Cornell Notes

1)
Title: Animal Farm: Overview
Author: Paul H. Robb
Year Published: 1991

Main idea #1: Gaining power through tyranny

Summary: Napoleon was a greedy tyrant that spread fear throughout Animal Farm; this gave him power

Quote: “…under the leadership of Napoleon, the techniques and hypocracies of tyranny begin to appear.”

Question: Why does greed for power lead to these techniques?

Main idea #2: Power

Summary: Napoleon had the power to make people confess to doing things that they did not do, and get killed for it

Quote: “The most Blatent and most effective techniques used by Napoleon are the show trials, the abject confessions, and the summary executions.”

Question: How can power drive other people to kill themselves?

Main idea #3: Power

Summary: Men are so vulnerable to being greedy for power

Quote: “Orwell’s fable illuminates his satirical theme: man’s vulnerability to man’s greed for power.”



2)
Titile: He says/ she Says: Shakespeare’s Macbeth
Author: Mary Ives Thompson
Year Published: 2005

Main idea #1: Power

Summary: Macbeth was determined to gain power after hearing the prophecy from the witches and being convinced to kill Duncan by Lady Macbeth.

Quote: “In a world where fair is foul and the natural order is completely subverted, Macbeth becomes completely confident in his grab for power,”

Question: How can a man believe such a prophecy from three random strangers?

Main idea #2: Power

Summary: In most books you see males succumbing to their temptation for power, yet in Macbeth you see a female succumbing to it also.

Quote: “She [Lady Macbeth] is intelligent, she craves power, she is strong enough to determine what action she must take to achieve her goals, and she is willing to turn to unsavory means to achieve her ends.”

Question: Why are males usually the one’s to succumb to power

Main idea #3: Power

Summary: Men are the figures in life that are the ones to do something on order to attain power.

Quote: “…the only way she [Lady Macbeth] can achieve power is if her husband first attains it.”

Question: Why can’t women do anything to achieve power?



3)
Title: Not All Books Are Created Equal: Orwell & His Animals at Fifty
Author: Katharine Byrne
Year Published: 1996



Main idea #1: Power corrupts

Summary: Power that is gained is bound to corrupt in time.

Quote: “The tendency of power to corrupt must always be recognized; people's hold over their own fate must prevail”

Main idea #2

Summary: There is an attraction to power in many things, and they are all looking to use it for themselves.

Quote: “Power corrupts, and there are forces at work seeking to wield it.”