Feed could be our 1984 of today, but then where does George Orwell's novel fit into society and our classrooms? It was written in 1948 (oddly enough) and published in 1949, and predicted what the world would be like 36 years ahead of its time. 1984 is now 27 years behind us, and all of the proposals Orwell sets out seemingly did not even come true...or did they? Teacher Vision, a teacher resource website, explains the relevance of 1984 still today:
1984...was intended as a warning against totalitarian tendencies rather than as a prophetic work. Now that the year 1984 has passed, many may scoff at the warning, but those who do would be wise to look at the present a bit more closely. Currently, we have subliminal messages, two-way televisions, computer viruses threatening to endanger our much depended-upon information systems (with possible global impact), and countries all over the world committing atrocities against their own people. Recent political campaigns have shown us explicitly the extent to which propaganda has corrupted our own language. Politicians have perfected their own type of "Newspeak."
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/science-fiction/activity/3305.html
The above excerpt points out all of the flaws of today's society that occur in Orwell's novel published 28 years ago. I remember sitting in my senior English class and thinking, "Why the heck are we reading this, when 1984 is long gone?" It is before some of us were even born! I think it is important to open with a quote like the one above to show students the relevance of both Orwell's and other futuristic novels. They can do reflections and/or have a class discussion at stopping points throughout the book to discuss which of Orwell's predictions or variations of them have actually come true.
Sorry the font is so small everyone! Oops!!
ReplyDeleteYou make an excellent point that students who were not even born in 1984 may have some issues considering the "futuristic vision" fostered by the author.
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ReplyDeleteI think this is important novel to help students express their creativity when thinking about the future. I would love to see my students ideas about our future society!
ReplyDeleteI really like the resource you sited. I have not read "1984," but it is on my list of books to read (which of course keeps getting bigger and bigger -- but I plan to read it this summer). What you have said has definitely helped me think about keeping an open-minded view for when I do read the book and those connections will also help connect your students to the topic at hand.
ReplyDeleteI think you bring up a very valid point. It is crucial for us as teachers to make our students understand the relevancy, especially with this because 1984 is so long ago, let alone the publishing date is. I think an activity of what they predict the future to be would be interesting. Im glad you sought out another website to add to your blog and add to the idea of would 1984 work in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI agree with many of the points that you, and the author of the article you cited, made. I thought this myself as I read the story about how connected many of the subjects in the story are present in our present-day society. Propaganda, food rationing, the "Big Brother" ideology, it is definitely with us all today whether we're consciously aware of it or not. Most of the time it is subliminal and not easy to notice, but that just shows how engrossed in it all we really are that we cannot notice the subtle shifts in our society because we're under the guise of the "big brother" state of mind, too.
ReplyDeletewhat a clever article you included. how many of us really know what is going on in the world? don't we all just rely on the media and hope that is unbiased? i listen to npr because i trust that it is reliable; but isn't that the same reason others are more willing to listen to msnbc or fox news network? are we all just listening to BB?
ReplyDeleteI definately think this in an important novel to bring into the classroom today. There are so many connections one can make!
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