And London About His Experiences. From This Point, Orwell Became A
And London About His Experiences. From This Point, Orwell Became A
And London About His Experiences. From This Point, Orwell Became A
He
went to private school in England where he learnt to distrust the British class
system, and in 1922 he started work as a policeman in Burma. In 1927 Orwell
returned to Europe, choosing to live among the poorest people in order to
challenge his own middle-class viewpoint. He wrote Down and Out in Paris
and London about his experiences. From this point, Orwell became a
passionate supporter of socialist ideals and his politics is strongly represented
in everything that he wrote.
In 1936 Orwell went to Spain to report on the Spanish Civil War. He joined
forces against General Franco’s Fascist rebellion. He wrote about his
experiences and his hope for the future of Spanish socialism in Homage to
Catalonia (1938).
Orwell worked as a reporter during the Second World War (1939–45). In 1943,
he started writing Animal Farm, his celebrated political satire about the
communist regime in Russia. He wrote his other world-famous masterpiece,
1984 in 1948–49 and died only a year later.
Understanding 1984
The dystopian novel is set in 1984 - Orwell's near future and our recent past -
but the novel is still relevant today, due to its depiction of a totalitarian
government and its themes of using media manipulation and advanced
technology to control people. The futuristic setting is more than three
decades in our rear-view mirror, but many aspects of the book have come
eerily true today.
Winston Smith is the main character, a low-ranking member of 'the Party',
who is frustrated by the omnipresent eyes of the party, and its ominous ruler
Big Brother.
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Important ideas or concepts:
Thoughtcrime.
Hate Week.
Big Brother.
These 1-minute videos from 60second Recap different aspects of the
novel:
Introduction
This video could serve as a pre-reading activity. It introduces students
to the idea of accepting information because Big Brother is the source,
even though they know the information to be false.
Summary/Overview
An introduction to plot, character Winston Smith, and theme. Good for
pre-reading.
Character
An introduction to 4 characters.
Symbol 1
This video explores Big Brother as symbol.
Symbol 2
This video explores the glass paperweight as a symbol of the desire to
connect with an authentic past.
Theme 1
The dangers of totalitarianism.
Theme 2
"Truth is truth only insofar as we defend it."
Motifs
Designed for post-reading, this video explores Doublethink in the novel.
Last Word: George Orwell and the totalitarian mind
A final word on theme.
Reading activities.
Chapter 1
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(d) O’Brien?
2 How does Orwell tell the reader that this story takes place in the future?
Make a list of words and sentences.
Chapter 2
(e) Why does Winston feel pain in the back of his neck?
2 What is London like in 1984? Write a few sentences to describe the city.
Chapter 3
1 Use one of these words to finish the sentences (a)–(e) below. carefully
clearly intelligent noisy openly proud
(b) Winston thinks that Syme will be vaporized because he’s too
________.
2 The Ministry of Truth uses the media to control people’s ideas. How does
it do this?
Chapters 1–3
You work for the Ministry of Truth in the dictionary section. Define the
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following words for the new eleventh edition of the dictionary:
the Brotherhood
facecrime
telescreen
thoughtcrime
minitrue
unperson
prole
vaporize
Chapter 4
1 When do these things happen? Put them in the right order (1–6) starting with
the thing that happened first (1).
2 Winston thinks about some of the women he has known at the beginning of
this chapter. How does he feel about them, do you think? Does he love any of
them?
Chapter 5
1 Match the first half of the sentences (a)–(g) with the second half (i)–(vii)
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(f) Julia says she is good at finding people
(g) Winston and Julia’s love is
2 In your own words explain how Winston’s feelings towards Julia change in
this chapter.
Chapter 6
1 Read the sentences (a)–(e) below. They are all about Julia. Which sentences
are true and which are false? Write T for true and F for false next to each
sentence.
2 Julia says, ‘They can make you say anything ... but they can’t make you
believe it.’ Who are ‘they’? Is Julia right, do you think? Can anyone or
anything make you change your feelings and beliefs?
Chapters 4–6
Write Winston’s diary about his experiences with Julia (covered in Chapters 5
and 6). How does he feel before he meets Julia and how does he feel
afterwards? How do his opinions of Julia, sex and love change during this
time? How has Winston changed from his last diary entry, in Chapter 4?
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Chapter 7
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(c) ________ invites Winston to his home.
2 What things are Julia and Winston willing to do for the Brotherhood?
What are they not willing to do?
Chapter 8
(a) In the last ________ days of Hate Week Winston worked more than
_______ hours.
(b) ________people were hanged in the park just after the ________ day
of Hate Week.
(d) Winston has Goldstein’s book for ________ days before he reads it.
(e) In the ________ the High group tried to stop equality.
(f) In the ________ century equality became possible for the first time.
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Chapter 9
3 Describe Miniluv in your own words. What does it look like? What can
you hear? What can you smell?
Chapters 7–9
Write a report by O’Brien for the Inner Party. The report is about Winston
and Julia at the beginning of Chapter 7. As O’Brien, they should explain
why Winston and Julia are dangerous. The report should explain O’Brien’s
plan for catching Winston and Julia and his plans for their futures.
Chapter 10
(a) Why does Winston tell the guards what they want to know
before they touch him?
(b) How long do the Party men ask questions before Winston can
sleep?
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(c) What did Winston write in his diary?
(d) Why does the Party bring people to the Ministry of Love?
Chapter 11
(a) The proles will never attack the Party because ...
2 Winston says, ‘If a society were built on hate, it would fall to pieces.’ Do
you agree? Why/why not?
Chapter 12
1 Read this paragraph about Chapter 12. There are ten wrong words. Circle
the wrong words and write the correct word instead.
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again, in a café on a warm day in March, but he only cares about himself
now. He loves Big Brother.
1… 2… 3… 4… 5…
6… 7… 8… 9… 10…
Chapters 10–12
Read the first paragraph of Chapter 11. Under each word, write what it
means in the context of 1984. How does O’Brien put each of these three
stages into effect?
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