Texts and Human Experiences Assessment PDF

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HSC ENGLISH ADVANCED - Texts and Human Experiences Assessment Despite its pessimism, Nineteen Eighty-Four has characters that can attract the sympathy and even admiration of the reader. To what extent has your understanding of human experiences been shaped by Orwell's use of character? All texts offer a reflection on human experiences, shaped by a series of tribulations and encounters, substantiated through the retrospective exploration of individual human motivations, emotions and relationships that are embedded in the collective human experience. Modernist writers utilise a pessimistic tone to envision a human experience of fear and trepidation, however, the role of characterisation contradicts the imposure of pessimism as specific characters can be used to attract sympathy and even admiration of the reader, allowing a means for the reader to explore the anomalies, paradoxes and inconsistencies amongst these texts. George Orwell's political satire 1984, recounts the totalitarian turmoil of the early 20th Century, illustrating a pessimistic painting of a human experience filled with power and control. Despite its pessimism, Orwell’s novel 1984 has characters that attract our pity as their humanity is stifled by oppressive forces, and our admiration for those who adopt the role of resistance fighter. Through characterisation and symbolism Orwell reminds readers to protect our individualism, creativity and faith in the human spirit even in the bleakest hour.

Orwell challenges the idea that an individual experience is owned by the self freedom to reflect personally on their reality, by highlighting the power of language in manipulating their perceived individual experiences. Such is illustrated through the pessimistic tone and stream of conscious narration during the protagonist, Winston’s, criminal diary entries: making him a conduit of Orwell’s opinions regarding language's regulation over lived experiences. Winston writes: “Last night to the flicks. All war films. One very good one of a ship full of refugees being bombed…”. Orwell dually addresses Oceania’s degradation of language as well as confronting the audience with the world spaces brutality. Notably, the excerpts

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poor syntax and simple diction stimulates the responders own confusion and frustration, deepening their understanding of language in communicating individual thoughts and opinions. Additionally, the Visual Imagery of bombed refugees displays the synonymity between entertainment and propaganda, indicating an elimination of unique human empathy. Orwell’s thesis is further emphasised as Winston’s craft transitions proficiently throughout the novel, thus using character development as symbolism of the transformative power of language. He later begins to recount events emotionally through negative connotations: “It was three years ago. It was on a dark evening, in a narrow side-street near one of the big railway stations,” which uncovers Winston’s restricted sense of speech and freedom that is densely affected by his surroundings. Unlike the initial entry, this appears more controlled and less sporadic. Nevertheless, the stunted sentences retain a childlike quality, indicating that Winston is still learning to think and express himself properly. Holistically, such didactics drive the plot to investigate language as the vessel in exploring one's own individual experience. Here the audience chooses to acknowledge Orwell’s thesis, allowing the reformation of their perceptions concerning their own individual context being shaped by language, and attracting sympathy and admiration for Winston.

BACKUP `T`HESIS: The complex nature of the human experience is shaped by a series of tribulations and encounters, both individual and collective, that form through time and place, constructing our diverse individual perspectives and emotional responses in which a collective experience is shared and created.

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