Monday, September 21, 2009

Day 9

Today we began reading Lord of the Flies which was written after World War 2. In this evenings blog, explain how writers are influenced by their times to write certain types of novels. Why is this important to history? Also, reflect on the following quote and tie it into the idea of historical based fiction:

"Society has always seemed to demand a little more from human beings than it will get in practice."
George Orwell

54 comments:

Wilbur2381 said...

writers have many influences on their writing such as family, or current events that are happening during their time. I believe that what is happening on a daily basis is what influences writers the most because you can get away from your family for a day or two. But the current events that happen you can not escape those maily because people change their mind depending on what is going on in the world. writers that write about history are very importent because it gives a different perspective on what happened on that date and that is importent because normally there is so much information that is coming at you that you need a different source for your awnsers. writers that write historic novels are importent because some people are better learners when there are different circumstances surrounding all of the information.
"Society has always seemed to demand a little more from human beings than it will get in practice." is a quote that ties into the historical based fiction because when you look into a book all you see is information and some of that information is easy to make somebody the bad guy. But as you read a historical fiction book the writer tries to make you think about who is the bad guy and who is the good guy, and they also try to give you the accurate information while keeping you enticed in the story by using different characters.

Will Michaels 2nd hour

Dan Calma said...

Writers are influenced by significant occurences in their life times. For example a writer who has witnessed destruction and devestation from a war could be compelled to tell people by the means of a story. Or a writer who has experienced a loss in their life may feel the only way to cope witj it is to write about it and leave their feelings on the page, so to speak. This is important to history because when people write about occurences in their life time it helps the people in the future learn from certain mistakes that had happened. I don't fully comprehend George Orwell's quote, but I think he is saying that a society can not be established the way one hopes. And that people will not participate in a society because it is inconvienient for them. Usually in historical based fiction their is one person or party that rise to the occation when something bad has happened, then when things become stabilized there is always another person who wants to take control of the entire group.

ZACK SZAJNER 5th Hour said...

In this evenings blog, explain how writers are influenced by their times to write certain types of novels. Why is this important to history? Also, reflect on the following quote and tie it into the idea of historical based fiction:

"Society has always seemed to demand a little more from human beings than it will get in practice."
George Orwell

Writers want to influence their writing with a purpose or something to teach the reader. These can be life lessons, or sometimes stories about themselves. I think that this is important to history because it can discribe events and situations that they know about. These can go on to eventually help us learn from the past. Orwells quote is trying to tell us that history can not be arranged. Things on earth dont always go as we hope or plan they would. Life is something that changes, and we must change with it.

Hannah Aittama said...

Novels are influenced by the time period all the time. A lot of writers write about whats going on in their lives. They do this because sometimes its easier to write a book on something that has happened to you or about things you have seen. And this is important to history because it shows us what things were like back then from different peoples perspectives. And different people experienced different events so their writings can help us know what went on during history. And the quote from Orwell is saying that things don't always turn out the way we plan on them to go. An example of that could be the American Revolution, the British never planned on losing to the colonies but they did.

Hannah Aittama
2nd Hour

Jessica klave said...

Writers are influenced by events that are taking place in their life time. It is easier to write about something current in your life verses something from history. For example in the recent past there has been many governmental scandals and there are many writers taking advantage and writing about these events. Even the most scandalous events are worth writing about, which will allow people in the future to read in detail what was happening in that time period. However the reader must be careful because inside the story may lie a hidden message, and the writers opinion may influence the story. I believe one way that the quote, "Society has always seemed to demand a little more from human beings than it will get in practice." by George Orwell ties into the idea of historical based fiction is that society demands so much from people that are in the spot light and the fact is, everyone is human and makes mistakes and it seems society focuses on those mistakes rather than the good that people do.

Mike said...

Writers are influenced by their times to write certain types of novels because of what they witness during that time. All writers write things that relate somewhat to real-life/real-life situations. This is important to history because it is another form of keeping records. It's basically cataloging dates and times into a historically inaccurate book (or accurate).
"Society has always seemed to demand a little more from human beings than it will get in practice." If you look into our past you can see we as human beings always try to hard to complete something. We will stress about it and whine until we complete it. Eventually we will all die, what is our purpose here? To live? As a society we demand more and more from ourselves and we will experiment and do other things to try and help the people in the future. In a historical based fiction such as Lord of the Flies; they try to make their own society and incorporate rules, laws, etc. They do this instead of simply trying to put together a plan to get rescued. They ask to much of themselves and make things difficult.

beattiex33 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mike said...

