Yoana Zaharieva
English Portfolio
Six word memoir
George Orwell - author study
George Orwell
George Orwell is an English novelist, journalist and critic. He is born in Motihari, India in 1903. His full name is Eric Arthur Blair. George Orwell is most famous for his works Animal Farm (1945) and 1984 (1949). “He was a man of strong opinions who addressed some of the major political movements of his times, including imperialism, fascism and communism.” He was born in India but his mom brought him to England when he was one year old. His father was conservative. Orwell’s father was stationed in India and stayed there until he retired from service in 1912. George Orwell’s father was conservative. They could never establish strong bond.
Eric Arthur Blair started writing from an early age. In 1914 came his first success when his poem was published in a local newspaper. George Orwell was sent to a boarding school. He could not fit in there and found comfort in the books. He read authors such as Rudyard Kipling.
George Orwell joined the India Imperial Police Force in 1922 after his parents could not afford to pay for university education. After five years, he resigned and went back to England, intending to become a writer. He struggled to start his career. His first major work, Down and Out in Paris and London (1933) described the time when he lived in the two cities. Worried not to embarrass his family, he published his work under the name George Orwell. His interest in politics grew after he published Burmese Days in 1934 which described the British colonialism in Burma.
In 1936, George Orwell traveled to Spain to join a group fighting against General Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War. He was injured badly and soon returned to England with his wife.
Eric Arthur Blair was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1938 – time when there was no cure for this disease. In 1943, he became the literary editor for a socialist newspaper. In 1949 George Orwell published one of his most famous works - 1984.It described the consequences of a government that is controlling everything in one person’s life, even their thoughts. During this time, he was in the late stage of tuberculosis. George Orwell fought with it until his death in 1950.
Sources used:
Bio.com. A&E Networks Television. Web. 17 Jan. 2016.
10 Rules for a Dystopian Society
1. If you wear blue jeans, you will be punished to stay only at home for one week.
2. If you talk too loud, you will go to jail.
3, You cannot listen to music.
4. You cannot read books.
5. You cannot draw pictures. If you do it, you will spend the rest of your life in jail.
6. If you promote your own point of view on a certain issue, then you will be punished by death.
7. Girls cannot wear any type of skirts.
8. All people must wear white shoes.
9. No T-shirts with labels are allowed.
10. If you talk to someone who is more than 2 years older than you, you will be punished by not being allowed to talk.
Blog Post - Are We Heading Toward a Dystopian Society?
Are we heading toward a dystopian society?
People like to think in advance about many things. But do we actually think about what the future will look like? This is something that every person is curious to find out. The future does not seem bright as many people wish it would be. In the society that we live, people like to judge without actually knowing the person. In the future, this is most likely to escalate, further dividing the people. Our society would be so much successful and we would be able to accomplish so much more if we were unified.
The society will be led by a small number of different groups with different interests. Every group will try to accomplish its goals, not always using the right ways to do this. Many people will use violent ways to accomplish their goals, such as making protests or making demonstrations that disturb the normal life. There will be no punishments for doing this.
Nowadays, we start to use the technology more and more. In the future we are likely to continue to do so. This will increase the polarization between the people and hurt the relationships that they have. Family members will not be as close as they used to be because of the tremendous amount of time that they spend in front of their devices. Instead, they could spend this time doing something together with their family but they will not consider this as an opportunity because of the environment in which they are being raised. The children will play a lot of video games some of which might include violence. This can have a negative effect on their behavior since they are exposed to violence. The adults will not do anything because for them it will be easier if their children just play games which leave them a lot of free time.
We are heading toward a society in which values shared by our grandfathers will no longer be valued and our future does not seem to be going in a good direction.
Word Count: 345
Blog Post - Ideals of Freedom
Freedom is one of the most fundamental rights that every person must have. Does this depend on the place where we live? The answer is yes. As US citizens, we have many freedoms that sometimes we underestimate. Something normal for us, such as education, is something that is so desired by people who live in more religious communities or poor countries. America is a nation of nations meaning that it combines cultures from all over the world. In the U.S. you have religious freedom, something that is restricted in some places and can also be punished by death. We have the right to say and do what we want if it is not hurting anyone. In many countries, people are not allowed to express their opinion. Also, once one is 18, he or she has the right to vote. This is fundamental for the system of government. In some countries only males are allowed to vote. Some people would be likely to say that they enjoy their right to wear clothes that they like often from the latest trends. But can people all over the world do this? No. And why? Simply because their religious beliefs do not allow this. Freedoms must be enjoyed equally by everyone. But what happens to a country in which freedoms are not balanced among the citizens? This might lead to division of the society and many conflicts. Conflicts help only for destruction because one nation that is unified has bigger potential to grow and prosper. Another effect that this can have is to make people move to another country, searching for better living conditions. This will only hurt the country which should provide equal opportunities for every person which involves equal freedoms. We, as US citizens, must be grateful for the freedoms and rights that living in this place gives us.
Word count: 310