Animal Farm Lit. Circle Reflection

    On Friday, I participated in my first lit. circle since last year. My group was discussing chapter three thorough chapter five of Animal Farm by George Orwell. Since I was absent for the first lit circle, I can't compare the two but I can say that this one went very smooth. Almost everybody had a decent amount of information to contribute and just about every question sparked a debate between at least two members. Even though the majority was contributing during the discussions, there were one or two that weren't adding to the discussions and were off task or spacing out. Next discussion we can improve on this by asking these people more questions that provoke a response and will get them more involved. Overall I thought that this discussion went fine but could definitely be improved on.

My Brave Grandpa

I still remember the day my grandpa took me boating for the first time. I was six years old and visiting my Grandpa for the weekend.

  "What do you want to do today?" He asked me.

   "I want to go on the boat!" I yelled as I slammed my Lego tower onto the table.

   "Sounds like a plan!" He told me. A little while later, I found myself on the dock staring at the gigantic lake before me.

   "Watch this." My grandpa said as he picked me up and threw me onto a pile of pillows on the boat. " Oh drat, I can't find my glasses, I'll be right back. Don't touch anything. I trust you to be safe." My grandpa lectured. He walked off towards the direction of the car. Thinking now would be a great time to show him what I knew about boats from my Lego kits, I untied the ropes on the boat and started to float away. I started to panic and yell for my grandpa to help but he was out of earshot and there was no one else around. By the time he got back, I had floated about 20 feet off shore.

  "Don't move Ryan!" My grandpa yelled. "Stay calm!" He grabbed the rope from the water and told me to catch it. I did and held on tight as he pulled us back to shore. After he was sure I was all safe, he scolded me for doing what I had done. I learned my lesson.

Both Ralph and my grandpa show leader like qualities. They are both brave, wise and great at leading. Even though Ralph's ways of leading contrast greatly from my grandpa's.

1984 by George Orwell

George Orwell’s “1984:” Big Brother is Watching You
Reviewed by Ryan Bielar

           You arrive home after yet another boring day on the job. The large telescreen watching your every move and listening in on your every sound. One slip up could spell disaster. George Orwell’s “1984” describes perfectly a period in time where the government controls everyone and optimism is against the law.
           “1984” is a political fiction book written by George Orwell (1903-1950) in 1949. The story takes place in London during the year 1984.The story follows Winston, a frail man that works for the government but has little power. The government at this time is oppressive, and takes away almost every freedom that the people have. Winston secretly despises the government, which in his world is a crime that is dealt with harshly. Winston befriends a co-worker named Julia who shares the same feelings about the government. Winston also suspects his boss O'Brien to be a rebel as well. The main antagonist to the trio is a figure only referred to as Big Brother, who is feared by many and seen by few. Although Big Brother is a physical person on all the posters plastered around the city, he is actually just the people of the government. Big Brother consists of the police officers, law makers, and a special type of law enforcers known as the Thought Police that constantly watch and listen to everybody, searching for rebels. Overall, this book does a great job explaining the dangers and problems with an oppressive government.
          One of the major themes of this novel is the loss of the people's freedoms to an oppressive government. Throughout the story, we watch as more and more of the people's freedoms are lost and it makes me realize how trapped these people were. The citizens are in a society in which they cannot speak their feelings, show emotion to anything other than the government, or even generate feelings towards another person. This novel was written at a time in which George Orwell had watched the rise of Adolf Hitler and his influence on the German Government. This made Orwell think about the destructive potential of the government. Orwell wrote, “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever” (Orwell 215). He knew that if people like Hitler could rise to power, then this powerful government could just as easily do the same. 

         In the story, we see many different ways in which the government attempts to completely control the people. Big Brother used fear to control the actions, speech, and feelings of the citizenry. But the one thing that the government could not control, as much as they want to, was the thoughts of the people. For example, Winston appeared to be a follower of Big Brother’s rules, but internally was rebelling. “Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimeters inside your skull” (Orwell 27). Because of this, you could never get to fully know somebody. Out of fear that anybody could be working with the government, people are forced to keep to themselves, leaving the only place to be an individual inside your thoughts. Orwell showed how important this was by creating a feared organization whose goal was to only control thoughts; The Thought Police.
        The world in “1984” is a place without individuality, a quality that I believe makes life worth living. The way Orwell wrote this story showed me how important these values are in life. If “1984” helped to protect the freedoms we have today, then we all owe George Orwell a great deal of thanks.