Writers are influenced by their times to write certain types of novels because of what they witness during that time. All writers write things that relate somewhat to real-life/real-life situations. This is important to history because it is another form of keeping records. It's basically cataloging dates and times into a historically inaccurate book (or accurate).
"Society has always seemed to demand a little more from human beings than it will get in practice." If you look into our past you can see we as human beings always try to hard to complete something. We will stress about it and whine until we complete it. Eventually we will all die, what is our purpose here? To live? As a society we demand more and more from ourselves and we will experiment and do other things to try and help the people in the future. In a historical based fiction such as Lord of the Flies; they try to make their own society and incorporate rules, laws, etc. They do this instead of simply trying to put together a plan to get rescued. They ask to much of themselves and make things difficult.

beattiex33 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
beattiex33 said...

When an author writes a book from their time period, they take out the emotion along with the experiences of that time. If an author is feeling the pain from the great depressions and writes a novel while they feel that way, their writing could be influenced. This could be important to history because, they could tell stories through the characters that relate to war, hardships, and changes through history. Stories like “The Great Gatsby” and “Huckleberry Finn” are examples of stories that used either characters or symbols to explain hardships or even something exciting in history to get through to their readers and describe history through a novel. So, with history being told through stories, they could get passed down through an easier understanding than just being taught history in class. "Society has always seemed to demand a little more from human beings than it will get in practice”, this quote, written by George Orwell, I think means that a person, like an author, is the one that a society feeds off of to tell its story. The society takes less from itself to tell the story and more from the person who will use different ways to tell its tale and less from what is found left of it maybe thousands of years from now.

Lauren Beattie
3rd Hour

!!!!!!TAYLOR SWIFT IS SO HOTT!!!!!! said...

well, writers are influenced by the time periods in the world becuase they are either important the them or the hole world. Like ww2. That was a major time period in us history. it effected tons of people an dit is easy to write about stuff that has effected so many people. Even easier if you have lived through that time period. This is important to history becuase it is a way for people to look back on it and see how hard it may have been for others. Well i really dont get this quote. I do think that history has shown us that humans do need a lot of stuff to live. But we cant reallt practice life.

Zack Ruffin

Hannah Ledgley (: said...

writers want to educated people. with out writen document we wouldnt know anything about history. Writers are infulcened by what happens day by day in our world. with out intersting things happening nothing could be writen. this quote is telling us that history cant done the way we always want it to be. Things happen weather we like it or no. we change change that. someone will happen no matter what, we cant perdict that way things happen.

kristen said...

Writers are influenced by their time because they experience different things. They grew up and lived differently so they are inspired to write different types of novels. It's hard writing about stuff you know nothing about, so it's easy to write about stuff you've been through. It's important to history because we get a since of what really happened and what that time was like. I'm not for sure what the quote means, but I guess it means that humans can't prepare ourselves for everything. In books, people always seem to know what to do or luck into figuring it out. However, life doesn't work that way. It takes education and street smarts.
Kristen Pauly
2nd hr.

Anonymous said...

Writers typically write about things that influence or affect them. This is especially true in times of war, and despair. This is important to history, because you can get a feel for what was happening by reading books from that time period. Writers moods, represent the feelings of the time. Novels from the Great depression typically have a mood of despair. Whereas novels written in the 1920's might have a more upbeat happy mood. This quote by George Orwell, has to do with what society expects and what it will get. Society, changes with the times, much like novels change with the times. However, it does not always get what it will demand. People fall short, or soceity aims to high. None-the-less, society is always slightly off the norm, which is why it doesnt always get what it asks.

Priscilla Call said...

Most writers are influenced by their times to write certain types of novels. This is because in different times people are looking for different kinds of novels. Such as when a war was happening people liked to read war stories so there was more of a demand for them. It is important to history because it is like you are recording your own history in a book when you write it. "Society has always seemed to demand a little more from human beings than it will get in practice." by George Orwell. This quote ties into historical based fiction. It's explaining that not everything we plan on doing will happen even if other expect us to.

Megan said...

