Technology of 1984 Extension Assignment
For this assignment, you will read 1984 and/or watch its film adaptations. You will summarize the basic plot of the novel, identify some technologies Orwell predicted in 1947, and relate those technologies to modern surveillance.
Assignment Information
This assignment is designed for people with a general interest in privacy and/or who want to understand what is meant when the media describe a surveillance policy as “Orwellian.” However, anyone with an interest in this assignment is welcome to choose it, regardless of major.
Prerequisites
- You should have access to a copy of George Orwell’s 1984. There are movie adaptations (see below), but neither of them fully covers everything from the book.
- You should have enough time set aside to read 1984 and perhaps watch the movie adaptations.
- You should be able to create a logically organized presentation using Microsoft PowerPoint or LibreOffice Impress.
- You should be able to record a video presentation by narrating slides while recording a screencast.
- You should be able to edit the recorded video, transcode it to MP4 or WEBM format, and upload the result to Moodle.
Background
George Orwell’s 1984 is a novel about a dystopian future in which technology is used to control people’s thoughts, attitudes, actions, and beliefs. Orwell wrote the book around the end of World War II, publishing it in 1949. Since the time of its publication, 1984 has been an influential literary work, and cultural references to elements of it are common in news articles and other media.
Two major film adaptations of the 1984 novel are available for streaming:
- 1984 (on the Internet Archive) - released in 1956
- 1984 (on Tubi) - released in 1984
Some background material to understand the context of the time in which Orwell wrote 1984 can be found in the following YouTube videos:
- Simple History: Joseph Stalin
- Simple History: GULAGS
- History Channel: The Rise of the Nazis
- Duck And Cover
- Last Week Tonight: Nuclear Weapons
A modern example of a society with the kinds of restrictions Orwell envisioned is North Korea:
Requirements
Read 1984 and/or watch the video adaptations. Also review the rest of the background material linked above. Prepare presentation slides using Microsoft PowerPoint or LibreOffice Impress. Record a video presentation in which you narrate a screencast of the slides, addressing the following questions:
- What is the basic plot of 1984?
- How does a telescreen in 1984 compare to a modern “smart” TV?
- Is a cell phone more or less of a potential spying threat than a telescreen?
- Are there parallels between modern life and being a Party member (or a Prole)?
- How can a government use detailed information about people to control or repress them?
- Compared to 1984, what is the modern private sector’s role in surveillance?
Upload your recorded video in MP4 or WEBM format to the Moodle submission box for the Extension Assignment. Note that the video file MUST be uploaded in order to receive credit for this assignment. While there is not a fixed minimum or maximum time limit for the video, a presentation of about 15-20 minutes should be adequate.
Grading
Please review the Technology of 1984 Extension Rubric prior to uploading your video presentation. This rubric explains how this Extension Assignment option will be graded and can be used as a checklist to ensure that you have completed all the required parts of the assignment.
