1. ANALYSIS ESSAY
1984 and its Dictatorship
Dystopian literature, in its traditional sense, provides a revelation of the dark sides of humanity. For instance, it shows how a government can use brutal power to control its citizens and this control makes people trust the government more than each other. Many dystopias are constructed under an autocratic dictatorship. However, simply using the word “dictatorship” to describe dystopian governments is too plain. According to Josh Zuckerman, “it would be misleading and inadequate to imply that the greatest works of dystopian literature derive their frisson from the mere presence of a dictatorship” (Zuckerman 1). For Zuckerman, there are lots of complex characteristics within the autocratic regimes of dystopian literature. Thus, what are some underlying mechanics of these dictatorships? This essay will analyze the mechanics of Big Brother in George Orwell’s 1984 and use Josh Zuckerman’s article “Totalitarianism and Dystopian Literature: A Review” as a support. George Orwell emphasizes how “Big Brother”, the regime of the dystopian world Oceania in 1984, can control its people’s minds by monopolizing and rewriting information. Orwell also implies that language can be an effective tool to brainwash citizens to maintain its control.
Winston Smith, the protagonist of 1984, works in the Record Department of the Ministry of Truth. His job is to rewrite any historical documents to accord with the party’s agenda. There are three cubes inside Winston’s cubicle, one for written messages, one for newspaper, and the last one for the disposal of waste paper (Orwell 37). These disposal tubes are called “memory holes,” and they are distributed to every corner of the ministry. For party members, it’s their automatic action to drop any waste slips into the nearest hole, and these slips would be “whirled away on a current of warm air to the enormous furnaces which were hidden somewhere in the recesses of the building” (Orwell 38). Party members are required to destroy all obsolete documents immediately after using them. For example, Winston is ordered to rewrite part of Big Brother’s speech so that Big Brother accurately predicted the Eurasian war. After he finished, he dropped all original messages and notes into the memory hole “with a movement which was as nearly as possible unconscious” (Orwell 39). The action of destroying messages through memory holes is instinctual for the Party members due to their frequent usage of them. By doing this, the Party prevents citizens from knowing facts that would disadvantage the government and enables party leaders to alter information in favor of Party lines. Further, this action of rewriting history stabilizes the society and helps strengthen the autocratic dictatorship of Big Brother. Similarly, Zuckerman also mentions that “in order for despotic governments to create a sense of internal legitimacy capable of mollifying their potential critics, they must first create a revisionist version of history that portrays them in a better light” (2). The rewriting of history effectively helps modify the government’s image, making it more positive, in front of its citizens. By only perceiving messages that agree with the party line, there will be less people likely to go against Big Brother. Thus, altering historical evidence becomes an effective way for the dystopian government to maintain its dictatorship.
In order to keep everyone under control, Big Brother also monopolized information through many ways, such as through constant monitoring. In Oceania, “you had to live—did live, from habit that became instinct—in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized” (Orwell 3). From the book, people are monitored every second through telescreen, thought-police, and every person they meet. For example, although Winston and Julia thought that the old apartment is safe, they were caught by the telescreen hidden behind the painting eventually. Moreover, when Winston visited the Parsons, every child in the family were influenced by the Party to act like a little thought-police, ready to report anyone, even their parents, to the actual thought-police any second. According to Winston, all Party members were required to use speak write machine when working. Any suspicious person that is regard as potential traitors of the Party will immediately be “vaporized”—completely erased from all records. Through these many ways of constant monitoring, the Party can eliminate any opponents instantly, before their negative comments about the Party leak out to the greater public. By monopolizing information, especially by preventing negative comments to spread, there will be less rebellion exist toward Big Brother in Oceania. Everyone only receives information that agree with the Party’s agenda, such as the history and news after rewrite. Without critiques, citizens will be less likely to question Big Brother and its authority. Moreover, Big Brother also banned any information from outside the country and before the Revolution, to get to its citizens. According to Zuckerman, one way to maintain dictatorship is to “keep its citizens in a perpetual state of confusion through the promulgation of lies and misinformation” (2). Therefore, although Winston tried hard finding information about who Oceania is really having war with and life before the Revolution, he couldn’t find anything meaningful (Orwell 89-93). So why did Big Brother block all information before they took charge and outside Oceania? Since people don’t know anything prior to the Revolution and outside the country, they won’t be able to make comparison about the living standard with Big Brother and without. This effectively helps Big Brother to paralyze its citizens that they are the one and only who is right, and thus reduces the likelihood of revolutions within the country. Eventually, these actions of Big Brother explain the Party slogan that “ignorance is strength”, that the Party’s ultimate expectation to its citizens is to believe everything they said and blindly follow the Party, and monopolizing information becomes one of the efficient ways.
