Non fiction response to “Government Surveillance and Academic Thought Policing Are Taking

Us to 1984”

1. The main idea of this article is that our society and the society in the book “1984” and

very similar.

2. I can connect with this article with the book 1984

3. The author's purpose is to describe how were slowly transitioning into a society that can

be compared to the society of 1984

4. The target audience are people who feels like our society is too controlling

4a. The author dedicates both the title and the introduction to the book 1984, in which he

compares their society to ours.

4b. The choice of audience makes the text more relatable to the readers that have the

same opinion as the author

5. In the article, the author writes “​Parallels between the world of Orwell’s ​1984​ and our own are

increasingly obvious – and troubling.” (Carden), which means that the US is almost, slowly

turning into a totalitarian society.

6. The author uses ethos for the entire article

6a. “...there is little evidence that all the surveillance and security programs added since

9/11 have caught or prevented terrorists in any significant number.” (Carden)

6b.The author is an employee for Foundation for Free Education

7. A possible theme for this text is that the government can easily control anyone. “higher

education is fast becoming a place where students expect not to be faced with or to contend with

controversial ideas but to be protected from them” (Carden), “

 7a.”...higher education is fast becoming a place where students expect not to be faced

with or to contend with controversial ideas but to be protected from them.“ (Carden),

”...American Enterprise Institute scholar Christina Hoff Sommers have drawn unflattering

comparisons between Orwell’s Junior Anti-Sex League and those controlling campus discussions

today” (Carden), and ​ “​Parallels between the world of Orwell’s ​1984​ and our own are

increasingly obvious – and troubling.” (Carden)

8. This article helped me understand the topic by expressing how he felt about our current

society, backed up by plenty of evidence.

9. I would hold back on the ethos aspect of the article

9a. When using a lot of ethos, it'll be easy to know that the author is trying to persuade

you, however if you used something else, then it'll be too vague for the reader to realize that

you're persuading you

10. We are living in a world that can be compared to the world of 1984. This is because that both

societies have similar ideas that can be compared to “totalitarianism”. In the article, the author

states​ “​Parallels between the world of Orwell’s ​1984​ and our own are increasingly obvious – and

troubling.” (Carden). He is saying that both worlds often try to control everything in our society;

media, economy, freedom of speech, etc. In conclusion, Both societies of 1984 and our own

world are similar because they both have some totalitarianism ideas