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Effectiveness of the adaptation of the book Lord of the Flies in the movie.

February 21, 2016 / / 0 Comments

“How effective is the adaptation of the book?”

The movie adaptation of the book ‘Lord of the Flies’ is not at all effective in faithfully portraying the book. The book, ‘Lord of the Flies’ starts with a description of a fair-boy, picking his way towards a lagoon. A ‘very fat’ boy is mentioned soon after. So, at the beginning of the book, only two people are present. The pilot is also mentioned to be dead when the second boy, the overweight one, says, “There was that pilot, but he wasn’t in the passenger tube, he was in the cabin in front.” The movie starts off very differently with all the boys surviving the crash, dragging the pilot up, saving him from drowning and head towards the island. In the book the pilot is portrayed as being dead, in the movie he is alive. Also, in the book it states that these two boys are alone at the beginning. Others won’t start to arrive until Ralph, the fair-headed boy is told to blow a conch by Piggy, the nickname given to the fat boy. The isolated start is very important to the book as two factions form due to this. The rivalry between Ralph, the one with the conch and Jack Merridew, Head boy of the Choir. In the movie the entire group of boys are said to have been in some form of cadets and Jack and Ralph were portrayed as being friends. In the book tensions were present from the start. Another important difference is the treatment of Piggy. In the book Piggy is ridiculed when Jack calls him Fatty and Ralph corrects Jack in Piggy’s name being Piggy. In the movie, when Jack calls Piggy Fatty, Ralph defends Piggy, telling Jack to ‘leave him alone.’ This is a short summary of the beginning of the book and movie which shows how the movie is not an effective adaptation of the book. The movie is confusing, ignores many important events and strips one of the most important features, the isolated start.

William Golding Research

January 27, 2016 / / 0 Comments

William Golding Context Research

I.) William Golding was born on the 19th September 1911. He died on the 19th June 1993.

II.) After William Golding left Oxford university, he went on to work as an actor, teacher and a writer. He also served in WWII and participated in the D-Day landings.

III.) William Golding was inspired to write his book, Lord of the Flies from his experience from working as a teacher at an all boy’s school. A book by Robert Ballantyne called The Coral Island also influenced the book.

IV.) Some of the key events may include when the boy with the birthmark went missing. Another would be when Jack and Ralph started to go at each other with their disagreements. A brief summary of the book: a plane crashes on an uninhabited island and they form a society; a tribe, unified under a chief. However, quite soon, a divide starts occurring between the most powerful people: Ralph and Jack.

V.) WWII influenced William Golding in a way which made him see what humans were able of doing, in a negative way. He says that humans produce evil like bee produces honey: “I began to see what people were capable of doing. Anyone who moved through those years without understanding that man produces evil as a bee produces honey, must have been blind or wrong in the head.”

VI.) Lord of the Flies was published in 1954. One main influence during this time was the Cold War, and in the fire chapter, an atomic bomb is mentioned, and during the Cold War, nuclear annihilation was very real.

VII.)

Essay

November 17, 2015 / / 1 Comment

By Daian and Yusuf

Why is the Middle East influential?

Our topic is about the Middle East and why it is influential. Our four sub-questions explore how oil and religion plays a big part in the Middle East’s power. ISIS manipulates religion as their main source of power.

One of our sub-questions is ‘How does Isis manipulate religion in their favour?’. It is common knowledge that they follow an extreme version of Islam, which they may use to control naive Muslims. This is a problem because they can bomb countries and wait for them to fight back. Then when there are Syrian casualties, they will use them to their advantage and gather them for revenge on the warring countries. A factor of ISIS’ power is how they attack countries, which have people from all sorts of different religions. This stirs up racist minds to attack innocent Muslims, which gives an unjust reason for extremists to fight back in the form of ISIS.

Islam plays a large role in the influence of the Middle East. For example, one prominent Middle Eastern country, Saudi Arabia, holds the two holiest cities in Islam, Makkah and Medina. The rest of the Middle East also holds a certain connection to Islam as all of the countries in the Middle East and most in North Africa were once part of the Islamic Caliphates. However, Saudi Arabia plays the largest role, not only to the rest of the Middle East but to most of the world considering how sparse the Islamic populations are. For example, Muslims from Europe, to name one continent, flock to Saudi Arabia annually for Hajj. This means that Saudi Arabia has large influence over a lot of Muslims. Furthermore, the King of Saudi Arabia, King Salman of the House of Saud holds the title Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques which suggests that the Royal Family and the King holds the power to repair and expand the Two Holy Mosques in Makkah and Medina. This is related to Saudi Arabia’s influence because the Royal Family is directly connected to politics as Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy. This links back to the sub-question of how Islam plays a big part in the influence of the Middle East because as Saudi Arabia holds the two holiest cities in Islam, they wield a lot of influence over a lot of Muslims so this is how the Middle East is influential explained by our sub-question.

