Animal Farm, Squealer's Speeches and Propaganda

                Comrades, come closer! Our Leader Comrade Napoleon has made a new rule that our regular work hours will be extended by thirty minutes starting tomorrow, He says this is an effort to increase our farm’s production. Now don’t fret comrades, we have a very high output of crops already but, to catch up with the other farms, our Leader Comrade Napoleon wants us to work longer.

            To start with, the hens are now expected to stop working in the fields or getting stone for the windmill and only lay eggs. Comrade Napoleon says they will be more valuable in trade with the humans. You may think that this violates the first commandment, but let me remind you, the commandment really says whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy unless it is for business reasons.

            Also, the cows are to have reduced work hours so that they can be milked more often. Their milk will also be more valuable in trade. We pigs will also have reduced work hours so that we can try to work out business agreements with the other farms.

             Lately, I have noticed many complaints about the rations we give you. Some of us have been saying they are too small or that we must not have a very large supply of food left but don’t worry comrades.  Your rations are the same size they always have been since the rebellion. It may seem smaller but the only reason is that now a portion of our harvest goes to be sold at the market. There have also been rumors that we pigs are getting larger rations than you. This is true, but they are not much larger than yours and remember, we pigs are the brainpower of this farm. Without us, Jones might come back. If he comes back, everyone’s rations would be smaller and there would be much harder work. Nobody wants that! Right comrades?

Animal Farm Chapter 4

Russia’s National Anthem

Throughout history Russia has had several national anthems. The first was called "Боже, царя храни", translating to God Save the Czar. The song was to the tune of the British song God Save the Queen.  Its lyrics translated into English are roughly:

 God save the noble Tsar!
Long may he live, in power,
In happiness,
In peace to reign!
Dread of his enemies,
Faith’s sure defender,
God save the Tsar! 

            This was the national anthem from its adoption until 1917 when it was replaced by a Russian translation of the Hymn of the French Revolution. Themes from it can be heard in Tchaikovsky’s well known 1812 overture along with themes from the original anthem, God Save the Czar.

Link to Hymn of the French Revolution:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33nyRB4PY14&feature=fvst

            In 1944, the Hymn of the French Revolution was replaced by the Stalinist song Hymn of the Soviet Union. After Stalin’s death it became forbidden to sing the song but, in 1977, the original lyrics were edited to remove the Stalinist aspects and it was acceptable to sing the song again. After that, there were disputes over the national anthem but in 2001 it was decided to be the Hymn of the Soviet Union with new lyrics by Sergey Mikhalkov.

Link to current national anthem:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOAtz8xWM0w

Japan’s National Anthem

            Japan’s national anthem is based off a poem called 君が代 or Kimigayo. In 1860, it was put to music by William Fenton who was the band master of the Japanese army. In 1881 a committee chose a different tune to put the poem to by Oku Yoshiisa. This song was not officially adopted until 1999. Japan’s national anthem is one of the shortest in the world.

Link to Kimigayo:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29FFHC2D12Q

Spain’s National Anthem

             The origins of Spain’s national anthem are disputed. Some people say it was composed by a German to be given to King Carlos III. It is also said to have been a French song brought to Spain by King Philip V. Under King Carlos III, it was rearranged for military orchestras. In July of 1942, it was declared the national anthem. There are no official lyrics to the song but a well known version was written by Eduardo Marquina. Spain’s national anthem is one of the few in the world without lyrics.

Link to Spain’s national anthem with unofficial lyrics:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WNaHuAHKFU

            National anthems and monuments bring more patriotism to countries. It gives the people a sense of national pride to all and unites them because they experienced the same hardships. It also makes them think more highly of their country and that if they have won one battle they can win another.

Sources Used

http://www.national-anthems.org/anthems/country/SPAIN

http://www.national-anthems.org/anthems/country/JAPAN

http://www.stanford.edu/class/slavgen194a/hymn/anthem_history.htm

http://online.culturegrams.com/world/world_country.php?contid=5&wmn=Europe&cid=150&cn=Spain

http://online.culturegrams.com/world/world_country.php?contid=3&wmn=Asia&cid=132&cn=Russia

http://online.culturegrams.com/world/world_country.php?contid=3&wmn=Asia&cid=82&cn=Japan