Writers are influenced by their times to write certain types of novels because it is relevant to what is going on in their life. I would think it would be hard not to write about something that is related to what is currently going on. It is important to history because it helps future people who read it can understand the situation and times better. Also, so that they can truly get the the essence of what that time period was like. What I believe the quote means is that it takes effort to make a society. Society expects all these things to happen and don't realize what they are asking of. In historical based fiction, there is basically a society and how it functions.
Megan Kastelen
2nd hour

Tayler Chase said...

The majority of writers are influced by the times there writing in. I think writers are influenced by their times because thats their culture, where they are living at now. When the world is going through tough times it effects everyone, and writing is how some of these authors expressed themselves. Also it could influence them by wanting to tell others whats going on. Maybe they wanted us to all feel what they were going through so we could make sure history didn't repeat it's self. Novels from the past are important because they tell us what was going on in their time, they tell us how they felt and what they had to go through. Also our society with expect more out of us then we can give, and novels can be some peoples way out of that, their escape from society.

Sean said...

Writers are influenced by their time to write certain novels because they use big events to shape what their writing about. Its the significance of the story and what ties you in with it. This is important to history because as readers, people can understand and get a feel for what kind of picture the author wants to put in your mind. Instead of just facts and dates to get information from, the reader is able to follow a point of view and understand what the charactors are going through. The quote from Geoege Orwell means that humans cant live up to their own expectations. SOciety complains about their own problems and always hope someone can fix it. As a society, we always talk about taking the right steps to a better future, although in reality it takes time for people to catch on and take the neccesary steps.

deets

Grant said...

Its important that writers continue writing novels about there times in history. Its important because thats the way we find out what happened a long time ago. Writers often base there thoughts on family, freinds, current things going on in there life and also hardships they have been through. Orwells quote is trying to tell us that history was and still is unpredictable. As we change, as life changes we need to change with it and make the best of it.

Eric Tamm said...

Many writers write about their life experiences. This is why so many of them do this with ease. It is easy for them to write about something they experienced or something that happened in that time period. They can easily relate to it. However, this is important to history becasue then in the future people can look back and learn about the time period it was writed in. They cannot only learn about like events that happened, but also how the writing style was back then. This quote means that society needs more from humans than it gives back to them. At least this is my opinion. For example, our taxes. The government demands so much from us but in reality we don't get much out of it. The government spends so much on useless stuff. It just shows how in history it gets worse and worse. The government demands more and more as time goes on.

Tyler McLeod said...

Writers want to involve their readers with events that somehow effect them. Without events being documented at the times they occur history would not be properly recorded. If 911 was not documented down to the second later generations would not know when & how the terrorist attack took place. It's more accurate to write down something that is fresh in your mind. Historical based fiction presents actual events from the point of view of the people living in that time period. This quote means that people within a society expect a lot from their peers. However, people don't always practice what they preech.

Becca said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Becca said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Becca said...

Writers are influenced by their times to write certain types of novels. If a novel was written during the Great Depression, most likely the novel will be impacted by the depression in some way. Also, if a novel was written during World War I the novel would somehow have the effects or even the war in the novel. This is important to history because novels tell us what life was like during a certain time period. If we didn't know what life was like years ago, we would not be able to learn from our mistakes. The quote, "Society has always seemed to demand a little more from human beings than it will get in practice," means that society expects people to be the best that they can be and if they fail to be the best, society is disappointed. When people form a society, not everyone is going to get their way, some will be unhappy.

Becca Need
3rd Hour

Katrina said...

To me, the easiest things to write about are things youve lived through and seen first hand. Its going to be easy to tell someone about something you saw happen. Thats why many writers write stories based in the time they are experiencing while writing or a time they have lived through. For example, William Golding was writing Lord of the Flies while world war 2 was going on. So, i would expect to see refrences to the war throughout the novel. For example, the reason the boys were on a plane in the first place was because they were taking part in evacuation. Also, writers doing this is important to history because their stories can show some of the facts along the way. Its another, sometimes more exctiting way, to learn about history. Granted, theyre just stories and the facts may be different from reality but it still adds excitement to history. Like last year when the things Mrs. Smith was teaching us in AP lined up with the literature we were reading in Mrs. Whiteheads class it really helped me to better understand the material. Also, the quote to me means that people don't typically give to society all that it needs from them. This ties into the topic of historical based fiction because novels show this to be true. The characters resemble those in real life who dont give back to society the way they could. So, writers write about what they see at the time and whats effecting their life, including society and its expectations.

