Maddy Mazurik
English Portfolio
6 Word Memoirs
10 Rules for my Dystopian Society
2. The outside world is a dangerous place, and you shall remember the government is protecting you.
3. You must wear the clothes the government provides.
4. You must eat the food the government provides.
5. The government will assign you a spouse.
6. The government will choose what job best fits your ability.
7. You shall be home before curfew.
8. If anyone does anything wrong, you shall report it and you will be rewarded.
9. No one shall bear arms except government officers for the safety of the people.
10. Speaking poorly of society is treason.
Author Study
George Orwell was born as Eric Arthur Blair in 1903 in Bengal. His father was a civil servant stationed in India and Orwell found his father to be quite boring. After living in Bengal for a year, his mother moved him and his sister, Marjorie, to England. Orwell was very sickly as a child, but he still had a touch for writing as he composed his first poem at the age of four. Orwell went to boarding school on a partial scholarship. He was treated of lesser importance due to his lack of wealth, so he found comfort in literature. He appeared to have little personality, but his intelligence somewhat made up for it as he received scholarships to several schools. Orwell went to college at Eton College, and after he had trouble going to university, because his parents were unable to pay. Instead, he joined the Indian Imperial Police in Burma. After five years, he returned determined to make it as a writer. While trying to make it, he worked many odd jobs. He wrote very political ideas about things going on in his time. To prevent his parents from embarrassment, he wrote under the name of George Orwell. Around the time of him writing his first two novels, Down and Out in Paris and London and The Burmese Days, he met his wife, Eileen O'Shaughnessy. The pair married and she supported Orwell throughout his career. Just like his childhood days, Orwell constantly battled illness, and ultimately caught tuberculosis for which there was no cure. In 1941, Orwell got a job at BBC as a producer to support himself. Orwell decided to leave his job as a producer in 1943, because he did not like acting as a propagandist. After working for BBC, he worked for a socialist newspaper. In 1944, Orwell and his wife adopted a son. In 1945, Orwell wrote one of his two best known works, Animal Farm. Sadly, that year his wife died. In 1949, a year before his death, he wrote his other best known work, 1984. Orwell died in January of the next year. He may have passed on a little early, but his ideas and works live on today.
Propaganda Poster
Ideals of Freedom
In the United States, we have five main freedoms given to us by the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. They freedoms listed are Freedom of Speech, Freedom of the Press, Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Petition, and Freedom of Assembly. There are two additional freedoms associated with the first five. They are Freedom of Association and Freedom of Privacy. Out of all America’s freedoms, I enjoy exercising my freedom of speech and freedom of privacy the most. I value being able to say whatever I would like within reason. I also value my privacy. As for what happens in a country or civilization where freedom is not balanced between citizens, just look at America. America has many flaws when it comes to our supposed freedoms. Even though we have Freedom of Religion, people who do not conform to America’s “normal” religion are sometimes persecuted in the supposed Land of the Free. I don’t think anyone should be treated differently because they don’t practice Christianity. I personally do not practice Christianity, and because of this sometimes people don’t respect my beliefs. Even though the Bill of Rights tells me I can practice whatever religion I want, society’s opinion is different. They believe that because I do not practice Christianity, it makes me a bad person. As for how some people get power over others; I believe this forms when one knows what they want and they share their beliefs with the world. While they are promoting their beliefs, they are thinking for themselves and a hierarchy forms from there. The top of the hierarchy gains power and a lot of it at that. Many times the power they receive is not the good kind and they use it to manipulate others into believing what they believe. This oppresses people’s freedom of speech.
Blog Post - Are we heading toward a dystopian society?
I don’t believe we are heading towards a dystopian society, but I don’t believe we are heading towards a utopia. I think we’ll fall somewhere in the middle. Some believe robots will take our jobs and eventually control us. Some believe we will die because of global warming. Some believe there will be a future without death. I think these ideas are a bit far-fetched. The future I see is better and worse then what we have today. I see innovative technologies, modern architecture, and cures to many diseases. However, I also see poverty and war. I hope the people still have some say in government and I hope our democracy doesn’t turn into a totalitarian regime. There will be many new inventions. I think there will many cutting edge discoveries in the medical field. I think most diseases will have a simple cure or a vaccine that prevents you from even getting sick in the first place. I also think life will be simplified with inventions of a house that does everything for you. I think drones will be perfected and used to deliver packages to people everywhere. However, I don’t think much will be done about poverty. I think everyone will be too busy creating or using new inventions to even care about those less fortunate. I also think that on our quest to solve problems in the United States we will make many enemies. I think peace will be hard to keep, and because of this there will be many wars. I think the people in the future will look back on our technology and think how ancient it looks. I also think the people in the future will be slightly brainwashed by the government so the government can get what they want. However, through the possible good and bad, the future I see is very bright.