Review: Animal Farm by George Orwell

Once you read the tittle of this story, you'll think only about a farm full of livestock animals and the story basically about the farmer and his struggling for making money from his farm. Unfortunately, that is not what this story all about!Not at all but yeah, we can say that the farmer does have a problem but this time, it is between the farmer and his livestock animal! Shocked right?Yes, that was what happened to when i read this story~

When Dr. Jaya asked us to read this story, i was reluctant at first because in my opinion, the story is only about animals without realizing that deep inside this story, there is a big message that the author, George Orwell is tryiing to convey.


The story started with the old pig namely Old Major, was giving his animals friends some encouragement to oppose their master in order to get freedom for theirselves; saying that they had work too hard and the are not enough care given to them by their master. In high spirit after listening to their friend's speech, these animals start to fight against Mr. Jones, the farm owner, leads by Snowball and Napoleon; which are both pigs and won. but everything started to change after that. Snowball was being chased out; saying that it is a betrayer while new rules was being formed in the farm.

The Seven Commandments of Animalism

1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
   2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
   3. No animal shall wear clothes.
   4. No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets.
   5. No animal shall drink alcohol in excess.
   6. No animal shall kill any other animal without cause.
   7. All animals are equal.

Under Napoleon's rule,this seven rules had been changed drastically but since this animals did not know how to read, they did not know that the rules was already changed. But towards the end, they only realized that they had been used by Napoleon after Boxer was being send to a home of slaughter instead of being send to the hospital although Napoleon had promised the others that it will send Boxer to the hospital for his treatment. the ending of the story is different from the movie although they do have the same similarities in the storyline.

there is a heavy message hidden in this story. Orwell is trying to say that, in the name of freedom, the people had been manipulated and used by the powerful person. Napoleon in this story reflected a leader such as Mussolini and the famous Hitler where they hold a strong position in the society and able to attract people to listen to them through their strong personalities and the power of their speeches.

Song's Messages

Linkin Park- What I've Done (Lyric and review of the song)




In this farewell
There’s no blood
There’s no alibi
‘Cause I’ve drawn regret
From the truth
Of a thousand lies

[Pre-Chorus:]
So let mercy come
And wash away
What I’ve done

[Chorus:]
I'll face myself
To cross out what i’ve become
Erase myself
And let go of what i’ve done

Put to rest
What you thought of me
While I clean this slate
With the hands of uncertainty

[Pre-Chorus]

[Chorus]

For what I’ve done
I start again
And whatever pain may come
Today this ends
I’m forgiving what I’ve done!!!

[Chorus]

What I’ve done
Forgiving what I’ve done

There is a week where we were asked by Dr. Jaya to review the lyrics in songs and try to see what the writer is trying to convey in his/her songs.

Our group has selected a rejuvenating song entitled ‘What I’ve Done’ by Linkin Park. The genre of this song is alternative rock with lively ebb and flow. Basically, the song tells about one’s confession of deep regret for the damage or mistake he had done. The kind of mistake could be anything, based on how you interpret it. However, in our discussion we agreed to narrow it down to the deterioration of sense of humanity which causes a lot of damage around us. The title itself ‘What I’ve Done’ urges us; the brainy occupants of this world to contemplate over harmful actions we had done that brings the world to an abrupt halt. Our world, socially and environmentally, is falling apart because of one thing – us. Since the clip video is pretty interesting, our justification will be based on the video which portrays several potent impacts on human and nature caused by mankind.

First and foremost, we found that the song writer tries to make us aware the effects of the war towards human. The line ‘Cause I’ve drawn regret, From the truth, Of a thousand lies,’ shows the realization of the persona on the truth about war which had been covered by lies. The persona wants to pay back for his misfits with mercy and wash all his sins to start anew. It is shown in line, ‘So let mercy come, And wash away, What I’ve done’. The persona also admits his wrongdoings and would face whatever punishments he will get just to erase the guilt of causing wars. He wants to redeem his sins of causing the damages through wars and taking away innocent lives as shown in lines, ‘I’ll face myself, To cross out what I’ve become, Erase myself, And let go of what I’ve done’.

Looking at several scenes in the clip video, we can also say that the persona was ashamed with the used of artillery like nuclear bombs, guns and heavy tanks. The war can also corrupt the mind of youngsters and do nothing but much hatred, sufferings and damages that will took forever to heal. Even small children are trained to hold weapons and kill people. The 9/11 attack on the WTC for example was full of propaganda that no exact party could be blamed on.

