In today's society, education and literacy play a defining role in the daily lives of people around the world. The ability to read and write is essential to the development of an individual within a society, a culture, and an economy. Daily activities such as communication through technology (internet use, texting, news sources, etc.) and understanding the world around oneself require a basic education and knowledge of literacy. To thrive in the modern world, to acquire a good job and sustain a high quality of life, it is vital to have adept literacy skills. We see this need put into action, as literacy has a significant influence on the outcomes of the major works studied this semester; namely Animal Farm by George Orwell, William Shakespeare's
We see this early on in the novel in chapter II, when the literate animals take over the farm. "The work of teaching and organizing the others fell naturally upon the pigs, who were generally recognized as being the cleverest of the animals." (Orwell, 1989). Throughout the story thereafter, the pigs come to realize the extent of their power over the other, illiterate, animals. They use this to their advantage and rule Animal Farm through manipulation. One example of this is shown in the later chapters when the pigs are able to change the ‘Seven Commandments’, which govern the rules of the farm, to fit their desires. They are able to do this without conflict as the other animals on the farm cannot read the commandments. “It ran: “No animal shall kill any other animal WITHOUT CAUSE.” Somehow or other, the last two words had slipped out of the animals’ memory.” (Orwell, 1989). Another example of the pigs using the other animals’ ignorance against them takes place in chapter IX as Boxer’s age begins to show. It becomes evident that the farm has insufficient medical supplies to care for him. The pigs then arrange for Boxer to be taken to a ‘veterinary hospital’ in Willingdon, but little do the other animals know the pigs’ actual intent is to sell Boxer for profit. “"Fools! Fools!" shouted Benjamin, prancing round them and stamping the earth with his small hoofs.
In the town of Maycomb there are four main 'classes' of people, best put by Jem in chapter XXIII; "There's the ordinary kind like us and the neighbors, there's the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes." (Lee, 1960). As Scout and Jem discuss why this is, they conclude that a family's background is what determines where they fall on the social ladder; "it's how long your family's been readin' and writin'." (Lee, 1960). This explains the order of the classes; the Finches would have all come from historically well-off families, have good jobs, and high educations. The Cunningham children can only go to school at certain times of the year when they aren't working at the farm, and the Ewells have little to no literary skills with no desire to pursue education. This definition of ‘background’ is also the reason that colored people fall to the bottom, as racism and poverty result in the majority of the colored population to be left without access to education. This also means that the white people in this society develop prejudices against people of color (they are all uneducated, all untrustworthy, all liars), and often take advantage of them. An example of this takes place in chapter XVII, as these prejudiced thoughts are what Bob Ewell relies on for his testimony against Tom Robinson. Mr. Ewell believes that the jury,
The Ewells are immensely poor, so the city gives them special privileges that not everyone has. They are allowed to hunt wherever they like and whatever they please. Another interesting concept about the Ewell’s that is unlike any other family in Maycomb is they only go to school the first day, then they are marked absent the rest of the year. This keeps them out of trouble because they have no manners and are highly underprivileged. Calpurnia, the Finches caretaker lived in the black community just outside the town of Maycomb. Most African Americans do not get to have an education. They are not allowed to go to school and aren’t remarkably smart and can’t read. In their church, they do not have bulletins or a music program because they are not able to read it. Instead, one man would go up to the front of the church and sing a verse and the blacks would repeat it. All the blacks live in the Quarters. The black community can only acquire exceptional jobs from whites. Calpurnia is the Finch’s nanny and
In the middle of the 1930s, Adolf Hitler began his rise to power in Germany, initiating the start of the Second World War and spread fear across Western Europe. During this time period, George Orwell began writing his novella, Animal Farm, which has been said to represent the events of the communist revolution; yet according to an analysis of the new historic lens, no book, no matter the style, can escape the hindrance of social context; proving that the air surrounding the war, impacted the literature written in this time. While it may not be about World War Two, Animal Farm, like all other writings was impacted by its surroundings. An analysis of George Orwell’s Animal Farm reveals that his work, being written in the 1940s, was greatly influenced by the events surrounding World War Two, which took place across all of Europe.
George Orwell’s animal farm is an allegory about communist Russia and the Russian revolution. Animal farm represents communist Russia through animal farm. Some of the themes Orwell portrays throughout the story of animal farm are lies and deceit, rebellion and propaganda through the characters and the story of animal farm.
Being uneducated affected all the animals in a very negative way by resulting in the animals getting looked down upon. The pigs were known to be superior and the uneducated animals were looked at as the “working class”. Being educated had plenty of benefits such as all of the pigs took their meals into the kitchen to eat, the pigs even used the drawing room as a recreation room and they even slept in the beds, which breaks one of the seven commandments. “Nevertheless, some of the animals were disturbed when they heard that the pigs not only took their meals in the kitchen and used the drawing room as a recreation room, but they also slept in the beds.”(66). This quote specifically explained how the educated or the superior animals got more benefits over the non educated animals. The pigs got all of the power on the farm which left no power or rights to all of the other non educated animals on the farm.
In the beginning of the story Old Major gives a speech to the animals on the farm, and in this speech he mentions how cruel the humans are. During his speech Old Major uses Boxer the horse as an example when he says “You, Boxer, the very day that those great muscles of yours lose their power, Jones will sell you to the knacker, who will cut your throat and boil you down for the foxhounds.” (Orwell 11). He then proceeds to tell the animals that once they revolt the cruelty will end, and at first it does, but soon the pigs begin to act more like humans. The pigs act so much like the humans that at the end of the book it is said that the other animals can’t even tell the difference between the pigs and the humans.