Cody Kabisa said...

Writers novels are definitly influenced by the time period they are written in. Their writing is influenced by things like current events, the world, family/friends, or major events that occured in that time period. This is important to history because we can kind of get a feel for what life was like back in these days. We can see what people were going through in these days through their writing. This quote means than things are always changing and we need to "roll with the changes." Society has always demanded us to change, and life is demanding change also. If we dont go with the changes, we wont last in this world is what I think its saying.

Cody Kabisa
2nd hour

Anonymous said...

Writers are influenced by their time to write certain types of novels becauses most write about current events in their life. Many writers write their novels about whats going on in their life today, family, friends or whatever. People are influenced by hat goes on in the world around them so they write about their perspective of how the worlds society relates to them. This is important to history because books are what we base our history on. When there is nothing left, thats what we look back on, so these books from now when people read them will see how we lived our daily lives. The quote "Society has always seemed to demand a little more from human beings than it will get in practice." by George Orwell means that things change over time and humans demands change. This ties to history because, each year we learn new things and society changes. Life today is so different from how it used to be, and one way to look back, years from now is writing.

Kaleigh S said...

Writers are influenced by their times to write certain novels because when someone lives in a period of time, they know the most about it. They have experiences from it and are likely to write a much better novel about the time they live in because of it. This is important to history because it gives a record of how people lived their day to day lives in periods of time. Stories from the past are a more personal record of history and help us understand it better.
As for Orwell's quote, I believe he is saying that our society demands a lot of human beings but even though all these rules are set up, it does not mean everyone will follow them. Humans are not perfect, and we cannot expect everything to go according to plan 100 percent of the time. Rules are always changing with our society, and it shows that our governments and the people in the civilization are never going to be perfect.

2nd hr

John said...

Writers are influenced in their writting by the times they live in. Most of the writers are influnced to write when there is tragety and peoples life are at risk. War is always a big influnece. This is important to history because it kinda gives a second prespective on what is going on and in the eyes of someone other than ourselves. I believe this statement from George Orwell is telling that we ask for to much as and give little in return. People are gready and selfish, they will never stop wanting, and they always expect more. Even when they recieve what they have asked for it is never good enough, we as humans always want to be better than everyone else just so we can have the glory of one upping someone. We need to give more than we recieve, we need to stop acting like such selfish assholes and realize that there is more to life than materilsic items.

John McLean
3rd hour

Chris L. said...

When a writer lives during a specific time period, they are always influenced by how things are going on around them. Writing styles have changed very much since the beginning of the english language. If a person were to look at the writing of William Shakespeare and compare it to the writing of Dan Brown, the person would notice that the way things are said is very different. This is important to history because it gives us a background of the way people were at the time. There is a lot to be said about this quote by George Orwell: "Society has always seemed to demand a little more from human beings than it will get in practice." Human's will never live in a perfect society. We can't give some and get back the same in return. We will have to try harder to get what we want from society. In historical fiction, society plays a large roll in the telling of the story. There is always a conflict that will test our patience as a society. Society will always be very tough to make perfect.

Trevor Stratton said...

If there are writers who have expierneced certain events like war they might be compelled to write about it, because it is the only way they see fit. Writers may also feel compelled to write about impotant events because they feel it could make a significant impact in the society in which they live in. This is important to history because it is another way of telling what was happening during certain periods of time. Even though writing a book in some cases may not be the best way to keep records of what happens, it works. I say it is not a very accurate way of keeping records because writers can change the story around and make it sound better or worse then it is. "Society has always seemed to demand a little more from human beings than it will get in practice." George Orwell
This qoute ties into a historical based fiction because it shows how no matter what the occasion it seems that there is always someone to rise and help if needed.

Chloe Martin 6th said...

The best advice i ever got when i was writing a story was to write what you know. Then the story is more believable and real to the audience because it had actually taken place. its important for writers to write like that because then people in the future have a better understanding of the past. Especially the emotions in the past, we all know whats in the history book, but it's good to understand the way people felt in that time. To me the quote is saying that we need more in aspects of our society but rarely do we fill the demands. I'm not sure if the quote means that the standards are set to high and they are a way to motivate us. or that we wont give the incentive to work harder for our society. i guess either one can make sense.

nicole k said...

writers are influenced by their time because it is how they are living. it is what they are going through. they know how it feels. they understand it more. this is important to history because when people write down how they feel and what they are going through as its happening to them we as the readers get more of how it was. it is also important to write it down as its happening so they dont leave out important details. i dont really understand the quote.

