Animal Farm Review

Today our group did a review on the first chapter of the classic book, "Animal Farm" written by George Owell. The story is set in a Farm somewhere in England, in a farm owned by someone named Mr. Jones. It's a pretty ordinary farm, and you can find animals there in any other - horses, cows, dogs, cats, pigs, hens, sheep, donkeys, ducks, etc. Now there is this pig which everyone calls Major, and is respected by all the animals in the farm. One night, he holds a meeting in the barn after Mr. Jones falls asleep and starts talking about the utter cruelty of Men. It talks about how it wants to teach the next generations about their cruelty and someone will hopefully start a rebellion. The animals all agreed to this idea. Then, Major taught them a song it heard during its childhood which all came back to it the night before in a dream. The song is about animals rebelling against Men and finally obtaining absolute freedom. The chapter ends when Mr. Jones hears the commotion in the Barn (animal singing) and shoots a couple of bullets into the darkness, causing the animals to retreat to their sleeping posts.

The characters in this story are mostly animals, so it's really interesting to see human beings from an animal's point of perspective. I also like how he portrays the animals to a point where we start feeling sorry for them, and the way they think about us humans - just because a group of people (Mr. Jones and his farmers) are treating them badly, doesn't mean the whole race is as evil. This is what causes rebellions and wars in reality; the author is just trying to convey this to us through his book.

The genre of this book is fiction, but then is still thought-provoking because it makes people think of the possibility of the animal rebellion turning into reality. Actually, this was what generated the most discussion in today's literature circle. We agreed that animals have feelings and thoughts just like us human beings, so there is a chance that they might actually start a rebellion. We were tempted to read the rest of the book to see what happens next.

I would recommend this book to older people, maybe teenagers and above, due to the complicated language that is used. Also, the story has content that you have to read between the lines in order to understand completely, so it will be difficult for a young child to fully enjoy this book. The storyline is great though, and the author's style of writing is really interesting. Really thought-provoking, read this and you will definitely feel wiser when you finish!

Examination Day Review

Today our group did a review on a story called "Examination Day". It's about a Boy called 'Dick' who is celebrating his 12th Birthday when his parents suddenly tell him about this Governmental Test he has to take that day. He keeps asking them about what the Examination would be about, but all they said is that it's an IQ Test to see how smart he is. A few hours later, he is brought to a room inside a Government Building and is sat in front of a high-technology machine which gives out all the questions. Hours later, his parents were informed of his execution due to his high IQ Level. The story ends there.

"Examination Day" has a really good twist in the ending that shocks and surprises us - I bet most of us didn't see the execution coming. Due to the somewhat scary close to this short story, I think it is considered in the suspense or thrill genre.

The story is set in a town where the Government takes control of everything and rules over the place. There are a lot of countries now which are in this state in the real world, but no such things as discrimination against gifted children. Also, according to the text, the people in the town have pretty poor lifestyles and the Jordans' house is really small. This may have been caused by the Government retrieving more than enough taxes from its people, or because there are no clever people in town to think of further economic development.

From today's group discussion, we decided that the most intriguing element of the story was: why is the Government doing this? Is it because they don't want people to take over control of the town? That's the answer we came up with after a thorough discussion, but it may not be right.

I would recommend this story to people who love suspense/thrill genre books. The realistic description of the tragical event, the horrifying twist at the ending... Fits perfectly into the category. A pretty easy read, grab a copy and start reading now!

Literature Circle Reflections?

I can only find one literature circle reflection. Where are the others please?