Post #1 - IB Junior English with Mrs. Wecker

1. I enjoyed 1984 the most because it had an interesting take on how the future (or past for us, now) would be like. I liked the book because of it's realistic quality. We can indeed communicate through video screens connected into a centralized network. It is entirely possible that the entire world could be overcome with a monolithic political system that controls the distinct nations, and the nations only differ by their naming of that political system. Orwell fills in details like how the lower-class are kept in ignorance to be controlled, and he brings up the idea that whoever controls history controls the future. There weren't any noticeable holes in the book, and all-in-all, I enjoyed reading it.

2. I least enjoyed The Stranger because the plot has an incredibly indifferent tone. In the book, the main character's personality clashes with popular social ideals. The entire time, he is conscious of the how uncontrollable his fate and it seems as if he has no reason for anything, and the book seems to relate to absurdism. After finishing this book, I understand at least a little of the themes and meanings of it, but I still could not help feeling the pointlessness that the book emanates.

3. If I were writing an essay on Their Eyes Were Watching God,I would focus on the context in which the book took place. The book was pre-civil rights, and I think that that setting greatly affects how the book was written. Also, I would focus on the consistency of the main character's personality versus the contrast between each of her lovers. I think that each of her suitors were used as character foils for her.