Thought you might enjoy this:
1984 Reflection Paper
Its 10 o’clock at night and I’m sitting at my computer typing this paper. Why, you ask? Because my earlier attempt at this paper was flawed and did not make the cut. So now, I am rewriting it. Unfortunately Sunday was one of those nights and I couldn’t get to sleep until 4 in the morning, so the next day I was exhausted and decided to write this paper when I wasn’t falling asleep at the dinner table and in the shower and…oh never mind.
But, the next day I learned there was a band concert at 5:30 that went till 9 and I didn’t want to postpone the paper anymore so here I am, writing it. Its 10:15 now and my eyes start to feel droopy. Fortunately I’ve got my trusty cup of 7 11 coffee next to me and I take a swig. Ah. That’s much better. Well then, let’s get started.
Where do I start? How about I start with rule number 2? Well, that’s a funny thing. I didn’t actually break this rule. I found it to be very inconvenient to have to say “hello comrade” every single time I wanted to talk to someone.
So instead I just thought it. And isn’t the whole message of the party, that the party’s ideals must be believed in? People are persecuted because of their thoughts. So you could say that people’s thoughts are an extension of their words in the world of 1984. And vice versa, our words are just an extension of our thoughts. When you say something, you have to think about it first. Your brain has to process what you are going to say before you say it. It is by that logic that I stand by the fact that simply thinking something is equivalent to actually doing the thing.
Looking at rule number three a similar argument can be made. When I walked into class, my attitude towards learning and participation was enough to indicate that I was eager to learn. There was no need to say it. It’s definitely more efficient that saying it out loud. One of the goals of the party is to make things simpler and efficient which is apparent through newspeak.
Also, the telescreens watch every single little body movement and facial expression for signs of rebellion. Therefore, attitude and body language are an important factor when watching a person for defiance against the party. This proves that my attitude towards learning was sufficient enough to replace stating my eagerness to learn out loud.
Rule number 6 is an important one. Fortunately I have a reason for it. This is supposed to be top secret but I have been given permission to include it in this report. I was given a food permit by an inner party member who I will call Mr. U to protect his anonymity. This came about after a regularly scheduled physical when my bodily food levels were found to be surprisingly low.
This was an anomaly that the Unusualness department of the Health and Sickness division of the Ministry of Love is now doing extensive research on. New subjects with this strange condition have been popping up ever since Unusdep started its research. It’s being kept on the down low as not to create a panic. So, as a result of my low Bodfud levels being low, I was issued a food permit which allowed me to eat in class to raise the levels up to a normal normalness. A copy of the permit can be found in the appendix of this report.
As for rule number 7, I only broke it when an emergency arose. When I reach my education facility one day, I realized that I had forgotten my tennis bat. I needed it to play tennis in physical activity class, but to get it, I would need to contact my mother to have her bring it to my Edufac. I felt that breaking rule number 7 and getting my Tenbat, was more important that having my education suffer because of not having my Tenbat. So I did what I felt to be the correct thing to do and used an electronic cellular communications device to contact my mother and have her bring my Tenbat to my Edufac. Fortunately I managed to get it before Physact but I must have been spotted in the process and reported.
Now, rule number 8 was broken because of threats of physical violence if I didn’t reveal the reason behind my actions towards some individuals. These threats included, but are not limited to, “I will slap you in the back of the face”, “Tell me or I’ll punch you” and “If you don’t tell me I will kill your family”. OK that last one was a joke. But as for the back of the face one, the individual I quoted literally meant the back of the face. As in inserting his hand into my head and pushing it forward. It’s a thing we joke about. Forget I mentioned it.
Anyway, I figured that I would be much more useful to the party if I wasn’t physically hurt. If the reasoning behind this rule is that it distracts from my education to explain the game to others, I think that it would be much more distracting to my education to have a physical ailment. Of course, these could have been empty threats, but you know what they say. Better safe than sorry. If I decided not to heed these threats and had indeed been attacked physically, I would have defended myself. However, a fight like that would also be distracting to my education.
The next rule to talk about is rule number 9, dealing with wearing the red party ribbon. This was actually a rule that I was unaware I broke. I thought that I had been constantly wearing my ribbon the entire week. I didn’t notice it was gone until around 5 o’clock on Wednesday when I was at home making a robot out of an old cassette player and some LEGOs. Somehow it must have been removed from my person during the week.
Perhaps it was a cheeky friend attempting to “troll” me. Maybe it simply fell off. Or maybe I never even put it on and simply thought I had. The possibilities are endless. Therefore I chose not to think about it too much as this would distract from my education.
Then there’s rule number 11. I broke this rule because to adequately express one’s opinions one needs to speak. Sometimes the only opportunities to speak about things that differ from education are in the idle periods in classes. When I say idle periods, I mean when the teacher isn’t talking to the class. The teacher might also not be present in the room. Both of these situations provide opportunities to discuss things that don’t have to do with the class.
Now you might be thinking, he’s contradicting himself. He said earlier that thought was an adequate means of expressing feelings and opinions. He also said that people shouldn’t be distracted from their education. First of all I never said people shouldn’t be distracted from their education, I simply stated examples of things that would potentially distract someone from their education.