Another thing that makes us think that this song is worth-listening is, through the clip video, human rights have been portrayed clearly. The Black’s equality has been denied with The White; thus leads to the arrestment by the white police. The Palestinian woman has been denied of freedom in her speech and act; thus also leads to the arrestment and being beaten by the policemen, the people has been denied in to do the demonstration and to voice out their feeling but all they got was not freedom but beaten and scolding. ‘What I’ve Done’ tells us about how marginalized group was being controlled by others and did not get their rights equally. Consequently, it leads to the war and the shed of bloods. In order to get the rights, these people; instead of stepped back and followed the order by the superior, have stepped forward and fight back in the name of human rights, equality and freedom.

Furthermore, in the video, there were some parts showing the issue on famine. The Africans are always being highlighted as the people who were affected the most especially the kids. They suffer from many diseases such as scurvy and kwashiorkor. We can see kids walking with the big tummy but they are really thin compared to other kids at their age. They face malnutrition. While those people are suffering, there are people who can still eat a lot as shown in the video. Sometimes these people are ungrateful. Although they are able to get food easily, they make themselves suffering by being anorexic.

Besides that, minor parts of this video do show another effect caused by men; natural disaster. Natural disasters come in many forms: floods, fires, earthquakes, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, landslides and so forth but in the video, the most obvious is climate change. Humans tend to create or do things that will ease their daily lives such us air-conditioner, cut down trees for house building and excessive use of electricity without bearing in mind the consequences on climate. It is when nature comes into conflict with humans that catastrophe results. Ice melting, rising sea level, drought and forest burning are some of the phenomenon portrayed in the video. Fraught with remorse, the singer confesses his guilt to the max and apologizes for what he had done.

Lastly, another issue which is also quite prevalent in this song is pollution. From the clip video, it can be seen that modernization in the world has lead to extreme negative consequences. For instance in the video, we see heavy thick black smoke being released out of factories, polluting the air we breathe. The toxic and chemical substances will definitively cause health problems to everyone. Besides, in the video, we can see the seagull swimming in a polluted river. All this happens because of human’s ignorance towards the destruction that is happening in the world.

To conclude, this song implores listeners to ponder upon what they have done to this world and what they could do to change it. Embedded with deep messages, this song is not just an entertainment but also food for thought. Let’s make the world a better place to live in.

The Question of Dowry & Everything's Arranged

Question for today:

Is dowry fairly treated in both stories?

Our group have discussed on the matter such as, what is dowry in Indian culture before we proceeded whether we agree or not that the dowry is fairly treated. Basically, most of my group members including me, did not agree with it. this is because, in our opinion, too much money involved and needed in order to marry the daughter and if there are not enough money, there will be no wedding between two families although they have agree to marry off their children. In the story The Question of Dowry, Rukumani's family is willing to pay another 20 thousand in order to get Rukumani's marriage a success and in Everything's Arranged, Mrs. Balachandran even willing to ask his husband to sell their only land in order to get her daughter married to a doctor. This shows that not only the dowry is sometimes high, but they also a burden to some families.

In the end, our group came up with a stand that we did not agree upon this statement. This is because, in both stories, the dowry is a burden and thus, leads to the poverty and heart break if the wedding is off.

Monalisa Smile Review

Summary:

In 1953, Katherine Ann Watson (Julia Roberts), a 30 something grad student from California, takes a position teaching "History of Art" at Wellesley College, a conservative women's private liberal arts college in Massachusetts because she wants to make a difference and influence the next generation of women.

At her first class Katherine discovers that the girls have already memorised the entire syllabus from the textbook so she instead uses the classes to introduce them to Modern Art and encourages spirited classroom discussions about topics such as what is good art and what does the Mona Lisa's smile mean. This brings her into conflict with the conservative College President who warns Katherine to stick to the syllabus if she wants to keep her job.

Katherine comes to know many of the students in her class well and seeks to inspire them to seek more than marriage to an eligible young man. Joan Brandwyn (Julia Stiles) dreamt of being a lawyer and enrolled as pre-law so Katherine encourages her to apply for Yale, which she gets into. Joan, however, elopes with her fiancée Tommy, is very happy and decides she wants to be nothing more than a wife and mother after graduation and asks Katherine to respect her choice.

