Name:
Animal Farm Video Guide
Matching to History: Character Analysis
Directions: Complete the table to show which characters in the film are used to represent historical figures or groups.
Provide 2 pieces of evidence from the film to support each choice.
Historical
Figure
Summary of Figure
Originator of communism.
Karl Marx
Argued for equality and
equal wealth for all people.
Leader of Russia.
Czar Nicolas II
He was overthrown by the
communists in a revolution.
Leader of Soviet Union.
Josef Stalin
He used fear and
intimidation to get his way.
He punished people who
disagreed with him.
Lost a power struggle with
Stalin.
Leon Trotsky
He had to flee to Mexico.
Stalin’s agents eventually
murdered Trotsky.
Workers in the Soviet
Union.
“Proletariat”
(laboring/
working class)
They lacked education and
did not understand leader’s
decisions.
They worked hard with
little food and supplies.
Police group that enforced
communist ideas.
The KGB, or
secret police
They were feared for their
ability to carry out any
order, no matter how cruel.
Character in
Film
Supporting Evidence
Name:
Animal Farm Video Guide
Analysis Questions
Directions: Answer the following questions while watching the movie.
1.
Why is Old Major’s death important?
2.
Make a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast Snowball and Napoleon.
3.
Evaluate the original rules of Animal Farm.
4.
Why did Orwell make use pigs as leaders? How was this symbolic? How were the dogs symbolic?
5.
To whom did the example of Animal Farm appeal? Why?
6.
Why did Animal Farm move away from Old Major’s rules? What was the impact?
7.
Why did the revolution song bother Napoleon?
Name:
Animal Farm Video Guide
8.
How was Animal Farm different at the end of the film than it was in the beginning?
9.
React to what Benjamin sees through the house window at the end of the film. What do you think the purpose for this scene
was?
Analysis Questions
Directions: Use your knowledge of history and from the film to answer 2 of the following questions.
10. What effect does power have on leaders? Make a claim and support with evidence from the film.
11. Was life on Animal Farm equal? Construct an argument. Prove it with evidence from the film.
12. Compare the film’s ending to the ending of the novel. How does the ending impact the meaning of the work?