Andrew Melton said...

Writers are influenced by occourances that happen in life. These occourances help inspire writers to write certain types of novels, such as Lord of the Flies. This is very important to history because it shows how differnet writers thoguht of historic events. It showed how they comprehended the event, and ways they put the event into words so that others could understand them. The way that they choose to put the event into words can also make it so the novel can be read and understood by children, such as an allegory. The quotes by George Orwell says that human beings ask for more than others are able to give, unless they just go and do it instead of practicing. Because when i practiced for football i always seemed to understand a couple plays for a short period of time. When the coach would tell me more plays id get confused and would get my routes mixed up, and him switched my job wasnt helping much either. When i played in the game, the plays seemed to get written down in my mind so i could remember them, and run the routes confidently, and i would be able to take in more plays.

Steve Snapp said...

Writers are influenced by events that happened in their time. Why, because it is something to be recorded. For example if you were a writer in the past and something you wanted other people to know don't you think you would write about it. Its important for these novels to be written because in a way it informs people that didn't realize what happened in the past. So writers that write novels that relate to history are helping us earn knowledge we didn't or may not of know.

"Society has always seemed to demand a little more from human beings than it will get in practice."
George Orwell

I think this quote reflects to the paragraph above because its telling society that their not getting all that they demand to know about history in the past. In other words it saying people don't realize everything that happened in history.

Anonymous said...

Writers are influenced by their times to write certain types of novels because it applies to them. When we have to write a free blog, everyone writes about something that is either happening to them or is important to them. Its the same with authors because its whats current and going on and many people can apply it to their lives. Another reason people may write about current events or stuff that is going on is to understand it better. It is important to history because we have a more accurate account of what really went on and not just whats in the history textbook. Orwell's quote means that there can be rules or expectations set up as to whats going to happen but its not all set in stone. Anything can happen or go wrong and even though society wants certain things to happen, things don't always go according to the plan. An example of this is any war or conflict in history. It starts out small and eventually gets to be this big thing.

Jake F said...

Writers have influences on their writing according to their lifestyles and events that effected their life. When writers write about influences we get information on the past in their perspective. They often wirte based on important and current things their lives. The quote means we have to keep up with the times. If you dont keep up you will fall behind.

Jake 2nd hour

Taylor Wattles said...

I think that what is happening around them when they are writing the book is very important to writers. I think it i easier to write about things you experience and see happening around you. I also think it would have more meaning to you if you are writing about something you witnessed and experienced as opposed to something that happened several years ago. It would be easier to right about something thats happening currently because it is fresh in your mind. I think this quote is saying that society expects a lot from the people who live there but they rarely exceed the expectations. However i feel the next generation of people always step up the bar and create new expectations. I also believe that expectations in different social classes and countries may vary from expectations in are society.

Taylor Wattles

Brittany Laubscher said...

Every writer has different experiences, and lived different ways. Most writers take their life experiences and turn them into great novels. To make a story more real life, it would be simpler to just use a real life factor. People would be able to relate to their novels more. For example, if someone was going thru a rough period in their life their story would be gloomy. To me the quote “Society has always seemed to demand a little more from human beings than it will get in practice", by George Orwell means that not everyone is perfect. Society demands to much out of people. Everyone makes mistakes, you cant expect to much out of a single person.

Hailey Ledgley(: 3rd hour said...

Writers have many influences on their writing such as family, or events that are occuring during their time. I think that whats going on in your own life, influences the writers the most because it gives them a chance to get away from family. And to focous on their own daily life. but current events that are happening around the world, they cant get away from. Becuase then they have to change their mind about things and focous on a different topic. Writers that write about history are important becuase its a different viuew of what happened a long time ago.

"Society has always seemed to demand a little more from human beings than it will get in practice." this quote ties into the historical based fiction because when you look into a book all you see is information. And it doesnt really prove who didnt something wrong, or what exactly happened. But as you read a historical fiction book the writer tries to make you think about who is the bad guy and who is the good guy, and they also try to give you the right information about what is going on, By using different characters.

Anonymous said...

Taylor Dieck
6th hr.

