The most powerful messages of 1984, I think, are the horror of the totalitarian society, the paranoia, the not being able to trust anyone, and the way anyone can be broken in the end. And then there's other topics Orwell touches upon along the way that are relevant to modern society, like the political abuse of language, the dangers of political apathy and a population fed with "panem et circenses", the way political entities have an interest in "correcting" or outright falsifying their own history, and so on. And then of course the aspect that you mention that has become so famous through the Big Brother TV show.
Using plausibility as the standard of what makes a book worth our time is nonsensical.
*MySmiley*
structured procrastinator
structured procrastinator
Censorship, promotion of books and dissemination of ideas.
05/02/2010 05:15:17 PM
- 1483 Views
Tough Subject, censorship
05/02/2010 07:24:39 PM
- 987 Views
I think I would be worried if a school had more than one copy of Mein Kampf
06/02/2010 06:30:08 PM
- 907 Views
I was mostly just using it as an example, since it was what the article talked about
06/02/2010 10:20:08 PM
- 945 Views
I actually ran into this in high school.
05/02/2010 08:33:10 PM
- 1135 Views
I found that we covered a lot about American Indian issues in US History.
06/02/2010 06:23:16 PM
- 921 Views
Anyone interested in German history in particular and European history in general should read it.
05/02/2010 08:47:14 PM
- 1098 Views
I think jane austen and the brontes would be good to leave in
06/02/2010 03:44:10 AM
- 832 Views
I read a great number of books I don't necesarily agree with, so I'm on your side.
06/02/2010 06:19:21 PM
- 925 Views
Hmm.
05/02/2010 09:11:13 PM
- 968 Views
It's interesting that many of the most influential books are hardly ever read.
06/02/2010 06:15:19 PM
- 905 Views
Love the survey.
05/02/2010 09:42:29 PM
- 1081 Views
Interesting. Do you really think that Nineteen Eighty-Four is plausible?
06/02/2010 10:13:56 AM
- 925 Views
It doesn't have to be plausible as a whole to be relevant.
06/02/2010 08:28:20 PM
- 923 Views
I agree entirely
06/02/2010 10:32:07 PM
- 1015 Views
Re: Censorship, promotion of books and dissemination of ideas.
05/02/2010 11:09:41 PM
- 1071 Views
Re: Censorship, promotion of books and dissemination of ideas.
05/02/2010 11:47:08 PM
- 1043 Views
I agree with most of that. But to quote our eminent Camilla...
06/02/2010 10:30:15 AM
- 1030 Views
Re: I agree with most of that. But to quote our eminent Camilla...
06/02/2010 12:25:37 PM
- 948 Views
I agree on the Shakespeare (and mentioned that below).
06/02/2010 05:54:50 PM
- 930 Views
Re: I agree on the Shakespeare (and mentioned that below).
06/02/2010 06:05:48 PM
- 1038 Views
I don't think high school students need to discuss possibilities for staging.
07/02/2010 01:36:03 AM
- 866 Views
nice post
06/02/2010 01:27:23 AM
- 897 Views
Re: nice post
06/02/2010 01:29:34 AM
- 904 Views
A lot of people think von Clausewitz is important.
06/02/2010 05:51:44 PM
- 834 Views
More than Sun Tzu? *NM*
06/02/2010 08:31:44 PM
- 341 Views
Sun Zi was relatively unknown in the West until recently.
07/02/2010 01:30:06 AM
- 886 Views
Sure, but he could still have influenced world history by influencing Asia... *NM*
07/02/2010 01:35:17 AM
- 373 Views
Doubtful.
07/02/2010 01:41:01 AM
- 901 Views
In many ways, books are like automobiles or power tools...
06/02/2010 11:08:01 AM
- 1072 Views
The interesting thing, to my mind, is that the BBC article talks about "Lebensraum".
06/02/2010 04:46:34 PM
- 900 Views
And nary a thing about Alois Hitler, no?
06/02/2010 05:52:50 PM
- 1101 Views

I have yet to see a literature teacher in schools teach history through literature.
07/02/2010 01:33:57 AM
- 914 Views
But yet I know several history teachers who have done this
07/02/2010 10:38:49 AM
- 1014 Views
Viewing history through a literary prism is usually an injustice to the study of history.
07/02/2010 03:16:30 PM
- 979 Views
No, the opposite: viewing literature through historical lens is what I'm interested in
07/02/2010 03:31:04 PM
- 960 Views
Hmm.
06/02/2010 11:33:02 PM
- 933 Views
I will answer yiour survey but may I ask a question first? What did you think of Steinbeck?
07/02/2010 06:20:52 AM
- 870 Views
The Grapes of Wrath was required in Sophomore English in HS. And I loved it.
07/02/2010 03:25:55 PM
- 959 Views