Second of all my argument about needing to talk proves the concept of doublethink which is somehow such a widely accepted word that Microsoft word has it in its default dictionary and recognizes it as a word. That basically means it doesn’t get a little red line underneath it when you type it into Microsoft word. It has to be in the default dictionary because I’ve never typed it into word before and clicked on add to dictionary.
Anyway, the point is, it’s a very widely known word. It is one of the main motifs in 1984. The concept of doublethink is what the party relies on to keep its points valid. It teaches this concept from a very young age so that it is engraved into the mind. The concept is this. Doublethink is the ability to believe something while simultaneously believing the opposite of that thing at the same time. For example, believing that thinking something is equivalent to saying it, while, at the same time, believing that talking about something is absolutely necessary to express one’s feelings about something.
I love the concept of doublethink. It provides instant justification for anything. In that way, it is similar to saying “what the hey” or “YOLO”. It is an excuse or justification of something that doesn’t have a legitimate excuse. Not that I would use it to justify actions that are morally wrong. I simply enjoy the philosophy behind it. It fascinates me that doublethink is a possibility. It shows verisimilitude, or the realistic factor of things in works of fiction.
Doublethink is a realistic ideology. If 1984 had never been written, it is possible that people would have embraced doublethink to justify some of their not so morally correct choices. Humans are greedy and naturally seek ways to justify that greed. Doublethink presents a pretty good way to do it. That is why doublethink is verisimilitude. It could actually happen. Scary isn’t it? Makes you think twice about being part of the human race.
Finally my anti-big brother crimes. Just a stage is all. Just a phase, an urge, a dirty pleasure. I’m a changed man now. At the time I felt my life was unfair and I protested. I now realize I was wrong. My life is great. I have an education, I have security. What else could anyone else need? Who cares about privacy? I sure don’t.
I also don’t care about being able to express myself and my true opinions. No, my rebellious days are over. They are numbered. No, I’m not going to call them the good old days. That’s too cheesy.
This is the appendix of the paper. This is a party food permit. This food permit entitles the holder of this food permit to eat food during class in order to return bodily food levels to their normal normalosity. Approved by Angel Umana/Mr. U.
So that’s my paper. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Yes, despite the fact that it is now 12 o’clock at night, I actually enjoyed writing this. Also, after listening to A fifth of Beethoven by Walter Murphy and Staying Alive by The Bee Gees on repeat for the past two hours to keep out distractions, I think I’m going to take a break from listening to 80s music for awhile. I’m going to sleep. Goodnight.
-Guess Who
1984 Reflection Paper
Its 10 o’clock at night and I’m sitting at my computer typing this paper. Why, you ask? Because my earlier attempt at this paper was flawed and did not make the cut. So now, I am rewriting it. Unfortunately Sunday was one of those nights and I couldn’t get to sleep until 4 in the morning, so the next day I was exhausted and decided to write this paper when I wasn’t falling asleep at the dinner table and in the shower and…oh never mind.
But, the next day I learned there was a band concert at 5:30 that went till 9 and I didn’t want to postpone the paper anymore so here I am, writing it. Its 10:15 now and my eyes start to feel droopy. Fortunately I’ve got my trusty cup of 7 11 coffee next to me and I take a swig. Ah. That’s much better. Well then, let’s get started.
Where do I start? How about I start with rule number 2? Well, that’s a funny thing. I didn’t actually break this rule. I found it to be very inconvenient to have to say “hello comrade” every single time I wanted to talk to someone.
So instead I just thought it. And isn’t the whole message of the party, that the party’s ideals must be believed in? People are persecuted because of their thoughts. So you could say that people’s thoughts are an extension of their words in the world of 1984. And vice versa, our words are just an extension of our thoughts. When you say something, you have to think about it first. Your brain has to process what you are going to say before you say it. It is by that logic that I stand by the fact that simply thinking something is equivalent to actually doing the thing.
Looking at rule number three a similar argument can be made. When I walked into class, my attitude towards learning and participation was enough to indicate that I was eager to learn. There was no need to say it. It’s definitely more efficient that saying it out loud. One of the goals of the party is to make things simpler and efficient which is apparent through newspeak.
Also, the telescreens watch every single little body movement and facial expression for signs of rebellion. Therefore, attitude and body language are an important factor when watching a person for defiance against the party. This proves that my attitude towards learning was sufficient enough to replace stating my eagerness to learn out loud.
Rule number 6 is an important one. Fortunately I have a reason for it. This is supposed to be top secret but I have been given permission to include it in this report. I was given a food permit by an inner party member who I will call Mr. U to protect his anonymity. This came about after a regularly scheduled physical when my bodily food levels were found to be surprisingly low.
This was an anomaly that the Unusualness department of the Health and Sickness division of the Ministry of Love is now doing extensive research on. New subjects with this strange condition have been popping up ever since Unusdep started its research. It’s being kept on the down low as not to create a panic. So, as a result of my low Bodfud levels being low, I was issued a food permit which allowed me to eat in class to raise the levels up to a normal normalness. A copy of the permit can be found in the appendix of this report.
