The Allegory of Animal Farm
Created by Sierra Fisher
For Teachers
For Students
Teacher’s Page
• Audience
– Grades 9-10
– Students should be on a proficient reading
level
– Students should have completed reading
Animal Farm by George Orwell
• Environment
– Individual study
– Quiet, uninterrupted environment
Continue
Teacher’s Page
• Objectives
– Given a list of characters, students will be able
to give the real-world person the character
represents with 100% accuracy
– Given a literary device, students will be able to
match the word to the definition with 100%
accuracy
– Given an event in the novel, students will be
able to write the real word event with 100%
accuracy
Home
Welcome!
• In this lesson we’ll be using a few
buttons to get around. Click on each
one to find out what it does, then
click Start when you’re ready.
Welcome!
• In this lesson we’ll be using a few
buttons to get around. Click on each
one to find out what it does, then
click Start when you’re ready.
Next: moves
to the next slide
Start!
Welcome!
• In this lesson we’ll be using a few
buttons to get around. Click on each
one to find out what it does, then
click Start when you’re ready.
Previous: moves
to the previous slide
Start!
Welcome!
• In this lesson we’ll be using a few
buttons to get around. Click on each
one to find out what it does.
Home: takes
you back to the beginning
of the presentation
Start!
So you’ve read Animal Farm?
• What now?
– This may seem like a pretty simple story
about a bunch of crazy farm animals,
but do you really think that’s all George
Orwell meant to tell us? Authors take a
lot of time planning out their stories,
and nothing is ever as simple as it
seems. If you’ve wandered about a
deeper meaning to a story, the author
probably has wandered about it too.
First, let’s
review some main
characters and
events
Watch this short
video to review
So what does it
all mean?
Do you remember?
• Symbolism?
– A symbol is a person, place, or object that
stands for something beyond itself
or
– A symbol is something that represents
something else, usually by convention or
association, a material object used to
represent something abstract
Do you remember?
• Allegory?
– An allegory is a form of extended metaphor, in
which objects, persons, and actions are
equated with meanings that lie outside the
narrative. The underlying meaning has moral,
social, religious, or political significance, and
characters are often personifications of ideas.
or
– An allegory is the expression by means of
symbolic fictional figures and actions of truths
or generalizations about human existence.
So what’s the big deal?
• Without symbols and allegory,
nothing would be the same!
– A stop sign would just be an octagon
– A cross would be two pieces of wood
– The flag would be
a piece of fabric
Some of you favorite
stories…
• Are allegories!
– The Wizard of Oz
– Horton Hears a Who!
– The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
– Alice in Wonderland
– And of course… Animal Farm!
Things to Know
• Animal Farm is an allegory centered around the
events of Russia during the time of World War I.
Watch this video for some background information.
Now lets do some
discovering!
On the next slide, you can click on a
character to explore. You’ll be asked some
practice questions, but this is not a quiz.
After each character you can go back to the
Character Main Menu. Once you’ve
explored every character, click Continue to
move on. Make sure you explore every
character, so you can answer those
questions when the quiz comes.
Click on a character to
explore!
Moses
Old Major
Napoleon
Snowball
continue
squealer
Old major
• Old Major describes his vision of
Utopia on the farm and teaches the
animals the song “Beasts of
England.” When Major dies, he
leaves the pigs to struggle for his
legacy.
Old major
• So who does Old Major remind you
of? Click on a name to continue
– Joseph Stalin?
– Karl Marx?
– The Church?
You’re right!
• Did you see the
similarities?
– Both Marx and Old Major provided the
foundation for rebellions to come, only
Marx laid down the ideas of
communism, and that led to things like
the Russian Rebellion and World War II
Character
main menu
Try again!
• The Church was focused on religion
and having their own voices heard,
not spreading the ideas of
communism.
Try
again!
Try again!
• Stalin came after the idea of
communism developed. Old Major
was around before the rebellion that
let the animals take over the farm.
Try
again!
Napoleon
• Napoleon emerges as the leader of
the farm after the Rebellion. He uses
his attack dogs to implement military
force. Later, Napoleon begins to
have relations with the humans, and
changes the Seven Commandments
for his own benefit.
Napoleon
• Do Napoleon’s military tactics
remind you on anyone?
– Trotsky?
– Stalin?
– Marx?
You’re right!
• Both Stalin and
Napoleon used ideology
to win over the people,
but when it came down to it, they used
military force to take over, leading to
further wars
Character
main menu
Try again!
• Marx was one of the founders of
communism, but Napoleon wasn’t
the one who came up with the idea
of Animal Farm, though surely he
would have liked people to think he
did…
Try
again!
Try again!
