GEORGE ORWELL - ANIMAL FARM PART 1 – THE AUTHOR

Eric _____________(1) was born in _____________(2), where his father was a civil servant (=government

employee), in _____________(3) and brought to England by his mother when he was a year old. Educated at

Eton, to which he had won a _____________(4), he was unable to go on to university and instead joined

the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, serving as an _____________(5) for several years before resigning

and travelling back to England.

He returned from Burma, disgusted by _____________(6) and eventually began a precarious (=unstable)

career as a freelance writer, taking the _____________(7) name George Orwell. George seemed to him an unpretentious (=simple) English name and the River Orwell ran through a part of the Suffolk _____________(8) which he particularly loved.

Books in the thirties such as Down and Out in Paris and London, The Road to Wigan Pier and Homage to Catalonia gave

him a reputation as a writer of bluntly honest (=direct and open) prose but did not provide him with an adequate

_____________(9). He took other jobs, including working at a Hampstead bookshop, and wrote quantities of journalism.

During the war he worked for The Observer and at the BBC, which he memorably described as having an _____________(10)

'something halfway between a girls' school and a lunatic asylum.'

After the war his fortune was made by his two most famous novels, Animal Farm and 1984, but Orwell was already a sick

man and he died of _____________(11) in 1950, the year after the publication of 1984. He was only forty-six years old.

Orwell was an unashamedly political _____________(12) and Cyril Connolly, who had been at school with him, once wrote

that, 'He would not blow his nose without moralising on conditions in the handkerchief industry.' The blue plaque (= a sign

attached to houses which commemorates a famous person) to George Orwell is on a house in Lawford Road, Kentish Town where he had a flat in

the 1930s.1

PART II. - THE BOOK

Section A – Language notes 1) Match the following words with their definitions: barn – boar - calf, pl. calves – foal – harvest – hoof – mane – mare – orchard – paddock - to hatch - to slaughter

___________ - a female horse

___________ - a large building on a farm where animals or crops are kept

___________ - a male pig

___________ - a small field where horses are kept and allowed to grass

___________ - a young cow

___________ - a young horse

___________ - an area of land where fruit trees are grown

___________ - the activity of collecting crops

___________ - the hard part on the bottom of the feet of animals such as horses

___________ - the long thick hair that grows along the top of a horse's neck

___________ - to break in order to allow a young animal to come out

___________ - to kill animals, usually for their meat

2) In chapter 2, find as many words as you can which suggest violence or rebellion: Section B – Comprehension and discussion questions – chapters 1&2 Answer the following questions while referring to the text and providing examples from the text to support your ideas. 1) What is your impression of Mr Jones? How is he characterised in the text? What problems does he have? 2) What is the importance of the song “Beasts of England”?

1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1758_blue_plaque/page10.shtml

3) Which animals continue Major’s talk about rebellion? How long did it take them after Major’s death? 4) What were the first things animals did after getting rid of Mr. Jones? Why did they do it? What do the things symbolise? 5) What are “the lies put about by Moses”, the raven? Do you find him a suspicious character? 6) What do the Seven Commandments reflect? Are the commandments difficult to keep to? 7) How do you think the animals should rule the farm? What animals should have the leading position? Why? Section C – Analysis of Major’s speech 1) What does Major appeal to while speaking to animals? What does he mean by addressing them as “Comrades”,

2) What does Major say about the relationship between animals and man? What does he say about animal life? 3) What do you think makes Major’s speech effective? 4) Analyse Major’s speech from the point of view of rhetoric2. There are several rhetorical tools – can you find examples of

them in Major’s speech? repetitions contrasts examples rhetorical questions (the speaker asking without expecting an answer) 5) In rhetoric, there are three modes of appeal – ethos, logos and pathos. a) Ethos (refers to establishing the speaker’s character) – How does Major strike a positive note with the receivers of his

speech, i.e. the other animals? By suggesting that he is competent / experienced / famous / an expert / an acknowledged authority? By referring to parallel situations?

b) Pathos (refers to influencing the feelings of the audience) - How does Major create feelings in the audience? By compassion / concern / anger / patriotism? How are these feelings evoked? By using specific examples? By creating images of the enemy?

c) Logos (refers to using facts) – How does Major convince the audience that the information given can be relied on? Compare the analysis from questions 4 and 5 with the list from question no. 3.3 Section D – The Seven Commandments In the second chapter there is a list of commandments that the animals all agree to obey when they create Animal Farm. But as time passes, some of these commandments get broken, or at least twisted a little. It’s not always obvious to the animals when this happens as the pigs are clever at deceiving others and they try to persuade them that they haven’t broken the original commandments at all. As you read through the book, look out for places where this happens. Make a note of the changes by filling in the following chart:

2 the study of the ways of using language effectively 3 CLAUSEN, Brigitte Prytz. Politics in a Global World. Århus: Systime, 2008, pp. 161-162.

Commandment Broken in chapter no… changed into

Who broke it? What was the reason offered?

Whatever goes upon 2 legs is an enemy.

Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.

No animal shall wear clothes.

No animal shall sleep in a bed.

No animal shall drink alcohol.

No animal shall kill any other animal.

All animals are equal.

Section E – Chapters 3-5 Chapter 3 1) How well did the animals work together? Why do you think so? Are the animals happy at getting rid of Mr. Jones?

