NAME: ____________________________________________ DATE: __________________PERIOD: ________
Animal Farm Discussion Guide: Chapters 1-4
Thoroughly and
accurately
complete
Complete, but
with minimum
inaccuracy
Complete, with
minimal
effort/accuracy
Mostly
completed
Partially
completed
Minimally
completed
Not
completed
10
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Comprehension
1.
2.
Who is the enemy according to old Major, and why? Man is the enemy because he’s getting all the profit
and treats his workers poorly without doing any work
What slogan does Snowball create to sum up Animalism?
Four legs good, two legs bad (29)
3.
What reason does Napoleon give for taking away Jessie and Bluebell’s puppies?
He wants to educate them (30)
4.
Why do Mr. Pilkington and Mr. Frederick not help Mr. Jones when he is first expelled?
They want to turn Mr. Jones’s misfortunate to their advantage
5.
How is news of the animal rebellion at Manor Farm spread to other farms?
The pigeons are sent to mingle with the animals, tell them what happened.
6.
How do Snowball and Boxer earn the award, “Animal Hero, First Class”?
They earn their reward to their participation in the Battle of the Cowshed. (Snowball leads the charge against
the men invading Animal Farm and is wounded. During the invasion, Boxer knocks a stableboy to the ground
Analysis
7. What images in the song, “Beasts of England,” do you find inspiring?
pp. 9-10. Freedom, shared riches, golden future
How do these images connect to the ideals of communism?
8. What connotation (associations and emotional overtones) does the use of the word comrade have for
you?
Means friend. Associated with the Russia, communist movement. I associate it with Russian bad guys in
movies
Why might Orwell choose to use this particular term in his novel?
It connects with his allegory and allows the reader to know that he’s referring to Russia and the Russian
revolution
9. Orwell adds to his characterization of Mollie each time she appears. In the chart below, list the pretty
white mare’s human character traits and give examples of characterization that Orwell use to reveal
them.
Personality Trait
foolish
Examples of Characterization
her only question about the Rebellion is whether or not there will be sugar afterwards
vain
Mollie is always admiring herself in the mirror while draping a blue ribbon against her
shoulder
lazy
she repeatedly oversleeps or must leave work early because of pains in her hoof
self-absorbed
Mollie learns only to spell her name.
cowardly
she hides during the Battle of the Cowshed
10. What person or group of people do you think Mollie represents?
The Whites, or the bourgeoisie
11. What resistance to the idea of rebellion do the pigs encounter in Moses the raven? What elements of
society might Moses and his message symbolize?
He says that there is utopia after death for all animals in Sugarcandy Mountain. The pigs fear that such a
vision will reduce the animals’ desire to improve current conditions at the farm. Moses could symbolize the
Russian Orthodox Church, Sugarcandy mountain could symbolize heaven, and the reaction of the pigs to this
threat could represent the reaction of the Communist movement to organize religion, which it forbade shortly
after the revolution.
12. What does the disappearance of the milk buckets in chapter 3 foreshadow?
Napoleon does not answer when the other animals ask about where the milk is. He changes the subject and
tell the animals the harvest is more important and they should follow Snowball. It foreshadows that the pigs
will begin to take advantage of and lie to the other animals. (22)
13. What other examples of foreshadowing suggest the pigs are not quite the leaders they pretend to be?
How does this relate to the negative aspects of the communist regime in Russia?
1. The pigs don’t actually work (23)
2. Snowball and Napoleon are always debating
3. Not everyone works in the same capacity
4. Snowball committees were “on the whole…a failure” (27)
5. Pigs take all the apples, too.
14. Satire is a literary form that ridicules human shortcomings, events, and institutions in an attempt to bring
about change. What are Snowball’s committees? (27)
Clean Tails Committee, Wild Comrades’ Re-education Committee (to tame the rats and rabbits), Whiter Wool
Movement.
Explain the satire behind Snowball’s committees.
All of these things are not really capable of being accomplished. They satirize government organizations that
are support to lead to progress and action, but really it just provides the illusion of progress.
15. What causes Mr. Jones, along with men from Pilkington’s and Frederick’s farms, to try to conquer animal
farm? Who or what might Pilkington and Frederick represent?
Pilkington’s and Frederick’s men join Mr. Jones after their own animals begin to behave in rebellious ways and
the song “Beasts of England” seems to be known everywhere. The farmers fear it is a prophecy of an animal
uprising and they do not want uprisings on their farms.
16. “The pigs did not actually work but directly supervised the others. With their superior knowledge it was
natural that they should assume leadership” (23). Animal Farm is mostly written from third person
omniscient point of view, meaning the narrator has access to characters’ thoughts and motivations. Whose
perspective does the narrator take in this quote? In other words, whose opinion is it that the pigs are
“natural leaders” because of their superior knowledge?
The pigs promote themselves in this way, and many of the animals believe this to be true. For example, Boxer
and Clover accept everything that the pigs say
What truth is there to this statement? What might Orwell be calling attention to about the leadership of
communist Russia?