• Trotsky held a lot of power at the
beginning of the people’s take over,
but it didn’t take long for others to
overthrow him. Napoleon would
never let that happen to him
Try
again!
snowball
• Snowball must challenge Napoleon
for control of the farm after the
Rebellion. Snowball more easily wins
the allegiance of the other animals.
Snowball is full of ideology and grand
ideas, like the windmill, but he lacks
the physical strength of Napoleon.
snowball
• Does Snowball’s situation sound
familiar to you?
– Trotsky?
– Mr. Jones?
– Molotov?
You’re right!
• Snowball and Trotsky
have a lot in common.
At first, Trotsky held the
same communist beliefs,
but he didn’t agree with Stalin’s
military ways and was exiled and killed
by Stalin.
Character
main menu
Try again!
• Mr. Jones is who Snowball was
rebelling against, but who is the real
world person that Snowball
resembles?
Try
again!
Try again!
• Snowball wasn’t a master of
propaganda like Molotov was,
though the two were both allies of
the same powerful man at one point.
Who could that be…?
Try
again!
squealer
• Squealer is the pig that spreads
Napoleon's propaganda to the other
animals. He uses false statistics and
a large vocabulary to convince the
other animals of the farm’s success.
He is later guilty of changing the
words of the Seven Commandments.
squealer
• Who does Squealer sound like to
you?
– Stalin?
– Molotov?
– Nicholas II?
You’re right!
• Squealer is modeled
after Molotov, Stalin’s
right hand man. Molotov
was a skilled diplomat and politician
involved in many negotiations just like
Squealer was skilled with his words and
statistics.
Character
main menu
Try again!
• Squealer dealt with a lot of things
behind the scenes like writing the
Seven Commandments, while Stalin
was more of a leading man
Try
again!
Try again!
• If Squealer was like Nicholas II he
would have to be allied with Mr.
Jones. Instead, Squealer is a close
ally of Napoleon.
Try
again!
moses
• Mr. Jones’ favorite pet, and a clever
talker, Moses first stands in the way
when the pigs come to power. He
speaks of a mysterious “Sugarcandy
Mountain” where all the animals
suffering will come to an end.
However, the pigs allow him to
remain on the farm.
moses
• Moses sounds a lot like something
we have today, doesn’t he?
– Communism?
– The Church?
– The President?
You’re right!
• Moses is supposed to be a symbol
for the Church, and his Sugarcandy
Mountain represents heaven. He
asks the animals to blindly follow
him, but doesn’t back up his words
with actions. We never see him
doing any hard work.
Character
main menu
Try again!
• The idea of a President wasn’t a part
of Russia at this time. They didn’t
have a democracy like the United
States does
Try
again!
Try again!
• Moses does not agree with the ideas
that Old Major and Napoleon have.
Instead, he is constantly spouting his
own ideas
Try
again!
So there is more to
this story after all!
Keep going to
discover more!
Click on an event to
explore!
Battle of
cowshead
Seven
commandments
Fall of mr.
jones
continue
Battle of the
windmill
The battle of the
windmill
• The whole farm is deeply divided on
the subject of the windmill.
Snowball wants to rebuild and
expand while Napoleon works
against him.
The battle of the
windmill
• Two guys arguing…what do you think
this actually represents?
– The Russian Civil War?
– The Trotsky-Stalin conflict?
– The Russian Revolution?
You’re right!
• The Battle of the Windmill is like the
overall conflict between Stalin and
Trotsky, or Snowball and Napoleon. It
was all about fighting over land,
whether it was on the farm, or over
Russian expansion policies,
Event main
menu
Try again!
• Think on a smaller scale. A civil war
would have to be between two
completely opposing sides like the
Red Army and the White Army
Try
again!
Try again!
• Think on a smaller scale. No one is
trying to trying to usurp anyone
here. The animals already have
control of the farm.
Try
again!
The battle of cowshead
• In this battle, Mr. Jones and his men
try to retake Animal Farm with the
help of some neighboring farms.
The battle of cowshead
• What does this remind you of?
– The Russian Civil War?
– The Russian Revolution?
– World War II?
You’re right!
• This was just like the Russian Civil
War which was fought between the
Red Army (Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin)and
the White Army (landowners, middle
class, old army generals)
Event main
menu
Try again!
• The animals have already rebelled,
and Mr. Jones has been exiled from
the farm. Revolution wouldn’t be
the right word here.
Try
again!
Try again!
• Think on a smaller scale. World War
II was fought between many
different countries. This is just a
conflict between two sides—humans
on one and animals on the other.
Try
again!
Seven commandments
• The Seven Commandments, created to
keep order and ensure Animalism (e.g.
All animals are equal; Whatever goes
upon two legs is an enemy) are in
reference to the Seven Laws of Noah.