5. Setting is a working farm. The setting allows the microcosm of the Animal Farm to be basically undisturbed. Had it been close to a big city or other small towns, then there would have been more interruptions and challenges to Napoleon’s take
"He who wants to persuade should put his trust not in the right argument, but in the right word. The power of sound has always been greater than the power of sense."
There is a substantial amount of conflicts that occur in this satirical story. Often these conflicts are between the pigs and the rest of the animals. Only a minute portion of the animals didn’t really have some sort of conflict with Snowball, Napoleon, Squealer, or the rest of the dominating pigs. Overall, Snowball was a better leader than Napoleon, yet the animals reacted differently to Napoleon than to Snowball.
Finding a definition of literacy is not as easy as it sounds. The Webster definition says that to be literate is to be” able to read and write.” But to some researchers, this definition is too simplistic, leading to multiple models of literacy. Most Americans adhere to the autonomous model, which falls closest to the standard, dictionary definition. Believers in this form say that literacy is a cognitive activity that students learn like any other basic skill. It has a set of proficiencies that one must master in order to be capable of decoding and encoding text (Alvermann, 2009; SIL International, 1999). A competing theory is the ideological model, which claims literacy is intrinsically linked to culture, and therefore what constitutes a “literate” individual is ever-changing. Society is the largest influence on literacy, according to this thought, and it is affected by politics, religion, philosophy and more (Alvermann, 2009; SIL International, 1999). These two are just the tip of the iceberg. For example, some studies recognize “literacy as competence,” which is a “measure of competence to do a given task or work in a given field,” (SIL International, 1999) such as being computer literate. Although more researchers are recognizing and exploring multiple literacies, the one that most influences American schools is the autonomous, cognitive model – the ability to read and write. For many, it seems a simple task, but millions of adolescents are struggling or reluctant readers, and there are many reasons why young readers have difficulty with reading. XXXXXX------NEED HELP WITH THESIS STATEMENT HERE PLEASE—(This paper will focus on the effects of low reading skills, some of the possible causes of reluctant and struggling readership...
Through use of language, the pigs appeal to the animals basic hopes and desires of a better life and a better future. They make others work extremely hard, while they themselves rest and unfairly reap most of the benefits of the work. For example, “Now comrades,... to the hayfield! Let us make it a point of honor get in the harvest more quickly than Jones and his men do.” Later in chapter three, Squealer is sent to justify the pigs selfishness and to convince the animals that the pigs are working in their favor. He said, “You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this in a spirit of selfishness and privilege? Many of us actually dislike milk and apples...Milk and apples contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig...the whole management and organization of this farm depend on us.” This how the animals are persuaded to believe almost anything without question.
At the beginning on the text, after the rebellion, the animals are all seen as equal, with a high quality of life. Napoleon and Squealer often mentioned how important it was for all animals to do their equal share of work; however they often did little to no work. They were able to do this by Squealer acting as the media and reminding the animals that the hard work that the pigs did deserved a larger break then everyone else. As the text progressed, Napoleon and his small group of pigs slowly changed the commandments to suit themselves. Many animals didn’t question the change in commandments; and when they did they were either proven wrong or made an example of via public executions. During chapter 6, the pigs are questioned after allegedly breaking the 4th commandment “no animals shall sleep in a bed”. Squealer was quick to react, by stating that the pigs required extra rest due to how smart they were. When Muriel goes to read the commandments to prove that what the pigs are doing is wrong, she finds that the board now states “no animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets”. Through this, the pigs where able to gain control at a rapid pace and adjust the rules to have the most benefits in their
In today’s society, a vast number of people are well educated. They have the equal opportunity to choose their own path in life by getting an education. A primary educational aspect of every human being is to learn to read. Being able to read is a primary goal of people in human society, as well as important in itself to society; it takes people far beyond their wildest dreams. A person who is literate has few limitations on what they can do; the world is an open playing field, because a person that is literate has the ability to become very successful in life.
After the succession of their rebellion “the animals worked like slaves. But they were happy in their work; they grudged no effort or sacrifice, well aware that everything that they did was for the benefit of themselves and those of their kind who would come after them, and not for a pack of idle, thieving human beings.” (6.1) The writer mocks at their ignorance ironically by saying that they were “well aware” of the procedure that is functioning. Their intellectual inferiority is evident through it from the beginning. This particular nature of the animals invites and signals the rulers, the pigs that they are ready to be subjected. This intellectual inferiority, causes the amendment of the seventh ...
Everybody loves to imagine that the world they live is a perfect utopian world. A perfect utopian world would be a place where there is no hate, no fear, no pain or suffering and most importantly where everybody is equal. This is the part where the blind folds come off. In the world today, there is hate, pain, suffering and everybody is not equal. The world today is the definition of dystopia, the opposite of a perfect place. George Orwell first thought the world he lived was bliss, peaceful and equal but came to realize that it is not. He decided that he needed to show the world the truth, that is illustrated through Animal Farm, the book he decided to write. Animal Farm portrays a good example of a dystopian society throughout the book, being
In George Orwell's novel Animal Farm he writes a fairy tale with a meaning. In other words, it is about a bunch of animals living on a farm that decide to rebel against all humans starting with running their owner off by attack. This is compared to the Russian Revolution which is what I will be talking about in the paper. I will state which animal played which role and compare the animal to the person for whom they portray.