I was not an English major. You want to talk about inorganic chemistry and I can yak with you all day long but the intricacies of cold war symbolism in Brit Lit are probably not my strong suit as a discussion leader. ;)Originally Posted by PoliCon
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06-24-2009, 09:27 AM
I was not an English major. You want to talk about inorganic chemistry and I can yak with you all day long but the intricacies of cold war symbolism in Brit Lit are probably not my strong suit as a discussion leader. ;)
06-24-2009, 10:02 AM
Remember the term TWO MINUTES HATE the next time you hear about the media release a "new message from Bin Laden".
06-24-2009, 05:04 PM
forgive me if I'm wrong - but I though that two minutes hate was the chance to vent against the part . . . . it's been a while since I read the book so I could be mistaken. . . .Remember the term TWO MINUTES HATE the next time you hear about the media release a "new message from Bin Laden".
06-24-2009, 09:11 PM
Crap.
Okay, let's get this show in the road. I am not a Lit major and don't play one on TV.
Let's go chunk by chunck (with generous dips into future chapters for discussion).
Early on we meet Winston's neighbor. Discuss his neighbor's family in terms of Nazism and in terms of both conservative and liberal lifestyle and mindset. How are they different or the same? Are there parraells between Winston's neighbor's family life and anything you see in our own society?
How does Winston's work life contrast with our own? Discuss employer key loggers and Internet usage tracking. Discuss workplace camera usage.
Anybody? Feel free to add or subtract this stuff. Lit isn't my field and I don't watch Oprah. :p
06-24-2009, 09:15 PM
You are mistaken.
06-24-2009, 09:22 PM
You want to take over? Because I'd be relieved. Seriously. :D
06-24-2009, 09:29 PM
I'm willing to try, but Literature is not my specialty either. I have NEVER led a book discussion.
So here is my first post in leading this discussion group.
Go read Gingers last post about Winston's neighbors - the Parsons - and comment. :D
06-24-2009, 09:30 PM
Winston's neighbors? Notice how the devotional bonds between parents and children are cut. The children are taught - and encouraged to turn on their parents. Sound familiar? Sound like cases of kids coming home and telling their parents that they are destroying the environment or killing polar bears?
06-24-2009, 09:42 PM
Or reporting parents to DSS or Child protective Services.
And....the answer to the question about two minutes hate:
two minutes hate was a way to work the sheepish masses to a hatred frenzy of the "enemy" Goldstein.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_C992KPzKs
06-24-2009, 09:44 PM
The Parson's are also over-committed. The husband and the children are totally involved in political activities. This to the point that neither the husband nor the children have any time to devote to family concerns (Winston has to fix their sink).
This is not much different to the over-committed childhoods we see today. All in the service of better college prospects, or better athletic prospects, or better "volunteerism" bona fides for college. Many kids today have no real idea about dusting a house but they sure can recycle.
In terms of "spying" - what about D.A.R.E.? What about kids being asked about their parents' drinking/smoking/gun ownership habits in school?
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