Betty Warren (Kirsten Dunst) is highly conservative like her mother the head of the Alumnae Association. Betty doesn't understand why Katherine is not married and is strident in insisting that there is a universal standard for good art. She writes two editorials for the college paper, one which exposes the nurse for giving out contraception which gets her fired, and one attacking Katherine for advocating that women should seek a career instead of just being wives and mothers as intended. Betty can't wait to marry Spenser as their parents have arranged and expects to get the traditional exemptions from attending class because she is married, but Katherine insists she will be marked on merit.

Connie Baker (Ginnifer Goodwin) is dating Betty's cousin Charlie but Betty persuades her that he is only using her since it has been arranged by his parents for him to marry Deb, a girl more of his social standing, so they break up. However, Charlie had already decided for himself that that was not going to happen and they get back together. Giselle Levey (Maggie Gyllenhaal) has liberal views and supports Katherine because she sees her as having chosen what she wants in her life. Giselle brazenly has affairs with a professor and a married man.

Katherine confides to the girls that she was engaged when young but that they were separated by the war and the relationship fizzled out and that she has had several affairs. Katherine declines a proposal from her boyfriend in California because she doesn't love him enough. She begins seeing the professor of Italian, Bill Dunbar (Dominic West) who is charming and full of stories about Europe and his heroic actions in Italy during the war. He has also had affairs with many students including Giselle so Katherine makes him promise that that will never happen again. However, when she discovers that he actually spent the entire war at the Army Languages Centre on Long Island she decides he untrustworthy and breaks up with him. Dunbar responds that Katherine didn't come to Wellesley to help the students but to try and find herself.

Betty's marriage fails miserably. Spenser is soon spending as much time as possible away in New York on business and is also spotted by Giselle conducting an affair. Betty's mother tries to pressure Betty into not divorcing him at least for a while to avoid scandal for the families. Betty asks her mother if the Mona Lisa's smile means she is happy. At graduation Betty tells Katherine that she is divorcing Spenser and is going to share a flat in Greenwich Village with Giselle and is considering applying for law at Yale, which impresses Katherine.

Katherine's course was highly popular and there is large demand for places the next year so the college invites her to return. However, the President and Betty's mother impose conditions on Katherine that she must follow the syllabus, submit lesson plans for approval and not talk to the girls about anything other than classes. Katherine decides to leave and heads off explore Europe for herself.

This is the first time for me watching a movie where the students are knowlegdeable and able to understand what the syllabus that the teacher are going to teach only by doing their own revision. This situation really scare me A LOT and I did not think i'll be able to SURVIVE if I come intact with this kind of students!

Anyway, i've came across with this situation once during my school days. there was a new teacher in our school when i was in Form 5 and we could tell that she is a fresh graduate teacher through her talked and introduction session during the school weekly assembly. Unfortunately, for a fresh graduate like her who has little experience on teaching and did not know the students yet, she were assigned to teach our class, which is in advance class. When she started her teaching, she was so pale knowing that we already knew what she's going to teach and this situation happened in a week. Finally she burst into tears and we got scolded by principal for treating her like that.Poor her~

In this story, i can see that Katherine Ann Watson is a fighter where, although at first she was shocked knowing that her students already know the contents of the book, she did not easily gave up on teaching her students. in fact, after knowing that her students already learned what they should learn, she teached her students new ways of looking not only the arts but also life itself. she teached her students on how to appreciate something which women at that point of time did not be able to find; freedom in their life and decision making. Not only that she could handle the naughty students easily, but she also be able to knock a sense in her married student's mind by stating the truth on what she would be able to do in her life without being ordered by anyone else.

Lean On Me : Review

Summary:

Lean On Me is based on a true story of a principal in a New Jersey high school, Eastside High. The Principal, Joe Clark, is hired in 1983 to run one of the worst schools in this state. His mission is to turn this crime, drug, and graffiti infested school around completely in one year’s time. Clark must bring order and peace to this school and must also bring up the learning level of the students so they can pass the state’s minimum basic skills test.

Joe Clark is a former Army drill instructor who uses tough discipline as a means of changing Eastside High School. His methods in doing so were very much controversial. He got the nick name of "Crazy Joe" Clark by using a bullhorn and a baseball bat within his school to terrorize and intimidate the students as well as the faculty. To his supporters this tactic was to be motivation for the students and teachers to do better. According to a Mississippi State University Memo dated back in March of 1996, it stated that within two years Eastside High was declared a model school by New Jersey’s governor and in 1986, Clark was named one of the nation’s 10 "Principals of Leadership".

