Brave New World #2

1. What could John stand for in Brave New World?
John is seen as a savage in the book. He is unable to resist his desires when he sees Lenina, "at once he was breathing Lenina's perfume, filling his lungs with her essential being" (Huxley 143). He is an outsider and cannot comprehend this different society he is placed in. John could represent one of us; if we were placed in a different society, we could not possibly comply with all of the rules. Knowing a different society causes a person to behave differently than everyone else. If we were put in Bernard's society, we would feel alienated watching everyone give up personal freedom because we are so used to the sense of total freedom.
2. Why does no one try to save Linda from her 'soma' vacation?
It seems that no one has a desire to see Linda anymore. She was disturbingly ugly to others, "you simply couldn't look at her without feeling sick" (Huxley 153). Everyone continues to let Linda take large doses of soma, or medication, and they realize she will be dead in a month or two. Everyone seems to be alright with Linda traveling on this short path to death except for John. John knows it will kill her, but John cannot do so much as raise a finger to object what everyone else wishes. Perhaps Linda's drugged-up death represents what Mustapha Mond said, "History is bunk" (Huxley 32). You cannot concentrate on the past, you must be concerned with the future. Leaving behind Linda is like disregarding the past. To advance forward, you must stop holding on to the past.
3. Why does does the author quote Shakespeare in the book so often?
Shakespeare is a well known poet who explores many known thoughts and emotions humans can relate to. In Brave New World, the society Bernard and John live in is so controlling and manipulative, it seems contrasting to use Shakespeares words. These deeply emotional writings are just the things that Bernard's society wants to abolish. The persistence of Shakepeare's quotes could represent the persistence of the human race; you can try to completely outlaw or govern something, but eventually people will find a way to rebel.

Don't You Want Me

1. The subjects are a guy and a girl in a relationship. The guy feels like the girl doesn't appreciate the things he has done for her, while the girl feels tired of the situation and wants to get out and explore the world.
2. The first side has the guy thinking about the girl. He knows that he helped her get to the place she is at and he feels she doesn't appreciate him, "Don't forget it's me who put you where you are now."
The second side has the girl who is tired of the relationship and wants to leave, "but even then I knew I'd find a much better place either with or without you." She felt she'd be successful either way.
3. I agree with the guy. He helped the woman get up in life and she won't credit his help. Without the guy, the girl would still be working in the cocktail bar. He's begging for her to come back.

First Brave New World entry

In Brave New World, the hatchery and the nrusery are the first examples of equality you come across. The hatchery basically produces humans in groups, raising them together and molding them to fit their futures. Whether you are Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, or Epsilon, you have been raised to fit that specific life. They do things when the children are infants, like condition the Deltas to hate books and flowers. That is how they reduce conflict in the world; they create human beings like baby dolls.
"That is the secret of happiness and virtue- liking what you've got to do. all conditioning aims at that: making people like their inescapable social destiny" (Huxley 16). The director is saying that by shaping these humans to be just how they are meant to be seen, happiness will be obtained. This is a startling contrast from our society where we are raised by our parents and shaped by our experiences. When compared to the book, our experiences can cause us to go anywhere. We will not always do what we are 'assigned' to do in our society, but in Brave New World these people have no freedom. They must wear clothes to specify their caste, having no forbidden books, no reproduction, no religion, no Shakespeare, no families. Essentially everything that could influence a person to diverge from their destined future has been outlawed.
Based on the reading so far, this is definitely a dystopia to me. No one is happy like I have experienced happiness, no one is given individual rights. "They don't know what it's like being anything else. We'd mine, of course. but then we've been differently conditioned" (Huxley 74). Lenina was pondering about the different social classes but soon realized everyone was different. She was raised to be what she was, and other Betas or Alphas were raised to be what they were. People were not given the opportunity to choose. Freedom is the big thing a dystopia lacks, and in Brave New World you see minimal freedom granted to the citizens.

Homeschooling response MLA

Homeschool provides many opportunities to those seeking a personal education experience with family support, far outweighing the negative consequences thought to be associated with homeschooling. A homeschooled education gives the student a much more personal experience, allowing the student to learn more efficiently with fewer interruptions from classmates. Jeub states “The one-on-one tutoring atmosphere is the healthiest, most productive and most progressive atmosphere for a student’s academic success” (73). It is evident that a student will learn more material in less time because he or she can be focused on the task at hand and not deal with confused peers or bothersome friends. Working with a mother or father to learn material will increase family bonds and foundations. Getting to interact with your family for prolonged periods of time will often result in quarrels and unwanted discussions, but in the long run it increases the trust and bond between parent and child. This communication cannot be found in a public school atmosphere, where teachers must act as temporary parents for over twenty kids that are fed up with school an hour into the day.

Although homeschool is appealing to almost anyone who wants their kids to receive one-on-one time, some concerns have been raised. “Some of the most troubled kids I dealt with came from homes where they’d been very sheltered” (Moore 76). Carole Moore explains that one of the negative consequences of homeschooling is the act of rebellion; however, rebellion is not a consequence of being homeschooled. Rebellion is an act of defiance towards the world. Kids who have been to public school their whole lives can rebel, adults can rebel, children can rebel. Moore proposes these homeschooled kids act out because the sheltering they have received from being homeschooled has affected them negatively. However, if a parent allows their kids to have rights and exposes them to life properly, rebellion is unnecessary. You see strict parents in strict households trying to control their rebellious children, but the fact that they are homeschooled or go to public school is irrelevant to the matter. 

1984 Resposne part 3

The end of 1984 is quite surprising. A cliché plot line is expected, and Winston is strongly estimated to overcome Big Brother. However, the ending brings the audience back around in a confusing loophole. Quoting the very end of the book, “Two gin scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother” (Orwell 245.) Big Brother has successfully won, penetrating the minds of even Winston, the one thought to be able to think beyond The State. It is apparent Big Brother will always be supreme over even the most creative of minds. In 1984, the State can’t be brought down. They have the thought police, Ingsoc, the various ministries, doublethink, and countless other ways to manipulate the thoughts and actions of the citizens in Oceania. Winston mentions “If there is hope, it lies in the Proles” (Orwell 60.) Winston discusses how the large population of the Proles, roughly 85% of the 1984 society, was the only hope to take over the State. They surely aren’t competent enough, and they most definitely don’t have the motivation or intelligence to, but their large mass is the driving force for their ability to conquer the state. The problem is the Proles would never dream of going against Big Brother; they are brainwashed by Big Brother as easily as a goldfish could be. At the end of the novel, Winston Smith is doomed to an obedient life in honor of Big Brother. He has been converted, his thoughts will never betray the State again. When he has memories of his childhood that go against what Big Brother wants him to believe, he so easily convinces himself they are false memories and goes on with his day. He has no motivation to see Julia. Winston Smith is another mindless product of the totalitarian government that Big Brother controls. 

Language of Love

1. I assumed that the girl was embarrassed or stuck up, not deaf. I felt as if she did not want to talk to the man at first.
2. The guy expects the girl to talk back to him. When she does not, he thinks she is brushing him off or doesn't want to talk to him. He is not a part of the def culture and did not know what to expect. The culture of talking in America has caused the man to expect an answer from the woman.
3. An external conflict would be the social expectation of talking.
4. An internal conflict would be the guy's feelings towards the girl.
5. The woman finally admitted she was deaf. He had to change his expectations of her responses.