Making Connections

Topic of Connection: Manipulation to Benefit Oneself Structure of report: (a) text by text or (b) aspect by aspect (Highlight)
My goal in this report is to compare how a range of texts show how people can manipulate power and how that can benefit them. Im most interested in exploring texts with unexpected puppeteers and how they
alter facts and events.
Point of paragraph - (a) or (b) Evidence Going beyond the point
(a) Describe how we see the connection in the text. Give specific evidence to support your point. For examples: connect to other texts; explain what you think is
(b) Describe what you mean by the aspect and how it relates to the Explain / give context if necessary. the authors purpose and effect on the reader; discuss your own
texts. response to the connection.
1. In Animal Farm we see the manipulation of other animals by the In Animal Farm, we see the pigs manipulate the environment
pigs. The pigs rise to power and they use their newly gained authority It was about this time that the pigs suddenly moved into the around them by controlling the other animals and changing and
to get all the things that they want. Despite preaching equality of all farmhouse and took up their residence there. Again the animals manipulating facts and The Seven Commandments. Trump also
animals, they make the decisions for the other animals. seemed to remember that a resolution against this had been does this in his speech. He will sometimes make up facts or
With this, the pigs manipulate the economy of Animal Farm, ensuring passed in the early days, and again Squealer was able to convince events based on things he wants people to believe are true.
that they gain income without sharing it with the others, and they them that this was not the case Francis Urquhart from House of Cards doesnt make up facts but
control the labour of the other animals without doing much for he controls the release of private information about his political
themselves, excluding the strenuous thinking "It says, 'No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets,"' she rivals or will selectively use facts to hurt these rivals. In each text
Furthermore, the pigs would gradually alter The Seven announced finally. Curiously enough, Clover had not remembered the use of facts causes responses in the specific audience in which
Commandments, rules set up early after the rebellion to ensure that that the Fourth Commandment mentioned sheets; but as it was the character is trying to affect, that audience being a group, like
human traits werent taken on. They would do this without the prior there on the wall, it must have done so. the animals in Animal Farm, a crowd of people, like those that
permission and agreement of the other animals. These changes Trump is talking to, or even just a single person, like the Prime
allowed the pigs to behave in a way that wasnt allowed under the Minister in House of Cards.
The wall used to say No animal shall sleep in a bed.
original commandments or Joness rule. These behaviours are the I believe that the authors did this because they wanted to make
same behaviours that were shown by Jones, which fuelled the the reader to question what they believe especially when it comes
rebellion, even if the animals do not notice it. " You did not suppose, surely, that there was ever a ruling against from those in power. I also think that the authors displayed this
As the plot develops, we also see Napoleon and the other pigs change beds? A bed merely means a place to sleep in. A pile of straw in a because they want us to see what we are like as humans, because
the past. They tell the other animals lies about what happened in stall is a bed, properly regarded. The rule was against sheets, often, we are just sheep.
events, such as the Battle of Cowshed. They either make a traitor, which are a human invention. We have removed the sheets from My reaction after reading this text was somewhat confused.
like Snowball look as if he was sabotaging the animals, or make the farmhouse beds, and sleep between blankets. And very Animal Farm made me question our own civilisation. If the
Napoleon look good, saying how he led them into battle, and led them comfortable beds they are too! But not more comfortable than we animals did not realise that they were being manipulated by our
to victory. need, I can tell you, comrades, with all the brainwork we have to leaders, would we, especially considering the allegory of the
At the end of the story we read as the working animals glance through do nowadays. You would not rob us of our repose, would you, Russian Revolution. Are we in our modern civilisation being
the windows of the house, as they realise that they are no better off comrades? You would not have us too tired to carry out our manipulated? Surely, we would notice. Right, right?
than they were before. In this moment, the animals and the reader see duties? Surely none of you wishes to see Jones back?"
that the pigs have become human, have become Jones. This quote shows that the pigs have changed The Seven
Commandments, and are doing so without the other animals
agreeing or even truly realising. It also shows the how the animals
are being persuaded by the pigs and some of the techniques they
use to convince the other animals.