Oil has always had an important part in our industrialised world and the Middle East is like a bountiful bowl of fruit when it comes to the amount of oil it has. Oil is, however, heavily contested so some wars have erupted concerning oil which has come to be known as ‘oil wars.’ This leads onto another one of our sub-questions, ‘How may oil be used as a reason for war?’ Oil has damaging as well as empowering elements, for example, an oil rig can be bombed which would severely damage a country’s economy and the oil can also be used to improve an economy. One example of this is the Gulf Wars, where the US bombed oil rigs in order to weaken Iraq. However, this oil spill also severely damaged the climate. Also, another prominent example of an oil war is the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. One side-goal of the Iraq’s was to capture Iranian oil fields for their own benefit. These wars shows how valuable oil is and what a position the Middle East is in. However, this shows that if an oil-rich, Middle Eastern country were to lose stability it’s likely that a Western Power would intervene and take the oil. However, the Middle East has been and will most likely continue to pursue diplomatic relations as an alternative to war to spread their oil. This all links back to our sub-question of how oil may be used for war and how Middle Eastern countries use diplomacy in order to avoid it.

Another point on oil, oil has increased the influence of the Middle East, which brings us into our sub-question, “How has oil increased the influence of the Middle East?” Countries which have vast quantities of oil, especially in the Middle East. One prominent example of the power and influence that the Middle East’s oil contains is the severe consequences of what happens when one of these countries boycott another country of oil. The example we were talking about is when Saudi Arabia boycotted all countries supporting Israel in a war. A barrel which cost $50 rose to be around $560 per barrel. This shows the shear influence and power of countries in the Middle East who have large quantities of oil within their belt. In the future, the Middle East might be able to manipulate other nations on the basis of oil. For example, in the current Saudi-Houthi conflict the Saudi’s can easily buy more arms to use against the Houthi’s in Yemen by selling more oil. Also, countries with human rights abuses could make nations overlook them by selling oil, like what Saudi Arabia is doing. This is how The Middle East is able to use oil in order to levy influence and power.

In conclusion, linking back to our main question, “Why is the Middle East influential?” our sub-questions have answered this sufficiently. To herald back to one of our sub-questions, “How does the Middle East use Islam to maintain power,” we proved that the Middle East wields huge amounts of influence on over a billion Muslims because Saudi Arabia holds the two Holiest Cities in Islam; Makkah and Medina. Summarising our main question, the Middle East uses oil, religion and controversially terrorist groups in order to maintain power in the region and world wide. The Middle East greatly benefits our economies as well as having our economies to the neck as one decision to boycott the West would result in definite financial collapse. This means that the Middle East not only has huge influence in the Middle East but also around the world. This is why the Middle East is influential and how they are able to maintain their power.

Questions

November 15, 2015 / / 0 Comments

MAIN QUESTION:

Why is the Middle East influential?

Sub-questions:

How may oil be used as a reason for war?

How does Saudi Arabia wield power?

How has the need for oil elevated the Middle East’s position in the world?

How does Islam play a big part in the influence of the Middle East?

How is Napoleon Able to Maintain Power?

October 15, 2015 / / 3 Comments

    How is Napoleon able to maintain power?

One of the reasons of why Napoleon can maintain power is by using Squealer to convince the other animals about the newly changed commandments. For example, when Napoleon changed the commandments, Squealer was able to convince the other animals that the resolution which they thought had existed to have been as the newly changed resolution. This is demonstrated when it says, “No animal shall kill another animal without cause, somehow or another, the last two words had slipped the minds of the animals.” This suggests that Napoleon gets Squealer to change the commandments to justify his actions. This is to avoid rebellion amongst the animals as if the animals learned that the leaders have been violating the rules set by Old Major then there’d be an uproar as they’d be angry about being lied to. Squealer uses a wide range of linguistic features. One of the most prominent is how he exaggerates things I’m his propaganda. For example, when Napoleon was hung over, Squealer overly exaggerated the event stating that he would die. This type of exaggeration techniques can be seen in modern politics as currently, during the migrant crisis, politicians are exaggerating the event and sometimes goes as far to demonise them.

Another reason for how Napoleon is able to keep power is via political oppression. Napoleon relies on the belief that pigs superior to other animals however other pigs existed too on the farm as well. Napoleon knew that the other pigs were a threat to his power as they were smart as well, so they would be able to figure out that Napoleon was violating the rules set by Napoleon and that Napoleon attacked Snowball’s credibility. Because of the pigs superior intellect, Napoleon had them killed in order to avoid the spread of the truth. This is evident when it says, “the dogs tore their throats out.” This suggests that Napoleon is willing to use fatal force towards any opposition as he had the pig’s throats who had opposed him torn out. An example of this in the real world is Stalin’s Russia. Stalin used to ruthlessly silence any opposition as he had Trotsky and numerous other opposition killed. This was because power was held very tightly and any internal power struggle or disagreement would make the entire Dictatorship of the Proletariat regime collapse. This internal struggle is evident between Napoleon and Snowball as Napoleon saw the obvious threat of Snowball so he had him deposed of.