recordings of national anthems were found on You Tube

Simon's Point of View

        After being on this island for a while, I’ve started to notice things that mirror our old society even though we are just a bunch of boarding school kids stranded on an island. For one there are cliques which had already started to form at the first meeting. First there is Jack and his hunters. Back at school they had been the choir, everyone obeyed them out of fear. This is still true on the island except that everyone fears them for another reason, their attraction to violence. They are constantly hurting the little ‘uns. whenever they see them on the beach they kick at them and make them cry. And when they killed their first pig they had painted their faces with mud and were cheering “kill the pig! Cut her throat! Bash her in!” and while they had been hunting they left their task of keeping the fire, letting it burn out and a ship had passed offering a chance to be rescued. However the hunters would rather kill and see blood then return to their normal lives. I am supposed to be one of them, and I was in the beginning but I didn’t enjoy harming the little ‘uns or killing animals. Now I am kind of a loner and prefer to spend my days back in the woods observing the island. Then there is Ralph and Piggy who tend to hang around each other. Piggy seems like the obvious brains of the group but no one can get past his appearance, making it so the other boys don’t listen to him. There are a few boys who follow them like Sam and Eric and me but most people follow Jack. The little ‘uns are kind of their own clique. They always play together on the beach and sit together at meetings. Playing on the twister and not caring about what was being discussed.

Grendel's Mother's Point of View

Being a monster you probably assume that I am purely evil. With my heart filled with blackness and hatred, containing not a single ray of light and kindness. However you are wrong. Everyone always sees my actions and mistakes them for evildoing. Like the time with Unferth.  Grendel had come home one morning as I was just getting ready to go to sleep and as the sun was creeping over the horizon. Light was streaming down from above making the lake around us look spectacular. The light turned the whole lake a beautiful shade of blue, how I love the beauty of nature. So anyway, he had come home covered in more blood then usual and because of my motherly instincts, I was worried. Had he been injured? Was someone strong enough to fight back? I started to question him about what had happened and why he was home so late. “I’m perfectly fine mom.” He growled, “There’s nothing to worry about, the guy just bled a lot.” However, another instinct I have is that kids usually lie when they don’t want you to know things.  Especially at this age he tries to be so independent. I knew someone had harmed him no matter what he said.

A few days later l was asleep when I heard a horribly loud noise. At first I thought it was Grendel coming home again but remembered I had grounded him for being late that and if one night. I woke up and looked around to see what was happening. Grendel must have noticed because he awoke suddenly. Then at the mouth of our cave, stood a human covered in blood. As I strode over to great the stranger at the entrance it occurred to me that this was probably the same person who had fought Grendel and hurt him. I started to growl and thought He has to be the one; why else would he have followed Grendel home. Why he is here what does he want with my son? Suddenly, Grendel rose and ran ahead of me, trying to tell me that this man did not hurt him and that the man was the injured one. I knew that this man was here for revenge. I could tell by his attitude and the way he glared at me and my son.  Yet my son continued to protect him. Grendel had restrained me from hurting the wretched man. I was growling impatiently and pacing, waiting for Grendel to just kill the man, but Grendel continued to stand there as the man, Unferth, speak of his hardships caused by Grendel. He said that he had been embarrassed by Grendel beating him in a fight and how his fellow thanes had all laughed at his defeat. Now I was sure he wanted revenge. He seemed especially upset about how Grendel had said “Heroes only exist in poetry.”

Their argument continued for quite some time. Later as night fell and I had stopped worrying, Unferth fell asleep. Grendel asked if he would be permitted to leave and return the man to Hrothgar. I, having no idea where this city he was talking about was, explained that it was where the man had come from and that it wasn’t very far from here. I permitted him to do so and as he left, I couldn’t help but think how my son was growing up into such a fine monster. He was strong and fearsome but still was kind at times.

See, I told you I’m not totally evil. My motherly instincts just tend to kick in when my son Grendel is being threatened. And as you saw, Grendel also has a kind heart sometimes. We monsters are always just misunderstood. If people would only realize that we actually just want to be friends with people.  So, the next time you meet me, Grendel or another monster, just be nice to us and we won’t harm you.

Choice Book Blog

            For my choice book I read the book Radiance by Alyson Noel. It is the sequel to another series she wrote called the Immortals. In this book the main character Riley has tragically died at the age of twelve. The book never really says how she died. She has started get used to life in the Here and Now, which is where people go when they die. She gets to live with her parents who also died and her dog Buttercup. After adjusting to her new life, she is told she must go to school. On her first day she is taken to have her life judged to decide what her job should be. She is decided to be a soul catcher and is sent back to the Earth Plane with her guide Bodhi or as she liked to call him “Dorky Guy”. They must find the spirit that is haunting a castle in England. Several things are different in the Here and Now from Earth. For example because thoughts are energy and so are the spirits of people so you can hear others thoughts. Also you can create things simply by thinking of them.