Besides the two aspects Zuckerman has stated in his article, which are rewriting history and monopolizing information, Big Brother also use language as a strong mean to control its citizens and strengthen the power of the Party. Syme worked for the Newspeak, which is a department that revised dictionary and language. From his conversation with Winston, he admitted that “the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought”, so that eventually thought-crime will be impossible, since there are no exact words to express it (Orwell 52). Some may say that the creation and revision of language should be beneficial since it marks human evolution. However, for dystopian government, the creation and revision of language becomes a way for them to complete the elimination process of opponents. This can also be regarded as a way of monopolizing information and rewriting history, since Big Brother no longer allow words that can be possible critiques to the Party to be used by citizens. If there’s no such words available for critiques, how can there be rebellion? By eliminating words, the Party is also slowly reducing people’s consciousness to the ignorant level, so that people will all be blindly following what the Party said. Indeed, “ignorance is strength”, according to the Party slogan. “Every year fewer and fewer words, and the range of consciousness always a little smaller,” said Syme (Orwell 52). This corresponds to what Winston wrote in his diary, that “until they become conscious they will never rebel” (Orwell 70). What makes people conscious is to have own thoughts, and these thoughts have to express by using languages. In other words, if there’s no language to express thoughts, people will have no consciousness. Thus, reducing language becomes a way of eliminating rebel, which strengthen the Party’s power since people won’t hold various personal opinions toward any matter. All they will do is to be loyal to the Party and believe what they said. Further, losing consciousness is also a way of losing the individual identity, which has been pointed out by Zuckerman as a common theme in dystopian literature. By destroying individual identity, such as through reducing words in language, allows Big Brother to change people’s perception about themselves. They no longer regard themselves as “I”, instead, they only know themselves as “a loyal believer of the Party”.
While utopia and dystopia only exists in film and literature as a fictional element, there are still collaborations with the real history. For example, the book 1984, written in 1948, shares many similar thoughts with the post-WWII critiques. Especially, the Big Brother shares many similarities with the post-WWII Soviet government ruled by Joseph Stalin. During Stalin’s late period, he is also an autocratic leader who doesn’t allow any critiques toward the Party, and he secretly eliminated many Party members who may be potential threats for him to maintain his power. Bringing it further, when examining fictional elements of literature, such as a dystopian dictatorship, we should also think about why the author create it. One of the reason why we still examine fictional elements of literature after knowing that they are impossible is to consider the message behind this element and how it can be applied to our real life.
Works Cited
Orwell, George. 1984. Secker & Warburg, 2017.
Zuckerman, Josh. “Totalitarianism and Dystopian Literature: A Review.” The Princeton Tory, 2014.
2. RESEARCH OUTLINE
How the Simpsons reflected the American mainstream culture as an animated sitcom.
Introduction
The Simpsons is currently the longest-running cartoon on American prime-time network television. (McAllister) 645 episodes have been broadcasted since its first release on December 17th, 1989. (IMdb)
“Springfield” is the fictional community created in The Simpsons. It is where all characters lived in and all events took place.
Thesis statement: The Simpsons uses its fictional community “Springfield” to mirror the actual American society in order to remind the Americans of the existing social problems.
3. NEWS STORY
Should We Use or Mention Racial Languages?
BOSTON- During a panel discussion on Jan. 10 about school internet filters on racial issues, a Cambridge School Committee member, Emily Dexter, used the full version of the “n-ward” which triggered a spirited debate about the usage of racial languages.
Kevin Dua, a high-school history teacher who is black, also used the full version of the “n-word” during the introduction. However, he claimed to be offended when he heard Dexter, who is white, use the word, according to a Feb. 8 Boston Globe article written by Meghan E. Irons.
Other attendants also expressed their opinions about the subject matter. According to Irons, a guidance counselor Laurance Kimbrough, who is black, said “I’m not offended by what was said. I believe it happened in the spirit of the conversation that we were having about the n-word. I also want to be clear that if other people were bothered by it, I respect those feelings.”
Meanwhile, school committee member Manikka Bowman expressed a different opinion. “For me, this is not about Emily,” Bowman said, “we’ve been having a lot of conversations for the last two years on how our system is making students feel uncomfortable.” according to Irons.
Racial languages have been a heated topic in America. The controversies of how to use racial languages appropriately kept expanding, especially in the educational realm.
According to Elizabeth Coppock, a professor in the Linguistics Department at Boston University, one thing we should take into consideration here is the distinction between use and mention. “Using a slur such as the n-word conventionally signals abhorrent racial attitudes,” Coppock said. “And while we may not want to sanction even the very mention of the word-either due to traumatic psychological effects it may cause-the mention does not conventionally signal the same abhorrent attitudes that the use does.”