Orwell, George. London: Secker and Warburg, 1949. Print

Malcolm Gladwell and Subconscious Biases

 I recently read a chapter from Malcom Gladwell's "Blink" called "The Warren Harding Error: Why We Fall For Tall, Dark, and Handsome Men". This chapter was on the subconscious biases or choices that we make without even realizing. What I thought was fairly interesting about this reading was a fact about how fast our brains react. When we have a strong bias, we can usually come up with an association in between four hundred and six hundred milliseconds, but when we don't have that bias, it takes two hundred to three hundred milliseconds longer to come up with an association. I think it is crazy how the brain can actively work that fast at all times. What I think I took away from this chapter was that we are not who we always want to be. Some of these people who took tests found that they were pro-white, even though they might not want to feel that way.

    In leadership, I believe that these subconscious biases may play a part in decisions made, whether they are meant to or not. If somebody in a position of power has a bias towards a certain race or gender, then it will most likely show, even in something small like eye contact or tone of voice. That being said, I believe that these biases can be reversed but not fully eliminated. These thoughts are imprinted in our brains making it very difficult to get rid of them, but learning and practicing to do things right could slow down or even reverse these biases. I believe that someone with very neutral biases would make a great leader because of they're unlikeliness to make decisions based on a person's gender, age, or race.

   After reading chapter three of Malcom Gladwell's "Blink". I took the IAT to see if I had any subconscious biases. My results showed a moderate bias towards whites, and males in the workplace. I was definitely surprised by these results because I totally do not view myself as racist or sexist. We are all one of a kind living on Earth, so the fact that our brain picks people out because of the color of skin or what gender they are and decides that they are less than us is truly strange. 

Is Reality TV Harming the Youth of our Nation?

        Reality T.V. is harmful to watch because it promotes unacceptable behavior and are known to exploit the person or people involved with the show. Shows like "16 and Pregnant" and "Real Housewives" teach children and teens that this behavior comes with little to no consequences. For example, when I was with my eight year old cousin, he hit his sister and called her a "B-word." I asked him where he learned this attitude and wasn't very surprised when he told me "From the Jersey Shore." When kids or teens see something on TV, like drinking, smoking, or fighting, they think "This person does all these things that the teachers and parents tell me not to and is still living a great life with a big house, lots of friends, and money. Why am I any different?" Then they smoke, drink, and fight and find out that their life is not what they saw on the TV. Many kids today, and in the past, live their life with a role model that guides them in their personality, and their actions. In the past, before reality TV, some kids role models were athletes, the president or Neil Armstrong. Today, some kids role models are Snookie, "Mama" from Honey BooBoo, or people that have no significance other than the fact that they are married to someone famous. 















But reality TV doesn't only promote bad behavior, it also exploits the people in the shows, and the viewers. In shows like Here Comes HoneyBooBoo, Toddlers and Tiaras and even shows like American Idol, people watch to laugh at others because of who they are. "Honey Boo Boo" is a young girl that got her own show because of her very strange lifestyle. In the show, they talk about how they live in their small southern town, and their weird ways of doing things, like making spaghetti with ketchup and butter, or dumpster diving for furniture. In shows like American Idol or similar talent related shows, it may not seem like it is made to exploit people but if you pay attention, that is what they are doing. This is most common in the early audition stages. The producers chose the worst acts to air on TV for the entertainment of the viewers. These people, who try to sing well and take the time to rehearse and audition are making an attempt at doing something, only to have the entire nation or world, even, laugh at them. William Hung is a great example of this.

He is not a good singer, but they aired his audition on a talent show in order to get views and people talking about their show. William Hung even got signed to do albums with a record company. If people just stopped watching these shows that take somebodies "cool" life and put them on national TV for everyone to watch, then the world would be a better place. If everybody started copying Snookie and drank and partied all the time, or took after Simon Cowell and made fun of others for who they are, then society would eventually crumble.


Some people, on the other hand, might say that some reality TV shows are good, like "The Biggest Loser" or fun to watch like "Survivor." I would say that these shows may not take advantage of the people as much as the others, but could still be found to teach bad behavior. On Survivor, the contestants often talk bad about the others in order to create drama. In general, television would be a lot better if we reverted to the days of sitcoms instead of the modern age of reality.

My Introduction Post

Thanks for reading!

    Hey, I'm Ryan Bielar. I'm just an average guy. I love listening to music and hanging out with my friends. I love books like "Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R Tolkien and "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho. In my free time, I enjoy watching tv shows like Breaking Bad and Jessie. I don't really have favorite quotes but if I had to chose, it would probably be "Just close your eyes and push right through. I know it's tough right now but this is meant for you." From Debby Ryan's song "Open Eyes". One of my favorite places is the Hoover Dam. I think it is so amazing that people could make something like that! By the end of this year, I hope that my writing abilities will be improved greatly.