"My sight is failing," she said finally. "Even when I was young I
could not have read what was written there. But it appears to me
that that wall looks different. Are the Seven Commandments the
same as they used to be, Benjamin?" For once Benjamin
consented to break his rule, and he read out to her what was
written on the wall. There was nothing there now except a single
Commandment. It ran: ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME
ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS

2. In the television series House of Cards the director shows that
Francis Urquhart manipulates the people around him and the
newspapers to achieve his goal of becoming the Prime Minister. In the
beginning of the series Urquhart is the Chief Whip, but after being
denied roles higher up in the system, which he had been promised by
the Prime Minister, he acts. The Conservative Party is like a Jenga
tower, Urquhart begins to pull blocks from the tower, until finally the
Party falls and he shouts Jenga, before building his new empire.
We watch throughout the series as Francis becomes more and more
intent on achieving his goal. In the first episode, the idea is planted in
his mind at a party, and by the end of the series he killed not only a
close friend, but also his mistress who was his inside link to the news,
all with the goal of becoming Prime Minister.
As Urquhart is the Chief Whip, he learns all the secrets of the
politicians, and he uses them to his advantage. His job also allows him
to play around in insider-dealing, while blaming others and gaining
profit. Furthermore, his link in The Chronicle, the newspaper in
support of the Conservatives, allows him to leak private information
about his opponents.
Additionally, Urquhart is cautious with his words. In the first episode,
he blames the leak of some confidential documents on Lord
Billsborough, a close advisor to the Prime Minister, who is described in
a way to have characteristics that also encompass Urquhart.
All of Urquharts changes are accompanied by shots of rats. The rats
are used as a metaphor for Francis as he lurks around in the
underworld of beautiful things.
This quote shows another example of the pigs changing things
without consent from the other animals. It shows that many of the
other animals could not have made the changes, as they couldnt
even read them. Also, it shows how they have, at this point,
completely changed the game when it comes to the rules of the
farm.
Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No
question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The
creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig,
and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say
which was which.
This is the last line in the book. It is expressing to the reader that
now, for definite, the pigs have become the new Jones, and that the
other animals are no longer equal.
Mrs. Urquhart: Isnt there some truth in it? Isnt his fate in your
In the series House of Cards we watch Francis Urquhart
hands? manipulate the opinions that people have about his political rivals,
Urquhart: No. No, no, Im in charge of discipline, but I cant turning them into an enemies or scapegoats. A prime example of
deliver if my troops are disaffected. this in the text is when he makes the Prime Minister believe his
MU: But arent they disaffected now? His weakness, his refusal toclosest advisor, Lord Billsborough, is the source of the files that
take responsibility for firm leadership, its going to bring this were leaked. This idea is also expressed in Animal Farm where
government down sooner or later. the original idea of the revolution was to get rid of Jones and
U: Yes, and sooner rather than later in my view. Unless make sure that he stayed away. This is because he is someone that
MU: Unless he were to relinquish the leadership. everyone on the farm hates. When Snowball has different ideals to
U: He wouldnt do that. Napoleon, Napoleon then turns him into the main enemy of the
MU: Unless a better man were to take the leadership from him animals. In Macbeth, Macbeth blames those who seem most
U: Have you any idea what that would involve? guilty of the murder of the King; the kings guards and Malcolm,
MU: No, but I imagine that you would have a very good idea the kings son. Macbeth first blames Malcolm, who had run away
Francis, and I know that youre capable of doing whatever is after Macbeth killed his father. He then also blamed the guards as
necessary. were found asleep holding the bloody dagger that killed the king.
This is a conversation between Mr. Urquhart and his wife. This is Trump is very good at creating enemies. In his CPAC speech he
when she convinces him that he should try to ruin the Prime managed to villainise the media, Mexicans and Hillary Clinton.
Ministers career. This parallels with Lady Macbeths speech in He does this so that everyone can have someone they can hate
Macbeth. together, thus unifying his supporters. Also, Trump is getting
people to look away so that he can get away with worse actions.
You might think that, I couldnt possibly comment I think that the authors of these texts use this idea to show the
This phrase is commonplace during Francis and Matties audience of viewers or readers that individuals in search of power
conversations. Urquhart gives her ideas through very specifically can be very persuasive.
worded sentences. He dances around the point. So whenever she After watching House of Cards, I questioned how much of it
asks a question he will give her some sort of analogy or metaphor could really happen. It felt like within a week Urquhart was Prime
that is somewhat vague but not extremely which allows here to Minister, so it seem to happen too quickly. Also, I wondered how
believe she is coming to her own conclusions. much of this stuff happens in our governments now.
