the major rows over what we are told, how we are told about it and what we are not told - eg WMD.
6. Politicisation of the Civil Service.
7. Constant changing of allies - 1980's USSR bad, 1990's Russia good, 00's Russia bad.
8. If you want to rant - restriction on movement - increased cost of travel impacting on this, mainly due to duties imposed.
9. To be topical you could look at the events of last week and the anti-terror legislation where the government was seeking to provide them with the power, for the most laudable of reasons of course, for the legislature to imprison those who might be a threat without the inconvenience of first going through the judiciary .
v8thunder said:
Funny this, I've got the assessed essay title from heaven -
"Has the establishment of the welfare state shifted the focus of citizenship on rights and entitlements at the expense of duties and obligations?"
Ooooh, can we write it for ya mister?
You could post it as a Topic and we could each write a bit for you, go on you know you want to...
I'll start you off.
After the euphoria of victory on the battlefield the electorate of Great Britan turned their gaze from the hardships of 5 years of war onto the hard times they would have to face in the comming years. This was the second time in less than 30 years that the populace was faced with the prospect of rebuilding a nation weakened financialy and mentally by the ravages of global conflict and the memories of the 'boom' of the early 1920's followed by the catastrophic 'bust' of the late 1920's and early 1930's was fresh on their minds. Added to this there was the inescabable fact that little had changed during those years to better the lot of the 'avarage man on the street'despite the implimentation of 'breadline' social insurance.
Whilst the people appreciated the leadership of Churchill during the war years the promise of the establishment of a National Health Service, full employment and above all the provision of comprehensive social security brought a landslide victory for the Labour Party.
In it's 1945 election manefesto the Labour Party admited, "...great national programmes of education, health and social services are costly things. Only an efficient and prosperous nation can afford them in full measure." Little were they to realise that 60 years on their commitment to the establishment of a full welfare state would lead not only to the need for excessive taxation but also to a sea change in people's perceptions of the roles that should be played by their government. Gone is the obligation and ideal of the populace to fend for themselves, with a safety net to catch them should they fall, replaced by the cry that those who are unable, or unwilling, to work are entitled as of right to recieve support from the state.
Sorry got a little carried away there, have fun though!
Derek,
I read 1984 when I was in high school or middle school, can't remember which now. For those of you in England, highschool is ages 14-17, before college or university. The key thing for a topic is to narrow it way WAY down, because there are so many facets in both societies that you can only compare a few aspects.
One thing you could compare is the use of language and sensorship, both in the year that "1984" was written, the actual year 1984, and then maybe right now. For example, you could narrow it to how a particular type of controversial story would have been handled by the newsmedia in the year the book was written, the year 1984, and how it might be handled according to the book's scenario. Like a political scandal, say involving a president's mistress, or some protesters that make the news, or some story about the Cold War armament...There's one of those in practically every decade. Some stuff that was scandalous just 20 years ago wouldn't even make the news now. The type of language used by the media and the government has changed dramatically, if you look at newspaper headlines from different eras.
One of the main points of the government in the book was to maintain control and have a stable society, thereby quashing independent thought. One society that did do this, especially with regards to political and religious freedoms, was the Soviet Union, as it actually existed in the eighties. Religion wasn't allowed in a totalitarian state in order that there be no higher authority than the government. So there's a comparison: middle America in 1984 and the Soviet Union in 1984, which would seem to almost depict the 1984 Orwell was predicting.
Another interesting thing would be a comparison of child rearing/procreation: some religions have views on it. In the book, it became "our duty to the republic", thereby taking all love, romance and intimacy out of the foundation of marriage and family. Some religions also do this, and some governments have been known to provide "motivation" to only have one male child, leading to questionable practices. Just some things you can compare.
One thing from the book, that I recall, was that there was some resistance group. Do you think that the resistance group was legitimate, or that the government allowed the group to exist to provide an outlet and a monitor on dissidents? I wondered if maybe the group was created by the government, and occasionally when the more active members got out of hand, they would be "taken care of" or made an example. This way, the semblence of vigilance and policing occurs more passively, without having to take a more active role.
Anyway, there's loads in the book to pick any one thing and compare it to society's attitudes now, and in the time it was written. Any one example could fill up a whole paper.
>> Edited by seafarer on Tuesday 15th March 23:10
I read 1984 when I was in high school or middle school, can't remember which now. For those of you in England, highschool is ages 14-17, before college or university. The key thing for a topic is to narrow it way WAY down, because there are so many facets in both societies that you can only compare a few aspects.
One thing you could compare is the use of language and sensorship, both in the year that "1984" was written, the actual year 1984, and then maybe right now. For example, you could narrow it to how a particular type of controversial story would have been handled by the newsmedia in the year the book was written, the year 1984, and how it might be handled according to the book's scenario. Like a political scandal, say involving a president's mistress, or some protesters that make the news, or some story about the Cold War armament...There's one of those in practically every decade. Some stuff that was scandalous just 20 years ago wouldn't even make the news now. The type of language used by the media and the government has changed dramatically, if you look at newspaper headlines from different eras.
One of the main points of the government in the book was to maintain control and have a stable society, thereby quashing independent thought. One society that did do this, especially with regards to political and religious freedoms, was the Soviet Union, as it actually existed in the eighties. Religion wasn't allowed in a totalitarian state in order that there be no higher authority than the government. So there's a comparison: middle America in 1984 and the Soviet Union in 1984, which would seem to almost depict the 1984 Orwell was predicting.
Another interesting thing would be a comparison of child rearing/procreation: some religions have views on it. In the book, it became "our duty to the republic", thereby taking all love, romance and intimacy out of the foundation of marriage and family. Some religions also do this, and some governments have been known to provide "motivation" to only have one male child, leading to questionable practices. Just some things you can compare.
One thing from the book, that I recall, was that there was some resistance group. Do you think that the resistance group was legitimate, or that the government allowed the group to exist to provide an outlet and a monitor on dissidents? I wondered if maybe the group was created by the government, and occasionally when the more active members got out of hand, they would be "taken care of" or made an example. This way, the semblence of vigilance and policing occurs more passively, without having to take a more active role.
Anyway, there's loads in the book to pick any one thing and compare it to society's attitudes now, and in the time it was written. Any one example could fill up a whole paper.
>> Edited by seafarer on Tuesday 15th March 23:10
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