Opening paragraph - 1984 by George Orwell - Big Brother control

This essay is about how Big Brother controls society in 1984.

This is an essay about Big Brother's methods of control in the novel 1984 by George Orwell.

George Orwell, or Eric Blair, was a political writer prominent in the post WWII era who opposed the rise of totalitarian states. In the novel 1984, he created a dystopian society where the people are stripped of their humanity and the individual does not exist. The story takes place in a fictional country called Oceania, where the ruling Party and its leader, Big Brother, seeks absolute power over its people. To achieve this, they implement physical and mental restrictions, surveillance, propaganda, and degradation of language to gain control of the people's minds.

The Party restricts the physical freedom by enforcing the Physical Jerks, controlling the supply of food, and prohibiting the sexual freedom of its subjects. The Physical Jerks is a daily morning routine where everyone is forced to perform a series of difficult exercises in order to stay fit. But given that they have to work endlessly for the Party, this forced exertion is only an additional method to keep the people worn out.

The Party restricts the physical freedom by enforcing the Physical Jerks, controlling the supply of food, and prohibiting the sexual freedom of its subjects. The Physical Jerks is a compulsory morning routine where everyone is forced to perform a series of difficult exercises, in order to stay fit, after woken up painfully by an ear-piercing alarm from the telescreen. But given that they have to work endlessly for the Party, this forced exertion is only an additional method to keep the people worn out. Throughout the book, Winston (the main character in the book) and workers at the Minitruth frequently drink Victory Gin and smoke cigarettes, while the government cuts chocolate and other food rations. The Party uses the war to control the economy, using it as an excuse to justify the poor living conditions that the people lived in. Except for the Ministry buildings, most of the city are destroyed and lies in ruin. There is only one way that one can carry out sexual activities: to produce a child for the Party. Winston's wife even refers to this as their "duty to the Party".

An opening paragraph normally has more than two sentences. Perhaps you could come up with something that goes a bit deeper than merely listing the obvious control techniques. Maybe you could focus entirely on surveillance in the book, or on the efforts to control not merely behavior but thoughts.

talk about your thoughts and the main argument you are going to talk about throughout the essay. tell the readers your point before you get into the rest of the essay because thats the purpose of the intro.

You can add a sentence to the beginning... something unusual that gets the reader to feel surprised and interested. Something unexpected.

There is only one way in which one is allowed to carry out sexual activities: to produce a child for the Party.

Wow, this is looking very good! I see that this is not finished yet, or else you would have a conclusion paragraph. Yes, I think you are on the right track. It seems like an expository essay centered on the book... but you could make it better if you add something to the intro: a theme for your essay, a spacial perspective or observation that you have about the book.

Rather than just a book report type thing, can you say something intriguing about the book. Perhaps something that other readers would not have noticed.