I think it was someone who wanted to make it difficult for you
personally I think we have to face the fact that it may be
someone very close to you, Prime Minister. Someone youve

3. The Shakespearean Play Macbeth follows Macbeth from his
relatively humble beginnings as Thane of Glamis to King of Scotland.
The play begins with a battle, which Macbeth wins. He then meets the
witches for the first time, where they hail him Thane of Glamis, Thane
of Cawdor and say that he will be king. Macbeth is then given the title
of Thane of Cawdor by King Duncan, as had been prophesised, which
makes him begin to believe that one day he will be king. This idea
spreads in his mind.
We then see Macbeth manipulate the natural order of royalty by killing
the king and so scaring Malcom, the kings son, away. This allows him
and his wife to rise to power as king and queen. Macbeth does this on
the advice of his wife, Lady Macbeth, who makes a speech that
manipulates Macbeth into killing Duncan by questioning his manhood
and saying that if she werent so weak, she would gladly kill Duncan.
After the murder is committed, Macbeth, who finds himself in a strange
new state of mind, brings the dagger back with him. Lady Macbeth finds
him with the murder weapon and then plants it on the guards so that
they are blamed for the crime.
When Duncans corpse is found, the guards are blamed for the murder,
Macbeth kills them too, removing any evidence against himself or Lady
Macbeth.
Later in the text, we see Macbeth, who has fallen into a somewhat
crazed state, kill his friend Banquo, as the witches prophecy also said
that he would be the father of a long line of kings, but will never be one
himself. Because of this, Macbeth kills Banquo and tries to kill his son,
so giving Macbeth more time to produce a line of heirs. Macbeths hired
assassins kill Banquo, but fail in killing in killing his son, meaning the
prophecy could still stand.
always trusted and who now wants to break you.
This was a quote in which Urquhart is having a conversation with
the Prime Minister about some leaked documents which are
starting to bite him in the behind. Urquhart is mentioning
characteristics of Lord Billsborough, another Politian, that advises
the PM, but also happen to describe himself, the actual culprit.
Lady Macbeth: Wouldst thou have that In Macbeth we see Macbeth kill the king. This is unexpected as
Which thou esteemst the ornament of life, the king thought that Macbeth was a good man and a loyal
And live a coward in thine own esteem, subject. This in turn was caused by another unexpected character,
Letting I dare not wait upon I would, Lady Macbeth manipulating Macbeth. This is also a surprise as
This section of Lady Macbeths speech she manipulates Macbeth she is a woman and in that period women werent considered as
saying that he is a coward and would bring shame to himself and his equal. This idea of an unexpected character in control follows on
wife when he is hesitating about killing Duncan. in other texts like Animal Farm. Napoleon is often seen as a good
character and a responsible leader that does everything for the
LM: What beast wast, then good of the animals. This was the root of Boxers mantra,
That made you break this enterprise to me? Napoleon is always right. But, Napoleon is forcing them to
When you durst do it, then you were a man; work harder so that he can sell their efforts and he gets to enjoy
And, to be more than what you were, you would the spoils. In House of Cards our protagonist, Francis Urquhart,
Be so much more the man. Nor time nor place manipulates the people around him so that he can become the
Did then adhere, and yet you would make both: Prime Minister. But the reason Urquhart is never suspected is
They have made themselves, and that their fitness now because he is trusted as a friend and is seen as a lowly Chief
Dies unmake you. I have given suck, and know Whip who did not want anything higher. The director showed
How tender tis to love the babe that milks me: idea of unpredictable manipulation through Mattie, Urquharts
I would, while it was smiling in my face, mistress, and her being the only one to figure out his plans, but
Have pluckd my nipple from his boneless gums, unfortunately not before his victory was certain. This dishonesty
And dashd the brains out, had I so sworn as you is something that helps Urquhart in his goal as people then turn
Have done to this on his rivals. Donald Trump was by no means a politician. At the
This passage expresses how Lady Macbeth is manipulating Macbeth start of the election campaign he was just a celebrity real estate
by saying that she would do the same if she was a man or if the investor. But over the period of time from Spring 2015 to
victim was her own child and how he would not be a man until he November 2016 he managed to convince the American people
killed his King and took his throne. that he should be president. He was never expected to win, but he
managed it. But this could have been because he was a new face
Macbeth: If we should fail? and a new voice in politics.
