It was good to see and catch up with Ben. After preliminaries, we discussed how the choice of George Orwell's novel, '1984' was a good one for Ben as it is not only on the ist of suitable literary choices for an eleventh grade student, but the genre is that of dystopian literature, a favorite theme of Ben's - one that explores themes of oppression and anarchy. We will begin re-reading where Ben left off in Chapter One tomorrow, on page 15. I explained to Ben that the name he used, George Orwell, is not the real name but that of a 'pen name,' or an assumed name used by a writer instead of their real name. Orwell wished to publish under an assumed name to avoid any embarrassment to his family - the reason for which we will delve into in tomorrow's session. We did note that many women writers often used pen names historically and touched upon the literary device of irony, used a lot in 1984, to highlight the injustice that the majority of people suffer in the novel. Ben was receptive and congenial this morning; he shared kind comments and polite inquiries about my health. It was a productive and gratifying session.