However, there are others who expressed different opinions. Christina Michaud, a professor who teaches a “Gender, Race and Class” writing course at Boston University said that sensitive racial languages that may oppress certain groups of people should not be used under any circumstances, even if people are trying to quote from someone else, or singing along [to] song lyrics.
“That’s the position I hold,” Michaud added, “Ta-Nehisi Coates, an African-American writer and intellectual, has gone on record saying no, people who do not identify as black do not have the right to use that word [n-word], even if it is not calling someone that, even if it’s just singing along.”
According to Michaud, it is a very common reaction for Dua and other black people to feel offended. It is their rights to use the word for any purposes, she maintained.
Batsheva Dueck, 23, a Jewish student at Boston University, expressed a different perspective. “This is an instance of an overly politically correct culture.” Dueck said, “if my teacher is trying to say that using the kike against Jewish is not good, I don’t feel there should be big controversies.”
According to Irons, Dexter gave her apology in public after the controversies, but many African-Americans refused to accept that. Michaud also talked about how racial languages may be much more influential than simple racial insensitivity.
“We live in a white-dominated society,” Michaud said. “If she [Dexter] apologized for only mentioning the word but [didn’t] mean it, then she is being too blind to the bigger picture and the history.”
The approach to racial languages in teaching aspect turns out to be more similar. “Growing up as a Jewish [person], I became more conscious in how to talk with other ethnicities.” Dueck said, “just because I’m a minority, I am more careful about how other minorities are treated.”
Michaud has seen international students who didn’t understand race in the American context and what it means to be a black, an extreme minority group, at BU. She deeply felt the need to educate students on racial matters, which is also the reason why she opened up the course. “I mainly work with international students,” Michaud said, “one thing that some international students struggle with is figuring out the language that is OK to use and is not OK to use, which is so culturally dependent and so loaded. I feel like by addressing this issue head on, I can really help students not to offend someone unintentionally.”
Also, it is essential to teach students to understand language beyond the dictionary meaning, according to Michaud. “I talk to students a lot about how language has meaning within context,” Michaud said. “That a word may have a dictionary definition but then it has a whole set of associations and connotations within the cultural and historical context it has been used.”
Moreover, when it comes to whether we should use or mention racially sensitive words or not, Michaud said that “there are some words that people really just shouldn’t say even if they are just mentioning or talking about them.”
Dueck holds different viewpoints about the appropriate manner to racial languages. “Imagine we have two people who are trying to discipline people about the “n-word”, where one is white and the other is black,” Dueck said. “Because you are white, a different race, you are not allowed to say this term, even in a disciplinary manner.” Although it seems to be the unspoken rule to not say the racially sensitive words of other ethnicities other than yourself, Dueck still believes there is a problem, since it actually racializes people way more.
Renqi Zhang, 20, Michaud’s former student who is Chinese, expressed his concern about racial languages. “Before taking the course, I was always afraid of offending others unintentionally,” Zhang said. “I learned a lot more racial context after taking Professor Michaud’s course, so I feel a lot more confident in not offending people when speaking. I agree with her emphasis on racial languages, but I still think people shouldn’t be blamed if they are not saying the word intentionally.”
While some may not agree, the heated discussion over usage of racial languages continued. “When assessing whether or not we agree with the action,” Coppock said, “we should make sure we take the distinction between ‘use’ and ‘mention’ into account.”
4. OP-ED
Arts Education shouldn’t be cut from schools
“Why would you choose music as one of your three major classes?” my mother asked me once when I was in high school. “I think you should learn biology, or other science subjects.” It was when I had to choose three major subjects to learn for two years. That’s what my parents said when I told them I was going to learn music professionally. Honestly, it surprised me. My mom and dad bought me a piano when I was 4, and supported me with time and money for my music activities—rehearsing three times a week for choir, having piano and singing classes—throughout my childhood. They always respected my choice, but not this time. When educators have to make a choice among all subjects, arts subjects tend to be the first to be crossed off the list. However, arts education shouldn’t be cut from schools.
To begin with, learning arts at a young age gives kid advantages when interacting with the outside world. According to a May. 14, 2015, Law Street article written by Valeriya Metla, children who had music educations have more developed brains than their peers, showing positive effect on communication and listening. I was known for having good ears when I was young. Since I started to learn instruments at a young age, I am more sensitive to any sound than my classmates who never learned music. Children who had music education are often more confident and fluent when communicating with others. Moreover, art is also a form of culture, traditions and customs, children can get a better understanding toward American culture, especially the racial diversity, which is an important topic under the American context, according to Metla.
