Please make sure you have read Part II, Chapters 1-5 before starting this discussion. Let’s do something different this time around. Choose one out of the five questions to answer. Please make sure to identify which question you are answering and analyze thoroughly. Make sure to bring evidence from the novel and produce a 1-paragraph analysis. Then, provide two responses for a question you did not answer (that your fellow classmates answered). In your response, you should add to their analysis or offer alternate analysis for your classmate to think about. This means you are responsible for answering one question and providing two responses on questions that are different from yours. (i.e. If I answered Question #3, then I may be responding to Question #1 and #5 that my fellow classmates answered). This will allow you to address or think about most of the questions I have asked for this discussion.
One more thing: I’m sure some questions are going to be more popular than others. If you see some classmates answering the same questions, then try to focus on a different one. Don’t choose the same one to focus on. As each person starts to post their answer, that should be an indication for you to focus your effort on a different question. Same applies to all class members. I am able to monitor who responds first, second, third, and so on in this forum. If I see the same question being answered over and over again, that means you are not paying attention to my directions. Please add variety to your answers. If anything is confusing, then feel free to ask.
Here are the discussion questions:
1. After having sex with Julia, Winston declares that “[t]heir embrace had been a battle, the climax a victory. It was a blow struck against the Party. It was a political act” (105). Explain the analogy, especially how having sex is a political act in Winston’s perspective.
2. What is Julia’s view of the Party and how does it differ from Winston’s? (109). You may want to assess whether or not you find her to be a critical thinker (make sure to give an example of one critical thinking concept in your analysis).
3. What is the significance of the rhyme that Mr. Charrington recited to Winston?:
Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St. Clement’s!
You owe me three farthings, say the bells of St. Martin’s
When will you pay me? Say the bells of Old Bailey – (121)
4. What does Winston discover about Julia’s memory that shocks him and why is this important? Give an example to demonstrate.
5. First, explain what the quote below means. Second, can we defend the claim that “ignorance is bliss?” Third, identify the analogy in this quote and analyze what you think it means.
In a way, the world-view of the Party imposed itself most successfully on people incapable of understanding it. They could be made to accept the most flagrant violations of reality, because they never fully grasped the enormity of what was demanded of them, and were not sufficiently interested in public events to notice what was happening. By lack of understanding they remained sane. They simply swallowed everything, and what they swallowed did them no harm, because it left no residue behind, just as a grain of corn will pass undigested through the body of a bird (129).