When a novel is written in a certain period in history it tends to be what is important to the writer at the time. Whether this be a personal experience, or an event that the whole world is experiencing. This is important to history because it captures all different views of events that happened in history. This quote means that through out time, society has had to evolve more and more. They are always taking steps to be more civilized. In time society demands you to be civilized, it becomes a lifestyle. The quote is saying society is going to become more and more civilized. That all the demands that society makes today are just practice for what society will demand in the future.

allyson martin said...

What influnces writers, where do they get there topics from and how do they fit it in to the times they live. The times that writers live in often play a key role in influencing them in their writtings. If it weren't for the dairies of Anne Frank then we woulod've never gotten to hear her story. This why the writting of people are very important in history, to pass on from generation to generation. "Society has always seemed to demand a little more from human beings than it will get in practice". I believe that what george orwell is trying to get across is that people take themselves for granted. They trying so hard to fit in but it isn't always good enough for the supior person they are trying to impress. But if you look at it in the prespective of the more you try the more you fail then that is what you will live by. But if you step out of the box and try hard and don't give a shit what anyone has to say about it then you suceed and become a person people will repect.

Allyson Martin

Jordan said...

I thinks its easy to say authors are influenced by their time of writings. They take whats going on around them such as wars or current events and tie it into the book. This is important to history because it can give us the mood and feeling of historical events. It may not be accurate though because its the authors opinion. We must learn from the past and i think books and authors help. I think orwells quote is saying that we rely on history to much and never seem to get the real truth. I think this ties in of historical based fiction because the author is using his or her opinion and it may not be true.
blanz
2nd

Alanna Nagi said...

Every writer experiences different things, and they write something that they can personally relate to. From what the writers experience is how they form what they are writing. Usually when your reading a story, there's always something or a certain character that keeps you interested in the novel. The reason for this is, usually the reader can either connect to what the book is about, or can relate to the story line, this is how people understand what the characters are going through. If a book you read just had fact and dates, in some parts it could be interesting but there's nothing for the reader to relate to. If you have a story line that goes along with the dates and facts, it paints a better and more efficient picture for the reader. The quote "Society has always seemed to demand a little more from human beings than it will get in practice." by George Orwell means to me that we always imagine a bigger picture than what we can actually draw. We as humans have ambitions, goals, dreams, have expections, and have hope for ourselves, but it doesn't always mean that were going to live up to it. We all have wants, and we all have our needs, but when people say they "need" something, they don't do anything to try and get it. Our society is all talk and no action. We may say we need something, but no one will really take any matter into their own hands to reach for what they need. How this can relate to history is with our government. It started out small, and not it employs over millions of people! Our society demanded to much, and now it's way out of control.

Alanna Nagi
2nd hour

Audrey Beaumarchais said...

Pieces of writing are based on many differnet things; a lesson, a person, or event. Writers write because of experiences that they want to share with others. Writers are often influenced by a time period as well. It may be the one they are in while they write the book; a past one or a future one. For example, if a writer experiences a tragedy they may write a story about it or based one it. It is good that writers base books on current happenings or events in their lives because it helps us learn more about that time period. All the details and facts help us understand how life was.
"Society has always seemed to demand a little more from human beings than it will get in practice."
George Orwell
This quote is telling us that the future is always a mystery. Anything can happen at any moment and it's our choice to make it happen or not. History is being made everyday.

Audrey

Emma Flynn said...

It is very apparent that the era in which a writer lives in, greatly influences the novel that is written during that time. As it is seen in most novels throughout history, the events that take place during or just before a author's life, are almost always found to have an enormous impact on the dialect, theme, mood, plot and overall type of novel itself. For instance, novels like Lord of the Flies and a Farewell to Arms were both impacted by World War 2. This is important to history, because now when learning about history, you can read more than just records and history books, you can also read the literature from that time period. The quote by George Orwell, "Society has always seemed to demand a little more from human beings than it will get in practice" depicts the idea of historical based fiction
in a few ways. Historical fictional writers nearly all write novels in hopes that the readers will be able to take something away from the book, and perhaps maybe learn something. I believe that George Orwell's quote is about raising the bar, generation after generation and it ties completely into the idea of Historical Fiction. As seen in most Historical Fiction Novels where the writer who is influenced by history, hopes to influence the reader by digging deep and using personifications and allusions to represent real historic people and societies. Through their exaggerations, characters and the events that take place in their books, authors are able to have influence on generations, hopefully encouraging them to do more and have higher expectations in order to prepare them to raise the bar by the next era.

