David Gao Period 5 3/27/20| Remote learning is really fun but don't get me wrong so is your class

David Gao
3/27/20
Period 5
Blogger #9

What it's like working from home is honestly great as I no longer have to commute (although my commute was already short) and I get to stay home every day which is just about every student's dream (I think). As for the actual learning part of it, for me, it definitely feels like I can go at my own pace and work better because of it and since every period is 75 minutes, although it's double the work I feel as if I can get through the work easier than if I were actually in class. Especially since I get more sleep and it feels like a more relaxed environment without you being really time constrained since most of the work is homework and even that is better since I am given more time to work at my own pace. Although it is much easier to get distracted now during class periods since no one is really watching me to make sure I'm on task. Also, I dislike zoom meetings as it takes the solitary, working at my own pace, lax environment and throws it out the window as it's basically going to a classroom except I'm sitting at my own chair and desk, but few classes do this so I'm very glad.

My thoughts on the reading: Chapter 2-5 of part II was interesting as it mainly follows Winston and Julia's adventure of sorts around different obscure places in London where there are no telescreens to spy on every move that you make. In these places, they make love and discuss various topics that come to mind. For example in the church tower, the second place they meet up, Winston remembered a time when he was still with his wife Katherine. They had gotten lost on a hike and during this scene, he tells Julia that if he were the person he was now then he would have killed her. This felt really sketchy since when we first meet Winston we see that he's just a normal guy with "abnormal" thoughts and makes it seem that Winston and Julia and even the proles are very desensitized to death and violence. Which, actually thinking back on it happens a lot throughout the beginning of the book with the public hangings and war criminals. But I didn't expect this from Winston himself, as he mostly avoided public hangings and sees himself as different from everyone else because he chooses to think differently. Maybe because thinking back on it. it would not have been the right thing to do and he could have thought of it as a rebellion against the party to kill his wife who so blindly followed the words of the party. But his proneness to violence makes me think he fits in much more than he thinks.

What did I learn in my online English classes?
So the aim that I'm going to be focusing on is: How can we analyze the symbolism in Winston Smith's name? What I learned about the significance of Winston's name is that it is based on Winston Churchill who fought against the Nazis in World War II. This event seems like the inspiration that Orwell used in designing his book. Winston going against his totalitarian government is a parallel to Winston Churchill's war against the Nazis. The Nazis whose the government had total control over the country and often spread propaganda and censored information by the press. As for Winston's last name, Smith, this is obviously a very common last name which I assume is to allow the audience to be able to relate to him, and also show that even though he's normal in every way except in his thoughts he can still try his hardest to take down the "man".