As for rule number 7, I only broke it when an emergency arose. When I reach my education facility one day, I realized that I had forgotten my tennis bat. I needed it to play tennis in physical activity class, but to get it, I would need to contact my mother to have her bring it to my Edufac. I felt that breaking rule number 7 and getting my Tenbat, was more important that having my education suffer because of not having my Tenbat. So I did what I felt to be the correct thing to do and used an electronic cellular communications device to contact my mother and have her bring my Tenbat to my Edufac. Fortunately I managed to get it before Physact but I must have been spotted in the process and reported.
Now, rule number 8 was broken because of threats of physical violence if I didn’t reveal the reason behind my actions towards some individuals. These threats included, but are not limited to, “I will slap you in the back of the face”, “Tell me or I’ll punch you” and “If you don’t tell me I will kill your family”. OK that last one was a joke. But as for the back of the face one, the individual I quoted literally meant the back of the face. As in inserting his hand into my head and pushing it forward. It’s a thing we joke about. Forget I mentioned it.
Anyway, I figured that I would be much more useful to the party if I wasn’t physically hurt. If the reasoning behind this rule is that it distracts from my education to explain the game to others, I think that it would be much more distracting to my education to have a physical ailment. Of course, these could have been empty threats, but you know what they say. Better safe than sorry. If I decided not to heed these threats and had indeed been attacked physically, I would have defended myself. However, a fight like that would also be distracting to my education.
The next rule to talk about is rule number 9, dealing with wearing the red party ribbon. This was actually a rule that I was unaware I broke. I thought that I had been constantly wearing my ribbon the entire week. I didn’t notice it was gone until around 5 o’clock on Wednesday when I was at home making a robot out of an old cassette player and some LEGOs. Somehow it must have been removed from my person during the week.
Perhaps it was a cheeky friend attempting to “troll” me. Maybe it simply fell off. Or maybe I never even put it on and simply thought I had. The possibilities are endless. Therefore I chose not to think about it too much as this would distract from my education.
Then there’s rule number 11. I broke this rule because to adequately express one’s opinions one needs to speak. Sometimes the only opportunities to speak about things that differ from education are in the idle periods in classes. When I say idle periods, I mean when the teacher isn’t talking to the class. The teacher might also not be present in the room. Both of these situations provide opportunities to discuss things that don’t have to do with the class.
Now you might be thinking, he’s contradicting himself. He said earlier that thought was an adequate means of expressing feelings and opinions. He also said that people shouldn’t be distracted from their education. First of all I never said people shouldn’t be distracted from their education, I simply stated examples of things that would potentially distract someone from their education.
Second of all my argument about needing to talk proves the concept of doublethink which is somehow such a widely accepted word that Microsoft word has it in its default dictionary and recognizes it as a word. That basically means it doesn’t get a little red line underneath it when you type it into Microsoft word. It has to be in the default dictionary because I’ve never typed it into word before and clicked on add to dictionary.
Anyway, the point is, it’s a very widely known word. It is one of the main motifs in 1984. The concept of doublethink is what the party relies on to keep its points valid. It teaches this concept from a very young age so that it is engraved into the mind. The concept is this. Doublethink is the ability to believe something while simultaneously believing the opposite of that thing at the same time. For example, believing that thinking something is equivalent to saying it, while, at the same time, believing that talking about something is absolutely necessary to express one’s feelings about something.
I love the concept of doublethink. It provides instant justification for anything. In that way, it is similar to saying “what the hey” or “YOLO”. It is an excuse or justification of something that doesn’t have a legitimate excuse. Not that I would use it to justify actions that are morally wrong. I simply enjoy the philosophy behind it. It fascinates me that doublethink is a possibility. It shows verisimilitude, or the realistic factor of things in works of fiction.
Doublethink is a realistic ideology. If 1984 had never been written, it is possible that people would have embraced doublethink to justify some of their not so morally correct choices. Humans are greedy and naturally seek ways to justify that greed. Doublethink presents a pretty good way to do it. That is why doublethink is verisimilitude. It could actually happen. Scary isn’t it? Makes you think twice about being part of the human race.
Finally my anti-big brother crimes. Just a stage is all. Just a phase, an urge, a dirty pleasure. I’m a changed man now. At the time I felt my life was unfair and I protested. I now realize I was wrong. My life is great. I have an education, I have security. What else could anyone else need? Who cares about privacy? I sure don’t.
I also don’t care about being able to express myself and my true opinions. No, my rebellious days are over. They are numbered. No, I’m not going to call them the good old days. That’s too cheesy.
This is the appendix of the paper. This is a party food permit. This food permit entitles the holder of this food permit to eat food during class in order to return bodily food levels to their normal normalosity. Approved by Angel Umana/Mr. U.
So that’s my paper. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Yes, despite the fact that it is now 12 o’clock at night, I actually enjoyed writing this. Also, after listening to A fifth of Beethoven by Walter Murphy and Staying Alive by The Bee Gees on repeat for the past two hours to keep out distractions, I think I’m going to take a break from listening to 80s music for awhile. I’m going to sleep. Goodnight.
-Guess Who
