Written Task 1 (SL student)

Rationale:

This written task is a satirical flyer written in the context of George Orwell’s novel 1984. The flyer, titled The Brother over My Shoulder, puts a dark, humorous spin on different events that occur in the novel. It is written by a few, opinionated, non-radicals with anti-Party sympathies, intended for readers such as the novel’s protagonist, Winston Smith, who are depressed and disillusioned by life in Oceania.

The author of the flyer is given the name John Churchill, a play on the name of the novel’s protagonist, Winston Smith – a combination of a typical English name, John Smith, and that of a recent national hero, Winston Churchill. The quote (following the title) works as the slogan of the flyer, parodying the INGSOC slogan ‘war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength’ by replacing words to communicate the opinions and values of the writers of the flyer.

Due to the satirical nature of the text, I have incorporated subtle, dark, and dry humour into the commentary of the serious topics, with comments such as ‘…laughter is the best medicine, after all. Doubt it will cure death though.’ This helps the task align with the part 4 aspect of the syllabus as the task ‘identifies and situates an extract in the context of a larger work’. This written task not only focuses on events in the novel, but also looks to incorporate a possible perspective (such as a satirical one) that may exist in the context of the novel, amongst some of the populace of Oceania. ‘Understanding explicit and implicit meanings of a text’ is shown through the embedding of themes and tropes such as futility (‘when you finally get caught [for supporting the Brotherhood]’) and manipulation (‘changing… history books to fool everyone).

Word Count: 292

Written Task:

The Brother Over My Shoulder

War is a laugh, freedom is history, humour is strength – NOT Big Brother

John Churchill’s Afterword

In this edition, I have once again sifted through the large pile of feed shoved at us hardworking pigs by the entirely superior set of people eloquently called the Party (headed by this ‘brother’ figure who has found some ingenious way to watch each and every one of us go through the same, mundane, depressing life without killing himself out of sheer boredom) to find some ‘news’ fake enough that it might actually be funny to some comrades. Speaking of suicide, one may wonder if the lack of razor blades around might just play a part in that not happening as often as it might otherwise.

Firstly, for any new readers of these scraps of paper written by a group of very dull humans with a passion for Victory gin and who are plagued by chronic speakwriter’s cramp, this text is illegal. I can say with certainty, if anyone catches you with it, you’re dead. You could ask a Party member about the possible consequences, though you will probably receive some dull but completely true answer like ‘if I tell you, I’m going to have to kill you’. So you’re damned always. Well, as we’re both in the same boat, why not continue? You may even have a chuckle or two as you read this. Laughter is the best medicine, after all. Doubt it will cure death though.

Comrades, Let’s Get Them Eur… I mean Eastasians!

The first item I would like to bring forward is the (un)surprising fact that we have suddenly decided to make allies of our enemies, and made enemies with our allies. For the sake of remaining alive, don’t ask why. I assume it was decided by a coin that was randomly tossed once in awhile, although that would be too logical for the Party as a means of decision-making. As usual, the Party has decided on changing all of the history books in order to fool everyone that the current state of affairs have been the case all along. However, they seem to have ignored the notion that a few of us (me included, unfortunately) were in fact not born yesterday. On the other hand, with the Party’s aforementioned proletariat pig feed given to us, I won’t be too surprised if some were to disagree with my thoughts. Though my claim for intellectual superiority lies in the ability to have my own thoughts, they argue that these freedoms/curses are worth giving up in return for something I only know of by concept – happiness, I believe it is called.

Nevertheless, I am quite curious as to how the soldiers were suddenly told to start shooting each other and befriend the ‘former’ enemy, though the unlikeliness of that occurring leads me to believe that there is no war and this is just another ploy… well, better not continue that train of thought. You readers can figure it out for yourself, if you want, though that realisation would lead to some terribly depressed and desperately scrambling for them razor blades.

The Curious Case of Comrade Ogilvy

When glancing through the different articles in the past issue of The Times, a particular article caught my eye from the 3^rd of December 1983 issue. It is an obituary of sorts to some man called Comrade Ogilvy. Firstly, this brings up one of my favourite aspects of the world we live in. We fight so hard against opposing ideas such as communism yet refer to people as ‘comrade’ as well as giving them not-at-all convincing Russian surnames. I mean, if you want a hero, why not go for something short and easily pronounceable, like Stalin? Oh right, that’s taken.

Ogilvie’s life story is pretty interesting, however. He apparently joined the Spies aged 6, designed a special hand grenade at 17, and died at 23 during an action-packed dogfight with the Eurasians (or was it Eastasians?) which was so highly detailed it seemed as if it were made up. He had no other interests than that war against whoever, being a grass, and being someone anyone (or the very few who remain) sane should keep away from at all costs. In the article, the Big Nosy Brother praised him highly for being such a simple-minded person. He must have followed all the main principles of INGSOC, even those that lack mathematical logic. I mean, how do you operate a complex flying machine if you believe 2+2 = 5?

The Brotherhood Strikes Again

For those accustomed to this publication, you will have guessed that the title is entirely misleading. Yes, believe it or not, this so-called group of saviours have yet to show anything for its aura of mystery and hope felt by the poor romantics striving for a world without the Party. Rumours have circulated that it is headed by a certain individual named O’Brien, so he would have a bit of explaining to do for those who believe that all this Brotherhood nonsense exists. Although, knowing how this society works, O’Brien probably doesn’t exist either. Perhaps this is just another ploy created by the Party to give these idealistic glass-half-full-with-real-alcohol rebels a source for false hope.

So remember, you admirable rebels: When you are finally caught for being seduced by the romanticism of the Brotherhood of Nonsense, you can’t say that I didn’t warn you. Though I wouldn’t blame you for believing in it. We need hope.

Churchill’s Final Word

Well, that wraps up another issue of half-witty comments on some serious and some even-more-serious pieces of news. Hopefully we will have our next issue out soon, if at all, depending on how well the Thought Police are monitoring events. On that note, if we don’t come back, expect us to take a potentially painful trip to the Ministry of Love or, even better, managed to get a hold of some proper razor blades.

Word Count: 994

Bibliography

Orwell, George. 1984. Milano: Mondadori, 1989. Print.

2 out of 2 – The rationale provides a good level of clarity. The reader/examiner is given a good sense of what the students intends and why the task will show insight into the work studied.

7 out of 8 – The content is consistently appropriate to the task chosen. The understanding shown is a little underdeveloped, but it is wide-ranging. It should be acknowledged that it would be difficult show a simultaneously detailed and broad understanding of the novel in the context of the assessment component. It is not necessarily obvious what the conventions of a flyer are. Nevertheless, the student expresses his intentions reasonably clearly in the rationale suggesting that he will develop a somewhat cynical voice, which he in fact establishes with some success.

5 out of 5 – The task is well organized and, for the most part, coherent.

4 out of 5 – The task is written with a developing sense of style. The language is accurate.