Moving on, arts education has long-term benefits in all academic aspects at school. According to a May. 13, 2018, New York Times article written by Sam Bloch and Kate Taylor, a 2012 analysis of longitudinal studies found that eighth graders who had been involved in arts education achieved better grades in other subjects, such as science and writing, and were more likely to attend and graduate college with higher G.P.A. For example, according to a May. 10, 2018, NYT article written by Natalie Proulx, many writers were inspired by arts. “Walt Whitman conceived of and wrote ‘Leaves of Grass’ while listening to opera,” Proulx wrote, “Alice Walker, Langston Hughes, Ntozake Shange and Ralph Ellison were all moved by spirituals, jazzs and blues.” Personally, the logic I have learned through music, especially through composing, helped me a lot when I organized the structure of my essays and provided me with more inspirations. That is because “music opens up pathways to creative thinking, sharpens our ability to listen and helps us weave together disparate ideas.” Proulx said.
Putting it in a broader context, art is an important form of language in our society which makes arts education an important part to our life. A May. 4, 2016, Los Angeles Times article written by Wendy Woon shows that “today we live in a culture where life is communicated more visually than ever before, with over 3 trillion images created and shared each year.” If you think about the news and posts we see every day, you will realize how strong visual images will impact our emotions more than words do. Think about how often movies will make people cry, and that going to movies has become a weekly activity for some people. “Visual art has the power to bring people together, not always with beauty in the traditional sense, but with the power to find the humanity that binds us together, beyond our differences.” Woon said. The photograph “The Starving Sudan” by Kevin Carter won the 1994 Pulitzer prize. The vulture and the little girl grabbed people’s attention, questioning the morality and humanity behind that picture. The huge pressure eventually led to the suicide of Kevin Carter. From this event, we can see how visual arts can be an important tool for communication. Therefore, learning to perceive and appreciate arts should be emphasized more during education period due to the extreme importance of it to people when they finish school.
Despite the importance of arts education, when meeting financial shortage, people still tend to cut down arts education funding first due to its intangible rate of return. In 2017, President Trump proposed a cut on federal spending on cultural programs, such as eliminating the National Endowment of Arts. This has caused serious debate among people from different disciplines on the usefulness of arts and cultural education. A Feb. 22, 2017, NYT article written by Thomas P. Campbell has found that “the N.E.A.’s budget is comparatively minuscule—$148 million last year, or 0.004 percent of the total federal budget—while the arts sector it supports employs millions of Americans and generates billions each year in revenue and tax dollars.” Moreover, Creative Action is an Austin Nonprofit organization that relies on NEA funds to use the arts to support the development of more than 20,000 kids. The executive director, Karen LaShelle, of Creative Action said that there is a tangible benefit to kids in arts education that they will not get otherwise in a July. 28, 2017, Washington Post article written by Jill Coody Smits. To be more specific, it’s the minimal part of the funding that generates huge benefits both financially and culturally. We should never ignore the intangible part of the education which brings us huge benefits.
Many people object the idea of changing “STEM” into “STEAM”, which means adding arts into the “STEM” education system. People who oppose this idea fail to realize the importance of arts as a compliment to other areas of education. In fact, aspects of education are interrelated. According to a Jul. 11, 2013, article written by Susan Riley, “for every time we invest in reading and cut the arts, we are investing in mechanics and losing the opportunity to apply those mechanics.” If there is no “A”, there can be no “STEM”. John Maeda, the former president of Rhode Island School of Design, proposed the idea that “the arts (including liberal arts, fine arts, music, design-thinking, and language arts) are critical components to innovation, and that the concept is not about giving equal or more time to STEM or arts, but to incorporate, where appropriate, the artistic and design-related skills and thinking processes to student-learning in STEM,” according to a Nov. 8, 2017, article written by Jennifer Gunn. As I stated before, arts education is not only about arts, but about connecting to different subjects and reinforcing each other. Therefore, it must be incorporated into the education system just as “STEM” is.
Last but not least, people often question the high cost of arts education in comparison to the benefit we receive. However, art is priceless. In fact, every aspect of education should be priceless considering the importance of it to the human development. Some people said that arts teachers often take up valuable space on the benefit table since there are so few of them available. According to Riley, everything has a cost, and the costs of arts teachers are worth it. “Arts teachers are some of the only people in a school to access a student’s innate talents and bring them to their full potential as human beings.”
All in all, people must realize the importance of arts education and stop oppressing it now. Arts are important in all aspects of our life, both academically and socially. We should focus on building the interdisciplinary education in order to construct a brighter future for our next generation.
5. FILM SCRIPT
4'36''
FADE IN
EXT. THE STREET NEXT TO SCHOOL - MORNING
JENNIFER LEE, 16, is walking down the street towards the
SCHOOL GATE. She is wearing white school uniforms,
tightening up her hair in two pigtails. Small silver
snowflake ear studs shines.
Walking closer, she is wearing a pair of brand new white
Alexander McQueen Sneaker. Not a single stain. On her left
chest, the name tag says: JENNIFER LEE.
CUT TO: