Author Archives: Lawrence

Who could be trusted more, Julia or O’Brien?

Posted on by
Reply

With Book Two, Winston meets Julia and begins an affair that he deeply wanted, this started the contrast between them. Unlike Winston, Julia doesn’t really care about the Party. She has a mix of sense practicality that makes her plan their affair. She also lacks fatalism. When he tells her, “We are the dead,” she replies calmly, “We’re not dead yet.” Julia is more optimistic than Winston. She accepts her life for what it is, and tries to make the best of it. Winston tries to undermine it but she doesn’t understand that side of him or the party. The only thing that’s resides in her is the rebellious act of Winston because she’s apart of it. Julia is more of a selfish type of person than Winston. Winston just enjoys the fact that the rebellion will spread. The affair kept going until Winston meeting O’Brien. Since then he played a risk with renting above mr.charrington’s shop. This was due to the inspiration by “vision of the glass paperweight”. Making him think that their relationship could be similar to those in the past more free time. With Winston looking into the paperweight opens his mind about a world inside but outside time, free of the party. Also Winston thinks about his past on how deep the mind manipulation by the party is often but still knows the reality. Julia is one of his few outlets for his expression in a meaningful way. But the only thing that would separate them is the party with its manipulation through their past. “The past is whatever the records and the memories agree upon. And since the party is in full control of all records, and in equally full control of the minds of its members, it follows that the past is whatever the party chooses to make it.” (Pg 219) In a way where that they would turn on each other if caught but still love each other which shows the power of the party in human minds. Winston meeting o’brien just fills him with optimism and yet fatalism. He does feel safe around him and that’s what O’Brien leads him to believe. With that belief, he’s filled with thrill, because of what he’s doing it will eventually get him caught. O’Brien is everything Winston wants to be, which is a act that he puts on to set Winston up in the long run.

1984 Part Uno

Posted on by
Reply

1984 l-V

In These chapters Winston Smith is a protagonist that lives in a oppressive world. From Winston’s perspective he sees the brutal physical and psychological wrong that’s upon the people by their government. 1984 shows the scary totalitarian government , in which a single ruling class has power might use to control its people, and to show the extent of the control that government is able to extend. Winston has been subject to their control all of his life, but wants rebellion and freedom.
Unlike everyone else in Airstrip One, Winston wants to know how it would be if he were free. In the world of Airstrip One, freedom is a shocking and having self-expression is an crime. The extent of government control is unmeasurable. When Winston realizes that he has written “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” has him panic. He has been fearing the power of the Party for decades, and the guilt he feels after having committed a crime against the Party overwhelms him, having him certain that he will be caught and punished.
Whats important also of the Party’s oppression of is a subject that forces repression of sexual Desire. Winston has to suppress his sexual side while dreaming, he dreams in Chapter II of an imaginary Golden Country in which he makes love to the dark hair girl.
The Party’s control of the past is another serious issue of its psychological control over its people, no one is allowed to keep physical records documenting the past prevents people from challenging the government. Winston only vaguely remembers a time before the Party came to power, and memories of his past enter his mind only in dreams, which are the most secure thoughts, feelings, and memories that must be suppressed in conscious life which plays a big role. Think I finally finished on time with this one.

Class Discussion: There will come soft Rains

Posted on by
1

From the poem to the film I felt that they we shedding a new beginning in different aspects. I feel that time was key in each domain. In the reading it was starting an new day, nothing really special about the date.  With the poem I felt it was breaking a new season after the war that happened in the cold harsh winters. With the film it started a new year. But I found it weird that all of them didn’t share the same dates. It would’ve been better that the film and the reading were to start a new season due to the poem, because of the era it was written in.

There will come soft rains

Posted on by
Reply

“There Will Come Soft Rain” from the poem to the film was about the after math of a war. In the reading by Ray Bradbury the house being empty but voice is speaking as if theirs a family in there, living time by time with announcements. From 7am to 7am the next day the house has gone through its daily routines and had multiple functions, silence within the empty house was the norm, but having a response was the issue. “Who goes there? What’s the password?” and, getting no answer from lonely foxes and whining cats, it had shut up its windows and drawn shades in an old maidenly preoccupation with self-protection…” (Bradbury, Ray. There will come soft rain. 2). The house reacted in a frantic manor towards the animals because it’s used to no one being there. “Then again when the dog had came along later on Behind it whirred angry mice, angry at having to pick up mud, angry at inconvenience. “. It became a big scene for the mice knowing that they had to finally do some work. It’s equivalent to knowing that you work a quite shift and then someone comes along asking for directions to the nearest train station is such as myself. With the poem by Sara Teasdale it has a connection other than on Page 3. “Since you express no preference, I shall select a poem at random.” Quiet music rose to back the voice. “Sara Teasdale. As I recall, your favorite…. ” even during the war that left that area abandoned, I think Mrs. McClellan knew the truth that nature would win in the battle against man.

“Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree
If mankind perished utterly;
And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn,
Would scarcely know that we were gone. ”

when it came down to it no one was left and time still went on with a break of a new day ,with spring over the horizon. The film kind of summed it up but the difference was that the house destroyed itself and it was in the winter time. Which showed a different field that I hope to understand.