            I think that this is a very interesting book if you enjoy fantasy novels. Some of the things in this book really make you think twice about the things you’ve done in life like when she is judged the judgment council shows her a video of everything she has done in her life.  It also makes you wonder what really happens after people pass away. Also it made me wonder more about what dogs and other animals are thinking because she can here other people’s thoughts and therefore her dog’s thoughts but she can’t really understand them. This reminded of a book I read in 6^th grade called The Good Dog by Avi. The whole book is written through a dog’s point of view.

The Cyclops, The Lotus Eaters and Circe the Witch

            The situation that Odysseus and his men are in, in The Cyclops reminds me of how to end the Trojan War the Spartans built a wooden horse and hid inside it and waited until the horse had been taken inside the city of Troy. There the soldiers waited again until night when they snuck out and destroyed the city of Troy. This reminds me of the patience Odysseus and his men had. Instead of immediately attacking the Cyclops Polyphemus, they waited until he opened the entrance to the cave. Then they disguised as sheep and ran away. Odysseus told Polyphemus that his name was Nobody so that he would shout, “Nobody is attacking me!” and the other Cyclops would think anything of it.

            As I read The Lotus Eaters I wondered what the lotus is supposed to represent and I think it is similar to illegal drugs or alcohol.  It also reminded me of an episode of Star Trek where some of the ship members are sent to a planet to investigate it. The planet and the things on its surface appear to be real but are really holographs. The holographic people try to make visitors stay and forget their original mission.

            In The Witch Circe both Odysseus’s men and Circe violate the laws of hospitality. Odysseus’s men do so by barging into Circe’s house and eating her food. Circe does so by harming them and turning them into pigs. I think she chose to turn them into pigs because they were rude. In the movie clip of this passage that we watched in class Circe tells Odysseus that he would make a good lion. Presumably, this is because he is considered strong and brave. It made me wonder what the other people there were like before they were turned into animals. This passage reminds me of the anime Fullmetal Alchemist. An antagonist in the story turns people and animals into animal-looking chimera using alchemy. The main character however knows what the antagonist is doing but nobody believes him. The main character reminds me of Eurylochus.

                Reflections on the Odyssey ^_^

The Odyssey by Homer is a Greek epic poem that was used to teach important Greek virtues. The Iliad tells the story of the Trojan War. The war was fought because a woman named Helen left her husband, a Greek king to be with the prince of Troy. This story is the background for the Odyssey. The Odyssey is about a great solider named Odysseus attempting to return home from the war. At the beginning of the story it has been ten years since he left Ithaca. His journey home takes ten more years.

The beginning shows the Homer’s devotion to the Greek gods.  He gives a prayer to a Muse. The nine Muses were believed to be daughters of Zeus and they inspired people to produce art, poetry and music. Homer calls on them to help him with the writing of The Odyssey. 

Throughout the book, Greek culture and d religion are found.  He Greek gods play a very important role in the story. For example, being stubborn and full of themselves, Odysseus and his men don’t offer anything to the god of the sea, Poseidon. In return Poseidon and Zeus cause misery to Odysseus and his men and prevent them from ever returning home. Also some gods are in favor of Odysseus, like Athena, who is Zeus’s favorite daughter. She tries to help him.

In Calypso the Sweet Nymph Odysseus is trapped on an island with calypso. He is somewhat willing to be there but longs to return to Ithaca. It describes how he sits on the shore and cries looking longingly out towards the sea. This reminded me of a girl I shared a tent with at camp one year. She really missed her family and would sometimes just sit on the edge of the tent platform looking longingly at the woods as if her family would appear there at any moment. The way Homer describes the scenery of the island reminds me of a place my family often went camping called Kelly’s Island. The beach there is sort of like the one in the story was described.

Some allusions to the Odyssey in modern culture are:

§  The Honda Odyssey

§  Trident brand gum because Poseidon is symbolized by the trident

§  Star Wars, was loosely based off of the Odyssey

§  On The Simpsons there was an episode that depicted the Odyssey using characters from the show

§  Another reference to The Simpsons is the character Homer’s name because the poet who wrote the Odyssey was named Homer

§  The movie called 2001 Space Odyssey has the same theme and a similar plot to the Odyssey

§  In both the Star Trek movies and TV shows there are many allusions to the Odyssey for example, in one episode a group of people are stuck on a planet with holographic people who are trying to persuade them to forget their mission and stay. This is similar to The Lotus Eaters.