W11, #4: What Would Your Paperweight Be?

As you all remember, Winston purchases a glass paperweight -- with a piece of coral in it -- from the antique shop...and sneaks it home.  When he later rents the apartment to hide with Julia, he keeps it there, too.  It becomes a symbol of something he is trying to understand/remember, even more than just being something beautiful.

For Winston, his glass paperweight represents a link to a 'missing history' he does not want to forget. It is also a link to an 'imaginary future' he dreams about.  In some ways, it helps him keep sane when everything around him seems beyond understanding.  Maybe this is what matters most to him.

Imagine this:

• Imagine you suddenly woke up to find yourself in an apartment like Winston, with a blue uniform on, listening to a telescreen in the background.  In other words, you found yourself as a character in the book itself.  And there is no escape.
• Imagine that you knew the 'truth' about Big Brother's world...but you also realized that you'd be a 'thought criminal' (and killed) if you told anyone what you knew.  There would never be a way to change this. Again, there is no escape.  Your only choice is to find some way to let your imagination continue to live.
• Imagine you could buy or find (1) object -- like Winston's glass paperweight -- that would help you remain 'sane' and maintain 'hope' for the future.

Challenge:

• Identify what the (1) object would be.  Be creative.  Anything is possible.
• Explain why this (1) object would help you keep sane and maintain hope.
• 5+ sentences.

Comments

[Student #1]

If I were to choose one object I would probably choose a book. It would probably be a fiction book just so I could read and keep my mind off of things. I would also choose a book because it would also promote my imagination and that would help keep me sane and under control. It would help me to see that anything is possible and that you can overcome all challenges if you work hard enough.

[Student #2]

If I were to have one object with me, it would be an old, rusted horseshoe. The horseshoe would signify the hard work ive done for my farm and myself over the years. It would give me determination to move onward, and not to be consumed in the inevitability of the fact that im a thought criminal. That ive worked to improve myself, not the totalitarian government of the party. That despite what anyone may say or do, I am my own person, and not a slave to the mindless and distracted world that Big Brother has established.

[Student #3]

I think I would choose my Ipod. For me, music is an escape. Every song on my Ipod is special to me. When I listen to music i forget about the outside world and I am entranced in the melody and the lyrics! I would keep me sane because it could keep me thinking and my mind going.

[Student #4]

The item I would choose would probably be a picture of me and my family when we went to Colorado for vacation. This picture would remind me of how there is still hope of getting back what I used to have, when I used to be free to do what I wished. I picked a picture in Colorado, because when I think of Colorado I think of the mountains, and how when I stood atop those mountains I felt more free than ever. This feeling of being free this picture would give me would set my imagination free. Incorporating my family in the picture helps me share a more personal connection with this idea of freedom, making me more passionate.

[Student #5]

I would choose to keep a box, a box I use to keep the entire valuable little thing in it. Everything I put in this box is all my memory, so it can make me remain myself about the past. In this box, there will have few photo before and after. So I can keep remaining myself what to do and my future dream. If I am Winston’s world, it can remain my mind sank and not control by government.

[Student #6]

My paperweight would be a map of the world as it use to be. This would help me keep sane becuase i would also keep hope that there might be a chance that things would return to normal again. I would also keep sane by remembering all the places i could visit if i ever did escape this hell-like society. I really think it is necessary to have some kind of hope in a society like this becuase if you didnt you would lose hope and become a drone like big brother wants you to be. And with out recognition of the past there is no future.

[Student #7]

If i had a paperweight such as winston's i would have a glass globe with a football field inside. The Football field would have alot of activities going on on the field. The reason i would choose this paperweight is because just looking at it would spark my love for the game and keep me sane. Just knowing that if i could figure out someway to get the proles to think as i do and take down big brother , that maybe one day i could enjoy my love to the full effect. With this mindset nothing but, deleting me from existence , yet maybe not even that, may be the only way to make me give up on hope.

[Student #8]

My “paperweight” would have to be a magnifying glass. It makes everything seem so different after looking through the lens. It also helps you to uncover things that a person could have easily overlooked. It makes you look at things from a different point of view, and also lets you go into great detail in any object. In Winston’s world, everything is not what it seams, so in order to uncover the truth/ let my imagination free, I would want to uncover what is so small it is unknown to others. Without the magnifying glasses help you can only scratch the surface of a object, but with the magnifying glasses help it would help uncover all the secrets and questions I would have. Some my think knowing something your not allowed to know can be a setback, but with the magnifying glass, anything is possible.

[Student #9]

If I could choose one object to keep my mind sane I would to choose a pen. The reasons I choose a pen are I think I will write anything I can't say down to my diary or notebook. Example: I could write my trouble or something bad down and to mobilize myself to get better also by write. I also want write something beautiful about this world to believe and hope for live continue. I will keep my mind always sane by that pen.

[Student #10]

If i could choose one object to be apart of my life in the book i would choose some form of musical instrument because i enjoy music alot and one can expresss them selves a number of ways through music. Also i could play music and relax and the music would help my forget the outside world and problems that are accuring around me allowing me to stay focused and positive without commiting thought crimes andtrying to rebel. Also music helps people understand things better and can inspire people and create a dream or some kind of goal so there is an endless list of oppurtunity if i had a musical instrument. and also allowing me to be free in my mind and not becomeing a rebelious person or mindless person of society.