2018, a year for turnarounds and revolutions… yet I am still handing in work late. Anyways on to why I am actually writing this blog post. Throughout this post I am going to be reflecting on a recent project the PLP 12 class has completed. Before winter break we started to learn about the whole idea of dystopia and what exactly that is. In doing this we were assigned the book 1984 to read as it is about a dystopian society.
1984 was written by George Orwell in 1949 predicting how 1984 would be like. Orwell’s book is about a society in which the people living it in have no privacy or freedom whatsoever. Everything in monitored by “Big Brother” through telescreens, your actions and conversations. There is no place with complete privacy; posters are hung everywhere with words on them saying “Big Brothers Is Watching You!”.
In class Ms Willemse asked us to write a Bio Poem about ourselves. These poems reveal your personality traits and characteristics. Here is the one I wrote about me…
Anatolia
Outgoing, caring, happy, and positive
Sister of Jackson
Love of adventure, travel, and food
Who feels tired, excited, and pleasant
Who needs adventure, friendship, and food
Who fears sharks, elevators, and small planes
Who gives good vibes, joy, and laughter
Who would like to see more of the world, less homework, and more happiness
Resident of several different homes
Floe
Next we got into groups of 5 and were assignment to write one for a character in the book 1984. My group chose to do it on Julia on of the main characters in the book. After we wrote the poem we were told to trace someone in our group on a big piece of paper, and then draw symbols all over it to reperest Julia and who she truly is. I actually liked this assignment because we were doing some hands on things and that always for me helps me learn better and remember the content. After we finished the symbols we were instructed to cut out on part of our paper character and we would later put it over a green screen an animate that one part of them. For Julia we decided to cut out her heart and we put fire in it to represent her fiery spirit.
Click here to watch our Julia animation..
For each symbol we put on Julia there was meaning and thought behind it. I am going to start at her head and work down and explain each symbol we put on her and why we decided to do that.
First the birds on her head:
Julia is a very free minded, free spirited women. She lives almost in her own little world and in the moment trying to do everything to the fullest. She lets her thoughts run wild and she doesn’t care about anything that doesn’t affect her personally. She is rebellious but only when someone tries and stops her from living carefree and the way she chooses. She believes that “You wanted to have a good time…” (Chap 3) but “the Party, wanted you to stop having it” (Chap 3)
The mask in her hand:
The mask symbolises her rebellious side. How she rebels against the party and their ways but always behind their backs in secret. She doesn’t let anyone see who she truly is and especially show her true feelings toward the party. “The clever thing was to break the rules and stay alive all the same,” (Chap 3).
The fox on her chest:
Foxes are sneaky and quick thinkers just like Julia. Their agile minds are always active. Julia is able to sleep with any men and get away with it without anyone finding out, she knows exactly what to do in order for them to fall into her little traps.
The red ribbon across her waste:
This sash is to cover up who she truly is, and reperests who she pretends to be. It is wore to convince the party she is good and pure and has definitely not slept with a lot of different party members.
The unlocked lock hanging from her belt loop:
Disloyal and dishonest. The open lock reperests how easy it is for her to be disloyal and betray someone.
The glasses hanging from her pocket:
The glasses hanging from her pocket reperest her once love for Winston and how it was hidden away just like the glasses are in her pocket.
The map on her leg:
The map symbolizes that she prefers to live in the here and the now. The markers on the map represent how she lives in the moment and does what she wants regardless of the consequences. It shows that she will plan out the rest of her life when the time comes.
The men on her feet:
The men on her feet represents how she “walks all over men” and takes them for granted. When her and Winston are are going to the forest during their first real time together she admits she had done similar things before “scores of times” (Chapter 2) with other party members. She is not as pure and innocent as the red sash on her waste portray her to be.