These laws were followed by the Jews
as a set of moral imperatives given by
god like: prohibition of murder and
prohibition of theft
Event main
menu
Fall of mr. jones
• After Old Major dies, the animals are
left with his wild new teaching ideas,
so they mount a rebellion and chase
Mr. Jones and the men off the farm
one night after the men have been
drinking.
Fall of mr. jones
• What event do you think this is
supposed to symbolize?
– The Russian Revolution?
– The Fall of Communism?
– World War II?
You’re right!
• The exile of Mr. Jones represents the
Russian Revolution. Nicholas II had
long been out of touch with the
people and in the October Rebellion,
the Russian people rose up and Lenin
came into power, just as the animals
decided to take the farm for
themselves.
Event main
menu
Try again!
• Communism was just coming into
being during the events that Animal
Farm centers on. The Fall of Mr.
Jones was all about the animals
dissatisfaction.
Try
again!
Try again!
• Think on a smaller scale. World War
II was fought between many
different countries. This is just a
conflict between two sides—Mr.
Jones on one and animals on the
other.
Try
again!
So now that you
know…
• A simple story about farm animals
that learn how to talk becomes an
epic tale about a moment in world
history!
• And none of it would have been
possible without allegory!
Event main
menu
Character
main menu
Review
• Watch this one last video to recap on
the characters
Take the
Quiz!
Quiz
1. What is a person, place, or thing
that stands for something beyond
itself?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Metaphor
Allegory
Symbol
Hyperbole
Correct!
The answer is symbol
Next
question
Try again!
Remember that these are often
material objects
Try
again
Quiz
2. What is the importance of an
allegory?
a. Compares two unlike things
b. Helps to develop characters
c. Uses figures to convey underlying
meanings and generalizations
d. Is a material object that stands for
something else
Correct!
The answer is to convey
underlying meanings and
generalizations
Next
question
Try again!
Remember that an allegory has
moral, social, or religious
significance
Try
again
Quiz
3. Animal Farm is classified as a(n)
a.
b.
c.
d.
Symbol
Allegory
Archetype
Simile
Correct!
The answer is an allegory
Next
question
Try again!
Remember that Animal Farm
makes generalizations about
human actions
Try
again
Quiz
4. Which character represents the
founders of communism?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Napoleon
Old Major
Snowball
Squealer
Correct!
The answer is Old Major
Next
question
Try again!
Remember that the founders were
the ones that held the principles
that led to the rebellion
Try
again
Quiz
5. Napoleon is a figure for Joseph Stalin
because
a. They were both the leaders of their
party and had major roles in beginning
rebellions
b. Napoleon is the villain and founder of
the ideas of the rebellion
c. Napoleon gets exiled like Stalin
d. Napoleon is a right hand man and
master of propaganda
Correct!
The answer is they are both
leaders with major roles in
rebellions
Next
question
Try again!
Remember that Napoleon rallied
the animals together against Mr.
Jones
Try
again
Quiz
6. Which historical figure is
representative of Snowball?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Stalin
Lenin
Molotov
Trotsky
Correct!
The answer is Trotsky
Next
question
Try again!
Remember that Snowball was
scapegoated by Napoleon
Try
again
Quiz
7. Who is the only character to
represent an establishment rather
than a person?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Mr. Jones
Old Major
Moses
Squealer
Correct!
The answer is Moses
Next
question
Try again!
Remember that one character
represents the ideals of the
Church
Try
again
Quiz
8. Which event epitomizes the conflict
between Napoleon and Snowball?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Battle of the Windmill
Fall of Mr. Jones
Battle of Cowshead
Writing of the Seven Commandments
Correct!
The answer is the Battle of the
Windmill
Next
question
Try again!
Remember that the two differ in
their opinion on expansion of the
farm
Try
again
Quiz
9. The Battle of Cowshead is
representative of which event?
a.
b.
c.
d.
The exile of Trotsky
The Trotsky-Stalin Conflict
Russian Civil War
World War II
Correct!
The answer is the Russian Civil
War
Next
question
Try again!
Remember that the animals fought
against Mr. Jones and the previous
men of the farm
Try
again
Quiz
10. The Seven Commandments are
based of what?
a.
b.
c.
d.
The Ten Commandments
The Seven Laws of Moses
The Bible
The Seven Laws of Noah
Correct!
The answer is the Seven Laws
of Noah
finish
Try again!
Remember that these laws
originated with the Jewish faith
Try
again
Congratulations
you finished!
Further
resources
resources
• If you would like more information
on Animal Farm and it’s history,
check out these sites
– The Allegory of Animal Farm
– The History of Animal Farm
– The Soviet Union