Which animals seemed unchanged since the Rebellion? Why? (p. 17) 2) Are all the animals equal? Why / why not? 3) Drag the animal's flag. What is the meaning of the individual symbols on the flag? (p. 18) 4) What happened every Sunday during the ceremony? (p. 18) 5) What happened to the Commandments? Why do you think the pigs introduced one rule/principle instead? (p. 20) 6) Who was taking the milk? How was the disappearance explained? Name at least one of the arguments that were used to

explain why the milk was going to the pigs. For whose sake do the pigs say this happened? (pp. 15, 21) 7) Why do the pigs point out to the fact that Mr. Jones might come back? What effect does it have on animals? Chapter 4 1) Describe the relationship between Mr. Pilkington, Mr. Frederick and Mr. Jones. (pp. 22-23) 2) How did Napoleon and Snowball spread the news of the rebellion to the animals on neighbouring farms? What effect did

the news have on the other animals? (p. 23) 3) What happened during the battle? (pp. 24-25)

4) What does Boxer regret? How do the pigs react to him regretting it? (p. 25) 5) What happened during the burial of the killed sheep? (p. 26) 6) What human rituals did the animals use to celebrate their victory? What is

happening in the picture? (p. 26) Chapter 5 1) What happened to Mollie? What is the difference between Mollie and Boxer? 2) What idea did Snowball have to improve conditions on the farm? How did Napoleon’s attitude to the idea change

throughout the chapter? Why? (p. 29) 3) At the meeting about the windmill, Snowball begins to win over the animals. What does Napoleon do about this? What

happens to Snowball? (pp. 31-32) 4) Which animals in particular help Napoleon in persuading the other animals to agree with him? How do they do it? 5) How had decisions been made on the farm? What happened after Snowball was kicked out? (p. 28) 6) How was Snowball described after he was expelled? (p. 33) 7) What phrase always stopped any arguments from the animals? What are other means of manipulating the animals? Section F – Chapters 6-10 1) Sum up the second half of the book by deciding on and listing the most important events

(max. 10): 2) What was ironic about the animals working on the windmill on Sundays? (p. 36)

What difficulties did the animals have to face? How did the whole project end up? (pp. 42, 61, 77) 3) What did Napoleon tell the hens about giving up their eggs? (p. 38) How did they react when they actually had to give

them up? In your opinion, was that a sensible reaction? What should they have done? (pp. 45-46) 4) What the reason was provided for the executions of the pigs, hens, goose, and sheep? (pp. 50-51)

What did Boxer believe was the reason? What do you think were the real reasons?

5) Which animals are increasing in number? Which are decreasing? Why? (pp. 67-68) 6) What happened to Boxer? Why is it tragic? How did the pigs use his death to get the animals work harder? (pp. 72-75) 7) Why are animals so horrified when they see pigs walking on their hind legs? What else makes the pigs look similar to

man? (pp. 79-81)

PART III. - ANALYSIS Section G – General Questions 1) Why do you think Orwell included the subheading “A Fairy Story”? In what way does the story resemble a fairy tale? In

what way is it different? Consider the fact that the story was published in 1945. 2) How is Snowball used as a scapegoat (obětní beránek)? Provide examples.

Can you think of similar examples of a person or organisation being used as a scapegoat for political purposes?

3) What do the confessions and executions symbolise? What do the other events (such as Snowball’s expelling) refer to? 4) Why are only the young pigs being educated? Why are they “discouraged from playing with the other young animals”?

(p. 67) 5) What is the significance of Napoleon’s speech addressed to the other farmers? (pp. 82-84) What is the significance of

the change in the name of the Farm? 6) “Neither pigs nor dogs produced any food by their own labour… As for the others, their life, so far as they knew, was as

it had always been. They were generally hungry, they slept on straw, they drank from the pool, they laboured in the fields…” (p. 74) Why is it important to mention these facts in the last chapter?

7) Have a look at the overview of the Commandments – what happened to them? Why? What is the reason for the failure

of the revolution? Choose one of the following: a) the revolution was badly planned b) the animals did not follow the rules c) some animals managed to get power d) the animals did not possess the ability to organise themselves

8) What was Orwell’s overall message? Section H – Motifs, symbols and themes, characters and key terms 1) Note down who these characters are and briefly what happens to them during the story. What human

features do you think they represent? name character story features who they stand for (in

history) Jones

Old Major

Napoleon

Snowball

Squealer

Napoleon’s dogs

Boxer

Moses

Benjamin

Frederick / Pilkington

2) Motifs, themes and symbols a. Match the following terms to their definitions: motifs fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work

themes recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s

major themes

symbols objects, characters, figures, and colours used to represent abstract ideas or concepts

b. Comment on the following motifs and themes:

motifs – songs, state ritual

themes – the corruption of ideals, the societal tendency towards class stratification, the abuse of language

c. What do the following things and events symbolise? Who do the characters in ex. 1 represent?4 i. Manor Farm

ii. Animal Farm

iii. Hoof and horn flag

iv. Chasing away Jones / animal rebellion

v. Napoleon and Pilkington both play an ace of spades

d. What does “climax” mean? What is the role of “foreshadowing”? Find examples in Animal Farm. 3) Key terms – complete the crossword.5

Across:

1. an economic system where individuals own businesses

5. a figure of speech in which the literal meaning is the opposite of the intended meaning

7. a short tale (story) designed to teach a moral

8. one who sees things as they could be rather than as they are

9. person paid a fee for acting as an agent in making sales

10. the property-owning class

Down:

2. a literary device using wit, derision or irony to criticize weakness or wrong-doing

3. a group which has nothing to sell but its labour; the working class

4. one party / group controlling the government

6. one who bears the blame for others

4 http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/farm4.htm 5 http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/farm_voc.htm