Animal Farm Chapter 6 Reading Guide
During Reading
Directions: Start and stop at the page(s) indicated. Answer the questions and be prepared to share with
your class.
Page Number
DURING READING QUESTIONS
Start Page 59:
“All that year
the animals
worked like
slaves.”
Consider the following line from page 61:
To Page 62:
“How these
were to be
procured no
one was able
to imagine.”
“[Boxer’s] two slogans, ‘I will work
harder’ and ‘Napoleon is always
right,’ seemed to him a sufficient
answer to all problems.”
How do Boxer’s slogans benefit the pigs?
Dramatic irony is when the reader knows
something that the characters don’t know.
Explain the dramatic irony on pages 59-62.
Start Page 62: Page 63 states: “Once again, the animals
“One Sunday
were conscious of a vague uneasiness.”
morning, when
the animals…”
A. What is causing this “uneasiness”?
To Page 66:
“...but never,
it was noticed,
with both
simultaneously
.”
Start Page 66:
“It was about
that time that
the pigs…”
To Page 68:
“And when,
some days
afterwards…”
B. Why are the pigs successful in
“set[ting] the animals’ minds at rest”
(64)?
How does Squealer justify the pigs sleeping
in the farmhouse beds?
Consider the following passage from page
68:
“And when, some days afterwards, it
was announced that from now on the
pigs would get up an hour later in the
mornings than the other animals, no
complaint was made about that
either.”
What does this reveal?
STUDENT RESPONSE
Start Page 68:
“By the
autumn the
animals were
tired but
happy.”
How does Napoleon take advantage of the
other animals’ ignorance after the
windmill’s collapse?
To Page 71:
“Long live
Animal Farm!”
End of
Chapter
Discussion
Questions
Do you think the animals’ lives are better
now than they were under Jones? Why?
Do you think the plan to rebuild the windmill
will work? Will the dedication to this goal
make their lives better or worse? Why?
How is Napoleon gaining power?
After Reading
Answer the multiple-choice questions for Chapter 5.
1. Reread the following passage from page 70:
“In sheer malignity, thinking to set back our plans and avenge himself for his ignominious
expulsion, this traitor has crept here under cover of night and destroyed our work of nearly a year”
What is the best meaning of “malignity” as it is used in the passage?
a. Admiration
b. Confusion
c. Morality
d. Revenge
2. What piece of evidence best reveals the sacrifice Boxer is making?
a. “Nothing could have been achieved without Boxer, whose strength seemed equal to that of all the rest
of the animals put together.” (Page 61)
b. “His two slogans, “I will work harder” and “Napoleon is always right,” seemed to him a sufficient
answer to all problems.” (Page 61)
c. “He had made arrangements with the cockerel to call him three-quarters of an hour earlier in the
mornings instead of half an hour.” (Page 61)
d. “And in his spare moments, of which there were not many nowadays, he would go alone to the quarry,
collect a load of broken stone, and drag it to the site of the windmill unassisted.” (Pages 61-62)
3. Reread the following passages from pages 64 and 67:
“A few animals still felt faintly doubtful, but Squealer asked them shrewdly, ‘Are you certain that this is not
something that you have dreamed, comrades? Have you any record of such a resolution? It is written down
anywhere?’”
“‘You have heard then, comrades,’ he said, ‘that we pigs now sleep in the beds of the farmhouse? And why
note? You did not suppose, surely, that there was ever a ruling against beds?... You would not rob us of our
response, would you, comrades? You would not have us too tired to carry out our duties? Surely non of you
wishes to see Jones back?’”
How do Squealer’s repeated questions impact the other animals?
a. These questions give the other animals the confidence to stand up to those who are treating them
unfairly.
b. These questions cause the other animals to question themselves and what they think they know is true.
c. These questions help to calm the animals’ worries about whether Jones might return to the farm.
d. These questions cause the other animals to form a secret rebellion against the pigs and dogs.