Another reason for how Napoleon is able to maintain his power is via propaganda. Napoleon himself is not a good builder but his loyal follower Squealer is so he uses Squealer in order to convince the animals of his new commandments. Napoleon does this as one crack in power or realisation of the truth would cause a second revolution to depose of the pig’s regime. Although Napoleon is hinted to have been overthrown at the end of the book, Squealer has been able to quell and please the public for a few years until the animals realise that the pigs have become like the humans. This is evident when the commandments were changed and Squealer says, “Have you not heard? Us pigs have taken up residence in the farmhouse and sleep in beds.” To this the animals might feel somewhat suspicious because they remembered a commandment stating to never sleep in a bed however Squealer is able to convince them otherwise. This ties into the real world as even though the USSR was a country based on Communism and Karl Marx’s ideas, Stalin would betray the ideas set forward by Lenin. Lenin and Karl Marx believed in a classless society however Stalin would go forward and make an elite society for him and high government officials. This is represented in Animal Farm as Napoleon has been breaking, bending and changing Old Major’s ideas.

Another big reason for why Napoleon is able to maintain power is via the dogs. Dogs uses the dogs in order to spread fear amongst the public so people won’t oppose him. Napoleon used the dogs in order to kill animals in order to spread fear as he lied about Snowball breaking into the farm. Napoleon said that Snowball broke into the farm a few days before the massacre so the animals would become paranoid, and if they were paranoid it’s more likely that they would’ve seen Snowball. Napoleon uses this situation to his advantage in order to kill the animals in order to assert dominance and to show that if anyone were to oppose him they’d need to deal with the dogs. Napoleon also used the dogs in order to threaten other animals, as is evident when it says, “The pigs protested but the dogs showed their teeth and growled and they fell silent.” This suggests that the dogs are used as a way to intimidate the other animals. An example of this in the real world is Stalin’s Secret Police which were used during the purges. Stalin would use the secret police in order to round up people to be executed so he would be able to maintain his power.

Orwell’s message in the book ‘Animal Farm: A Fairy Tale’ is clear. In the book he attacks totalitarianism and the ideals of the Soviet Union. Totalitarianism in the book is represented by the main villain, Napoleon. Napoleon could be seen as the allegory of Stalin as both used ruthless tactics in order to maintain power. Orwell represents Napoleon in in a negative way which would suggest that he is directly attacking totalitarianism. Orwell was for democracy and forward thinking as would have been seen in his character Snowball. Snowball was presented in good light as he wanted open debates which showed how Orwell was vowing for democracy but again, Snowball was silenced by Napoleon. This may also suggest that Orwell is attacking censorship. Overall Orwell was attacking the ideas of totalitarianism, such as censorship and fear. Orwell has done a good job on creating a very advanced and interesting allegorical book.

If Orwell was alive today I think that he would modern day politics would be comparable to the book. This is because politicians are willing to use underhanded tactics in order to stay in power. For example the conservative party attacked the labour party as they made an advert attacking labour undermining their ideas and demonising them. On a related note if Orwell was alive today, he would probably address the contemporary public by telling them to be cynical about the politicians and people in power. This is because they will not always tell the truth and they do not uphold their promises. Politicians also usually only want to remain in power and do not care much for the public, which is how the two party majority system evolved as most people strategically vote as their party doesn’t have a chance of winning.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13194723 – Paragraph 1, lying.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-31669061 Paragraph 2, political oppression.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3222318/They-said-grab-head-pull-cut-neck-Boy-14-featured-ISIS-propaganda-video-reveals-sick-indoctrination-daring-escape.html Paragraph 3, propaganda.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NKVD Paragraph 4, Secret Police
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia Paragraph 5, totalitarianism, lack of real democracy, propaganda, limited free press.

This is Your Online Domain

May 26, 2014 / / 0 Comments

Hello and welcome to your personal online journal.

Edutronic has been created to enhance and enrich your learning at the London Nautical School. Its purpose is to provide you with an audience for your work (or work-in-progress) and you have the choice (by altering the ‘visibility’ of your posts) of whether your work on here is visible to the world, or only to your teacher.

Anything you post here in the public domain represents you and thus it’s important that you take care with that decision, but don’t be afraid to publish your work – as the feedback you may get from people at home, your peers and people from around the internet is only likely to enhance it.

Remember you can always access your class blog and all manner of resources through the Edutronic main website – and by all means check out the sites of your peers to see what they’re getting up to as well.

If you have any questions for your teacher, an excellent way to get an answer is to create a new private post on this journal. Your teachers are am notified of any new posts and will reply swiftly to any queries.

Make the most of, and enjoy this new freedom in your English learning!

May 25, 2014

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” ― Ernest Hemingway