One of the first things Joe Clark did to reform this school was expelling 300 minority students who he claimed were "educationally hopeless and overage underachievers, parasites, hoodlums, and drug pushers" (Education Digest, 1989). To make sure these now ex-students stayed out and could not return, Clark chained and locked the school doors from the inside. Clark demanded respect from not only his students but also with the faculty. If respect was not given Clark simply removed you from the school.

Another disturbing issue that critics bring up is that in the movie none of the students rebel against this principal who threatens them, locks them inside the school, embarrasses them in front of others, intimidates and bullies them. These same critics believe that in real life things could not have gone this smooth so quickly.

Finally, Joe Clark resigned as principal in 1990. The time he spent at Eastside High has made him quite popular. Since this time Clark has made the cover of Time magazine, been on 60 Minutes, The Phil Donahue Show, and ABC’s Nightline. He is also a nationally recognized speaker who travels across the country to speak on such topics as his life story.

I really like this story. It teaches me new things such as, in order for me to gain respect from others, I myself need to earn the respect from others too. This is what Joe Clark tries to convey in his school management. Treat students as the way they are and not to condemn them for their misbehaviour. Teach them instead of punish them. Console them instead of blaming for the mistake that they did.

Although Joe Clark did something harsh in order to raise the percentage of passing grade in his school and never acknowledge the hardwork that all teachers have to endure in order to make sure the students are well behave and achieve well in their learning, he still take a good care of the students and the school. He makes sure that all the school has become a place where it is safe to study and may lift up the student’s spirit in learning. Not only that, he also punished the teachers who make mistake whether she or he is teacher or not. By doing this, he has created situation where anybody who make mistakes can be punish and therefore, it is to still awareness among the students to fool around and play truant in his school. For me, Joe Clark is a symbol of change that every students need. He did not scare of being criticized, he is doing what he thinks what need to be done and he create an environment where the school is the best place to be at for learning instead of neighbourhoods and unknown street.

The Great Injustice & The Merry Maid

After discussing and thinking for a long time, we finally agree and came out with our own stand which is society's influence the decision made by both characters. As we know, society is an important element in our life whereby, in every decision that we made, it somehow has been influence by the society and therefore, we sometimes made a decision based on the society's judgement and opinion and both characters in this story were having the same problem like us.

Compare and contrast in both stories:

The Great Injustice The Merry Maid

Society Perception		- Abortion doesn’t come up to be the first choice for Ah Nya. - She gathers her courage to tell her parents about the pregnancy. - She plans to stay with her uncle at farm until the baby is born. - She finally decided to abort the baby for the sake of saving the baby from further humiliation and harsh treatment from the society. “He wouldn’t have been accepted by society as an equal cause he would have been born a bastard!” –Ah Nya.		- Lakshmi ran away from home and her society. Therefore, she doesn’t have to think about negative perception from the society. - She left her baby, Savitri in front of Johan’s doorstep with a hope that there will be a bright future for the baby. “She wanted this child to have a proper home, a temporary refuge.”
Education Other female character’s support Support from the spouse.		- Ah Nya is just a daughter of a mee seller. - She’s well educated, but she fails to make a wise decision due to society’s pressure. - She doesn’t see things from a broader perspective. She can actually go to another place where people don’t know her and start a new life with her baby. - Pessimistic. She lets her emotion take over her rational thinking. - Ah Soh defends Ah Nya despite her big mistake. - She gives emotional supports and confidence to Ah Nya. “Everyone make mistakes. What done is done. You men always say that you should have sexual experience before marriage.” - Unlike the father, her mother is willing to look after the baby. “I’ll look after you and the baby.” - Steven’s irresponsibility deters Ah Nya’s spirit in keeping the baby.		- Lakshmi’s studied until Form 6; she’s good at calculus, and has a good command in English. - She makes a wise decision, where she observed the house before leaving her baby there. “The house doesn’t seem to have any children around and Lakshmi thought the couple would give the abandoned child a wonderful welcome.” - She looks on things optimistically, and hopes for a better future for her baby. - Datin nurtures Sakinah (Savitri) well despite her unknown background; whether she’s born out of wedlock or she’s just being abandoned. - She sees the girl as a blessing; she was pregnant after they adopted Savitri. - She treats her well and not bias. She treats her like she treats her real daughters. - Shanmugam wants to take care of Lakshmi and the baby, but he was arrested. - His support makes Lakshmi keeps the baby, though in the end, Lakshmi is forced to leave her baby under Johan’s care.