Jamie Diehr said...

Writers are influenced by their time period to write certain types of novels. It could be the events that are taking place, or the culture of their daily life. Writers take simple context and expand their creative thinking into making something symbolic. In some cases, authors show how under some circumstances in the environment that a person lives in can change and affect their life and who they are. It is important to history because it shows that it has happened once and it could happen again, but hopefully we will have learned the first time around so that their can be a different outcome. The quote from George Orwell ties together with the whole concept of how writings are important in history. It is stating that events will keep on happing, next after next. People can't always expect that things will run smoothly, because the society always seems to be expecting way more from people than what can give.

Cherie Stoll said...

3rd
Often times, when writers are influenced by their times, they write about the effects of that time on everyday people. These novels give historians more information on what times were like then, and a wider understanding of the events that occurred. Novels such as these can give us knowledge that we could not obtain about that time, because we were not there. Reflecting to the quote, I think that George Orwell is saying that society needs more from human beings than is being given. It takes a lot of work and effort to uphold a society, and sometimes we do not put in enough effort. I also think that this quote means that you cannot practice a society, you have to live it, and learn from it. This relates to historical based fiction because the writer is writing about the failures and triumphs of history. It is what we learn from history that molds our society today.

Joey said...

Writers are influenced by their times to write certain types of novels because it is important to them. It’s important to them because they are affected by what is going on in the world during their life. This is also important to history because it is important to know peoples feeling towards what’s going on in their life time. We never learn about the people living during the events from the past and how they feel about it. We usually only learn stuff in a text book. This quote ties into the idea of historical based fiction because all the information in a book can be taken differently. The information can make things sound worst then it really was or even better then it really was.

mikki said...

The time, places and events have so much to do with writers influences. Writers write about things they love or things that happened. The qoute means that society has always, and still today expects to much from the people. They dont realize what they demand is not always what the outcome will be. Society sets to high of standards for us. They also have too high of hopes for us. Also, they demand almost the impossible in some peoples view.

Mikki Nosek

A D A M H A H N said...

I believe writers are influenced by their times to write historical novels because, one; they want to teach people about their time in history, and document it, and two; it is the easiest thing for them to write about since they are living in that time period! If I had to write a book, I too would most likely write about an event that I experienced in my lifetime. That just seems to make the most logical sense for any writer, simply because you lived through that time period, so it should be the easiest to write about. Historical novels are so important to history because they give written documentation of that time period. They obviously give the point of view of the writer living through that period of history, but a historical novel may also give the reader the point of view of what it was like for other people, of different cultures, in that time period. This quote from George Orwell ties into the idea of historical based fiction because it is saying people have always tried to expect things to come in the future. In reality, no one can predict history, and whats going to happen next. So we need things like historical fiction to look back and learn about our past, and not expect more than we have seen from past societies. The only way to tell whats to come next is to see it happen.

JK said...

John Kent
9-21-09


Writers are influenced by their times, therefore; they write about what they know. People want to know what happened in the past. The only way to do so without changing the story through the generations is by books. History is reflected in these novels because they are recording their thoughts and feeling about their world. For example when John Steinbeck wrote Of Mice and Men it was during the great depression. I think that the quote means that in human history our society expects too much of the common person. Society will never get what it expects from us. Humans are an imperfect race and we set the bar too high for ourselves.

JK said...

John Kent
9-21-09

Writers write what they see and feel. They may not intend to write something historical. It is just that history is reflected in what they write because that is what the author is experiencing. It is important to history because it allows us to understand what life was like during that time.
I think George Orwell’s quote is very negative. It means that society expects more from the common person than he or she can really give.
I don’t think the quote truly reflects historical fiction, not all writers write their characters to fail. It may be that his life was difficult or miserable so he sees society as demanding more than he can give.

bree: thompson said...

Writers need to be a ble to imagine when they are writng. If they are not educated properly on a certain subject or have not experianced it themselves than they will not develope a good story line. Therefore, writers are influenced by their surroundings, personal experiances, and their times. This is important to history because it gives a different take on the world around us, makes learning more fun and interesting, and builds a mind-set for the people of the future. I do not fully understand George Orwell's quote but i believe it means a scoiety has to be lived, not practiced. It takes a lot of energy, time, and effort to build and maintain a society.