urbanmennonite.com

Some things work better as a blog than others.  Sometimes, online stuff doesn’t have to be about Paris or Perez or gay Asian kittens.  So thank the literary gods that someone at the Orwell Prize and the copyright holders of George Orwell’s intellectual property understand how to use the Internet and blogging to do good stuff — like making historically interesting primary sources freely available to everyone in a way that not only makes total sense but can maybe actually enhance the learning experience.

Beginning today, George Orwell’s personal and political dairy entries are going to be posted online exactly 70 years after they were written — for the next 5 years.  So you can follow along as he recovers in Morocco, tracks the Spanish civil war and watches Europe slide into fascism.

What impression of Orwell will emerge? From his domestic diaries … it may be a largely unknown Orwell … . From his political diaries … it may be the Orwell whose political observations and critical thinking have enthralled and inspired generations since his death in 1950.

There are other great examples of this out there.  It’s a great idea not just for the famous and famously witty but for everyone else as well.  How many of us could do the same with old diaries or letters from our own families?  Someone from class actually did something similar with her grandpa’s WWI diary.  It could end up being something pretty impressive and a really effective teaching tool — especially if enhanced with good links, photos, old maps and other relevant information.  Oooh … I sense a winter project.