2 assignments from an online english course

The Five-Paragraph Essay

A five-paragraph essay includes an introductory paragraph with a thesis statement that introduces your essay’s argument, three body paragraphs (one point per paragraph) that each begin with a topic sentence, and a conclusion paragraph with a restated thesis. To read more about expository essays and the five-paragraph essay, go to this website: 

A) Julia and Winston 

Write a short essay considering Julia and Winston as complementary characters.  Discuss how they differ in terms of their  morality and ethical views, their feelings about history, and their political values.  Take care to illustrate your arguments with quotations from the text, and if you are using online sources (you are not expected to), be sure to cite them as you would in any essay.

B) Synthesis

Marshall McLuhan, when asked whether he saw himself as being prophetic about new technologies, insisted that he was merely giving a warning. In a short paper of three or four pages, comment on the extent to which Orwell might be seen as a prophet by McLuhan by discussing the technologies in use in Oceania and the effects of those technologies on the population. 

C) Dover Beach

Read Matthew Arnold’s poem “Dover Beach” and think about the context for the poem. Do a little online research on the poem in order to understand its background.  Then, relate the poem to the novel by showing how Orwell might have used the poem as a stimulus for writing the novel. Use proper essay format.   

D) Hilary.com

Go to the Hilary.com website, an e-zine written and edited by Hilary Rowlands, a former model. 

Scroll through the ‘zine and comment on the extent to which the material contained in the articles and advertising actually resembles what Orwell was anticipating and comment on the extent to which you feel such publications could be seen as being dangerous to the public.  Refer specifically to the text, graphics, themes, and overall design of the site. Use proper essay format.

E) Newspeak

Imagine that you are Syme and that you are helping with the Eleventh Edition of the Newspeak Dictionary. Develop fifteen Newspeak words that you feel would serve the Party well.  List the words, show what they derive from, provide clear definitions, and show how they would serve the purposes of Big Brother in controlling the language and thoughts of the party members. 

F) Nature Imagery

London is on fast forward, a city state in which there is little relief from omnipresent technologies and surveillance. Traditionally, people in need of respite from the everyday pressures of life in the city resort to some experience in nature. Comment on the significance of nature in Orwell’s novel by referring to Winston and Julia’s time beyond the city as well as to other elements that may be associated with nature.