In the Language Arts IV and AP Literature classes, students not only read the novel “1984” by George Orwell but are submerged in it with a week long simulation that places the students in the world of 1984.

The novel is based inside a dystopian society controlled by a government called the Party, whose main goal is to control what their “comrades” think. The Party does this by maintaining their schedules, watching their people constantly with cameras hidden inside televisions and torturing those who are not loyal to them.

In order to receive points and obtain an A in the simulation, students must get stamps on their “uniform,” or card tied to a lanyard, by doing things that are loyal to “Big Brother” and The Party. This can include putting up signs supporting “Big Brother,” turning in homework, answering questions in class, promoting “Big Brother” and any other acts of loyalty to the party. On the opposite side they can also be demoted stamps for acts of disloyalty to the party.

“The purpose of the simulation is to help students to see how our world is so much like Orwell’s ‘1984.’ By participating in the simulation students will start seeing how they are controlled by ‘Big Brother,’ who and what ‘Big Brother’ is and how they react to each other. Are they spying on each other or are they staying loyal to each other? It’s all natural and normal and naturally students will take this and apply it to the novel,” Mrs. Jennifer Davis said.

Being loyal to the party also includes social media where students can post pictures on Twitter or other social sites and show it to their language arts teacher for points. Voices of Whitney Zach Dart and Danielle Blankenship both supported “Big Brother” by wearing their lanyards to the Homecoming Night Rally on Oct 12. Blankenship tweeted out her love for “Big Brother” after the rally, posting a picture with their cards on, tagging Davis’ Twitter handle in the photo.

Even though both AP and regular classes are participating in this activity, the Language Arts IV class is diving deeper into the simulation, including weekly confessions of actions students committed to get a stamp taken away, and weekly “Hates,” where an enemy of the school, such as Rocklin High School, is put on the screen and yelled at.

“I feel that in AP Lit we are not as involved as the other classes are and we are not taking it to the level that the other classes are; we were kind of thrown into it late. We don’t necessarily know in depth what the simulation is, and we are focusing more on the connection to the novel. Either way I think it’s cool to see what the characters in the novel were feeling. I think it’s important to know that in order to understand the novel,” Miranda Gerbaud said.

Some students sign up with their teachers to be a part of the “Thought Police,” who are the Police who find disloyal comrades and torture them. If a student signs up as a “Thought Police,” their job is to inform the teacher about students who are showing disloyalty in order to gain stamps for themselves and take away the disloyal party members’ stamps.

Contrastly, some seniors have decided to ignore the rules all together and take part in a Rebellion, called the “Brotherhood” in the novel. These people claim to be disloyal to the party and do things such as rip up their cards in front of their teacher, rip down posters, and draw on their uniform/card. “Down with Big Brother” is their slogan that can be heard or seen on the card of a student who claims to be part of the rebellion. While some students do it in order to be a part of the rebellion, some feel passionately against the idea of the simulation.

“If you rebel you are able to take control of your own grade instead of it being dependent on stamps. Plus, conformity kills. Unity among students should be decided by students, not by teachers,” Gabe Taggard said.

The simulation will continue until Oct. 14 when students will turn in their uniforms and receive points for their stamps and reflections.

by RACHEL MARQUARDT