Brand new world

Posted on by
Reply

A lot of people have called the governmental regime “totalitarian” in nature, Huxley explicitly describes it as such. Huxley stated in Brave New World Revisited that the only way to create a permanently stable society is for the regime to have absolute power. The regime must then promise that people are happy all the time, be able to control the behavior with every person, and ensure that independent thinkers are forbidden from disturbing the social fabric. Huxley the realize some of the main sources of social stability. Science creates and conditions people to become happy members of society. The comment by the Director, “What man has joined, nature is powerless to put asunder,” reveals the extent that the conditioning can alter behavior.

The interplay between sexuality and emotions is complex. Huxley realized that monogamy, sex, and family ties generate most human emotions. Thus, the society rests on promiscuity and baby factories. The goal is to eradicate emotions by replacing them with pure sexual desire and nothing else. This, combined with the baby factories, destroys family life and monogamous relationships.

Bernard Marx and Helmholtz Watson have deep questions on the society that they live in, though they do not know how to put such questions into thought or words. This impulse towards the rational comes from differences, strength for Bernard, brain for Helmholtz – that blocks their ability to accept the ordered world around them. Plus, Huxley makes a statement about creativity, progress, and the ability of powerful authorities to stifle such things. Foster and Lenina represent the majority of society, who have a limited range of actions and do not do anything amazing which I don’t understand. Their conversation that hey have repeats phrases learned during hypnopedia (learning while asleep or hypnotize.), therefore contains no new smart ideas.

Lenina goes out on a date with Bernard twice before their trip to the Savage Reservations, and each time she finds Bernard to be weird. Bernard prefers to walk with her in a park so that they can spend time talking. However, Lenina cannot sum up the idea of intellectual conversation and convinces him instead watch a wrestling match. Bernard refuses to take any soma and is unhappy in the middle of a large crowd. That same night, Lenina expects Bernard to stay over and sleep with her, but he has to take a lot of soma before he can do so because he feels embarrassment over entering into sex so early in their relationship.
This becomes hard for Bernard and Lenina to release their emotions. Since both of them forget to bring any soma, they cannot hide behind the narcotic’s pleasures. Lenina cannot hold back her emotions. The way the Indians live induces an intense amount of disgusted in her. Bernard tells Lenina that men have lived this way for thousands of years, but she simply cannot believe it.

John agrees to leave in the hopes that the Utopian world can accept him. Huxley uses the future dystopian society as a point of contrast, the novel makes a larger point about the way all societies treat unfamiliar cultures. John symbolizes this difference, as he is too civilized and emotional for the savage lands but too savage for the civilized world.

With the play. Hard for me to see but I think John was falling for Lenina. Convincing himself that he loves Lenina, and the chapter expresses his love by the way he looks at her and inhales her perfume. John retains humbleness, for when he imagines undressing Lenina, he immediately feels ashamed for his impure thoughts.
The play also parallels John and Lenina’s romantic situation, since the two are from different worlds. Lenina inhabits the civilized world, a world that looks down upon reservation people who live savage and incomprehensible lives. The reservation people, on the other hand, cannot understand the scientific society that now lacks emotion, religion, and natural life. The passion that John feels for Lenina mirrors the love that Romeo and Juliet, two lovers from fighting families, have for each other.

Class Notes for 2/14/17

Posted on by
1

Good Evening this is the class notes for 2/14/17, not sure if I stuctured this correctly.

Homework for Thursday 2/16/17
-Metropolis (Blog due w/ 2115)
-Look at post/comments (Syllabus daily check in)

Free writing: (7 mins)

1. Main conflicts/identifying whether internal or external + themes
2. What is valued (competing sets of values > Kuno/Vashti)

Class discussion on “The machine stops.”

Characters:

Vashti- Kuno mother, lecturer, religious and dependent on the machines. Mainstream views of the society.

Kuno- son of Vashti, rebellious and athletic

The machine- secures needs of the people, the center, isolates the people. Related to “The Book” (which is written by the central committee)

Conflicts:

Between Vashti and Kuno
Kuno wanting to have that bond between him and his mother.
Kuno and society
Kuno trying to break away from the machine nurturing system that has weakened the people.

Values:
Safety, Control, Order and Uniformity

Vocabulary & terms:

Technological Determinism- Technology determining what happens in society

Affordance- Type of possibility in a setting

Reverently- (adverb) To handle something in a respect and religious manner

Acquiescence- (n) to accept without rebel

Artificial-(adj) Something that’s man made, unnatural

Active Reading- To reading any material with questions to have a better understanding.

Introduction on Lawrence

Posted on by
Reply

Name is Kahlil Lawrence, prefer being called by my last name or L for short. I found it more simple to go by my last name since I started working after graduating out of high school, because I hate explaining on how to pronounce my first name.

Took a whole year off from college after I graduated, Because I didn’t know what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Should’ve said this in class while being put on the spot, but I don’t really freestyle like that. I’m very found of music. I wish to be a producer (like the rest of the borough filled with upcoming rappers and producers.) , however don’t have the currency to do it and maintain my lifestyle that I am living. This is why I chose to go into Radtech as a major, it’s simple to me as just a job but not something I want to do for the rest of my life, so I might as well take something I have to do to & do what I want to do.

Recently I’ve been traveling lately to New Hampshire and Pennsylvania with other college friends last summer and this past winter break to get away from New York. We haven’t decided on the next location for our venture, but I Hope it keeps going in the future. I would like to travel to different countries other than where my parents originated (Jamaica).

This semester I want to have a better liking and understanding for science fiction. Up to this point I feel science fiction is a more philosophy type way of thinking which isn’t really my strong suit. Fingers crossed that this semester enhances my mental and I gravitate to science fiction. I’m out of things to say.