STUDENT
Community
• UNIT 8:2:1:3
Allegory and Satire in Animal Farm
Allegory: “using symbolic figures, objects, and actions to convey truths or generalizations
about human conduct or experience”
Satire:
a literary composition (prose or poetry) in which human characteristics such as
greed, jealously, gullibility, stupidity, etc. are denounced, ridiculed, or held up to
scorn usually for the purpose of bringing about change.
Build your understanding of allegory and satire by
• researching topics related to persons or events in the 1917 Russian Revolution.
• matching the characters and events in Animal Farm with their historical counterparts.
• identifying passages in Animal Farm that illustrate why and how Orwell’s characters
and events match the historical ones.
• explaining what Orwell was satirizing.
Character/Event in
Animal Farm
Details from Animal Farm
Historical Information
Person/Event in Russian
History
Napoleon
dictator; avoids speaking
directly to the animals;
has few original ideas; lies
constantly; uses dogs to
terrorize; kills and exploits
animals
dictator; killed all opposition; used lies and
secret police to intimidate
citizens; used forced labor
camps
Joseph Stalin
DRAFT • ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS • GRADE EIGHT • ©2007 MCPS
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