Works Cited

Giunti, Matthe. "Forrest Gump: Ignorance is bliss." Christian Century 113.17 (1996): 547-549. EBSCOhost. Web. 30 Jan. 2011.

Parsons, Paul. "Information Overload." New Scientist 205.2743 (2010): 38-39. EBSCOhost. Web. 30 Jan. 2011.

Zamyatin, Yevgeny. We. New York: Modern Library, 2006. Print.

Paper topic

I'm not 100% sure what I'm going to write about yet but I'm thinking about going along the lines of maybe Ignorance = Happiness. One of the main issues of the book was having the problem with obtaining happiness.  Lindsey had us free write about what creates pure happiness and ignorance is what popped into my head.  People who know the least about what is going on in the world have less worries than the people who do.  The people who only worry about their looks and their money are the happiest - not that that is a good thing but the people who actually care about what is going on around them are less happy, it may not be by a lot but they are still less happy.  So I think I will write about how Ignorance is Bliss.  D-503 shows it very well.  In the beginning when he IS ignorant and has no cares in the world he just goes on doing the same thing everyday and is happy.  Then as 1-330 starts showing him that there is more to the world than just a schedule his happiness starts to go away. 

Finished Story

I finished the book and I didn't really like the ending.  With everything that was happening, the launch of the Integral, and all of the hecticness of everything I was hoping for a more exciting ending.  Also I figured since they blew up the bubble that they were pretty much living in that D-503 would be even more wanting to get out of there. I think in the end he was too scared of having all of that freedom and decided not to go along with it, he just didn't really admit it that way.

Worst Rule of WE

It's really hard for me to pick just one of the horrific rules in this story but if I must pick one I would have to say that the "ciphers" not being able to be in a relationship and get married would be the worst.  It would be so hard, at least today, to have constant alone time with someone else and not be able to act on their feelings.  If they begin to like or love the person they wouldn't be able to do anything about it.  I personally want to get married and start a family and it would be really hard to have those restrictions. 

Reader-Response Strategies

When I began reading "We" (Forward and Introduction), I got really bored and figured that it would be alot like 1984.  Once getting into the story and figuring out the setting and who the people were it started getting easier to read.  I felt kind of out of place though because when he was talking about us, the readers, as the ancients I felt as if I wasn't supposed to be reading it, almost like the story was meant for the future readers of their time.  I also found it difficult to get through at first because of all of the long words that arn't normally used, but as it went on I got better at using my context clues to figure out what they mean.  I like how throughout the story there is a constant reference to mathmatical terms.  It helps remind you how far ahead of time the story is meant to be in and it just kind of works since D-503 is a mathmatician.  I also enjoy how the main problem is that he has fallen in love/lust and that he's going crazy over it.  It helps keep kids interested although the reading may be slightly difficult at times.

Comparing Lit to WE

Style- Zamyatin used more of a diary type style to help us more relate to D-503. It makes us feel as if were actually there or see exactly what he is thinking.  A specific way he portrays this is when D-503 writes what he's thinking and then stops the sentence short as if that thought stopped and he went on to the next.

Tone- I think the tones of this book are proud, satisfied, happy, then later on confused and hate.

Irony- It's ironic how much confidence D-503 has in the one state and how happy he is about how everything has changed but now that I-330 has came into the picture he kind of starts questioning it but he tries as hard as he can not to - he doesn't want to question the one state.

Plot- I think the plot of the story is that a perfect world was finally created but turns out as people allow themselves to actually think outside of the rules, maybe it isn't so perfect, maybe a perfect world isn't achievable.

Characterization- I guess since the story is written in diary form it's easier to relate to and make real but I have a hard time doing so.  As I read this I almost feel as if they are robots and kind of feel like their not real.

Setting- It's set in the way future and they live in the One State.  They have set times for everything and everybody. Everybody wakes up, eats, works, has a private hour, goes to bed, all at the same time.  All of the people are de-humanized by being given letters and numbers instead of a name.  Most worship the "benefactor" - their God. 

Point of View- Book is set in first person point of view.

Symbol- I-330's sharp teeth represents being evil.
              O is round meaning possibly overweight and jolly
             Satin helps represent suduction

Theme- I think the theme of this story is that there really is no such thing as peace on earth. No matter what you try to do, strict laws and rules like in WE and in 1984 doesn't work because there will always be people that won't give up their free speech, there's now where we have a decent amount of rules but there's still alot of violence, and we learned in the past that no rules gets us absolutely no where as well.

All about Me

I was born in Mitchell, SD then moved to Sioux Falls when I was 1.  When I was 5 my little brother Joe was born. When I was in 5th grade we moved to Brandon. I played basketball, volleyball, and track and then in 7th grade I became a cheerleader. I was a competition cheerleader all four years of highschool along with cheering for wrestling junior year. We won the state competition my sophomore year and got to do our routine in the Dome during halftime of the state football game. It was one of the funnest days of my life! I am now a freshman here at USD and am going to get my degree in psychology.  I'm hoping to get my PhD and start my own private practice but also start a family along the way. :)