LM: We fail! I feel that the creators of these texts have done this because they
But screw your courage to the sticking-place, want the audience to realise that power and manipulation can
And well not fail stem from anywhere, even those who dont seem powerful on the
The objective of Lady Macbeth in this extract is to finally convince surface. The creators are warning us to be careful with who we
Macbeth that he is being a coward, and should just do it, and how trust as we might get stabbed in the back.
his courage is not important in this matter. After reading the text Macbeth, I found myself questioning
motives of people. Why would Lady Macbeth like to be queen
LM: Why did you bring these daggers from the place? and I thought why couldnt she have just killed the king herself if
They must lie there: go carry them; and smear she really desired royalty that much. I further wondered whether
The sleepy grooms with blood. or not the prophecy would still come true if the king had not been

4. Donald Trump is Americas President, but he is also a business man.
He speaks his mind a lot, and has spoken many times. In his speeches,
he expresses the problems with the United States. At CPAC, Trump
talked about how he is changing the system that is America.
In this speech, Trump manipulates the facts or truths of the world, for
his own benefit, and so he can be seen as a fit leader.
Trump uses repetition and catchphrases to really drive his point to the
audience and create an idea in the audience members minds. This is
shown several times throughout the speech, but this could be because he
forgot that he had said that, or what he was saying, or even because he
was stalling for time. Trump often expresses that he is better than
everyone, and is just the best, and everything he does, he does it the
best.
Donald Trump tries to unify his supporters. He does this in two ways.
Firstly, he praises people who his supporters like or agree with and will
be positive towards them by doing things like calling them patriots.
Secondly Trump will create an enemy that his supporters disagree with
and will then attack them by implying they are un-American and an
enemy of the people. A specific example of Trump creating an enemy
is his attacks on fake news and fake media.
Trump also seems to know the people who would listen to him, so he
speaks to his target audience. He knows that for him this presidency is
all about him being popular wherever he goes. He expresses the core
beliefs of his supporters.
Infirm of purpose!
Give me the daggers: the sleeping and the dead
I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal;
For it must seem their guilt.
LENNOX Those of his chamber, as it seemed, had done t.
Their hands and faces were all badged with blood.
So were their daggers, which unwiped we found
Upon their pillows. They stared, and were distracted.
No mans life was to be trusted with them.
This shows how Lady Macbeth will stop at nothing to become
queen even blaming innocents and creating incriminating evidence
against them.
Make America Great Again
(on the topic of Fake News)
Its fake, phony, fake
Fake, fake.
Were building the wall. Were building the wall
These quotes show Trumps use of Repetition or Catchphrases to
drive a point.
And it's patriots like you that made it happen, believe me. Believe
me.
You did it because you love your country, because you want a better
future for your children and because you want to make America
great again.
And I want you all to know that we are fighting the fake news. It's
fake, phony, fake.
A few days ago I called the fake news the enemy of the people. And
they are. They are the enemy of the people.
When Trump speaks he will praise or villainise certain groups or
people in an attempt to unifying his supporters.
And I love the First Amendment; nobody loves it better than me.
Nobody
This quote shows that Trump likes to say he is the greatest.
killed.
The news is something that Donald Trump thrives on, be it fake
or real, especially when he is in it. But Trump manipulates the
news, or at least how people hear the news. Furthering his point
Trump also talks repeatedly about fake news saying that some
of the media is lying to the people about what is happening.
When Trump talks about the news he is very specific on what he
says and who it is about. In general, he will speak highly about
media outlets that support him, like Fox, but will insult those who
disagree with him, like CNN, by claiming that they are fake. This
idea also is displayed in House of Cards as Francis Urquhart
manipulates the content in the Chronicle. He does this through
conversations with one of the papers reporters, Mattie. In these
conversations he leads her to come to the conclusions he wants
while making her believe that they are her own thoughts, and
which she then reports on. In Macbeth, Macbeth is the first one to
discover Malcolms disappearance, which allows him to create
the word of mouth news that he ran away because he killed his
father.
I believe that Trumps speech was talking to his audience, the
people who support him and who voted for him, and he doesnt
try to win over his opponents. Trump speaks to these people by
telling them what they want to hear and reinforcing their beliefs.
After reading Trumps speech I felt angry. Reading through it I
questioned his intelligence and how he managed to get people to
follow him so that he could become president. It also made me
worried. In the three other texts we have seen some sort of
Jenga moment in which normality collapses. So will this be
something in the future for Trump, or has the collapse already
begun?