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1984 Unit Test
Multiple Choice: 60 points total (2 points each)
Directions: For each question, choose the best answer and fill in the corresponding
bubble on the answer sheet. You will have 50 minutes to complete the test.
1. Thomas More wrote Utopia in 1516 to make society aware of the social and
political corruption in England under the Tudors. Since then, what has the term
“utopia” has come to represent?
A. a world where everything is bad
B. a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions
C. a world where the government is transparent and the crime rate is very low
D. a place where corruption has overrun the good intentions of the founders
2. George Orwell is a “pen name” or pseudonym adopted by the author of 1984.
What is the real, birth name of the author?
A. Andrew Macintyre
B. Eric Arthur Blair
C. George O’Neill
D. Samuel Longhorn Clemons
3. Winston’s job is to rectify the original figures and information in the Times by
making them agree with later ones. What Party policy does his job perpetuate?
A. Ignorance is strength
B. Think right
C. Thought crime
D. Reality control
**4. What is the setting of the novel?
A. The novel is set in the main city of Sector 2, a division of the North American
Alliance.
B. The novel is set in Paris, which is the capital city of the country of Eurasia.
C. The novel is set in London, which is the main city of Airstrip One, a province of
the country of Oceania.
D. The novel is set in New York City, which is the capital of New America
5. This Newspeak word represents “the essential crime that contains all others in
itself.”
A. doublethink
B. facecrime
C. thoughtcrime
D. crimestop
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6. In Room 101, O’Brian says to Winston:
“Do you begin to see, then, what kind of world we are creating? It is the exact
opposite of the stupid hedonistic _________ that the old reformers imagined. A
world of fear and treachery and torment, a world of trampling and being trampled
upon, a world which will grow not less but more merciless as it refines itself.”
A. communes
B. democracies
C. utopias
D. societies
7. George Orwell worked in Spain as a newspaper reporter during the Spanish Civil
War, served as a sergeant in the Home Guard in England during WWII, and
worked as a broadcast journalist for the British Broadcasting Company (BBC).
These experiences most likely influenced him to write:
A. 1984, a manifesto upholding the importance of warfare
B. 1984, a novel about a social outcast named Winston Smith
C. 1984, a political satire about current government leaders
D. 1984, a warning against the dangers of totalitarian society
**8. Which of the following is not a Party slogan in the novel 1984?
A.
B.
C.
D.
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
LOVE IS HATE
WAR IS PEACE
9. Benito Mussolini described this specific form of government as “all within the
state, none outside the state, none against the state.”
A. Totalitarianism
B. Socialism
C. Democracy
D. Communism
10. “Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don’t care what you do to her.
Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! Not me!” What major theme
of the novel does this quote represent?
A. appearance versus reality
B. freedom versus slavery
C. loyalty versus betrayal
D. utopia versus dystopia
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11. “The party claimed, of course, to have liberated the proles from bondage.
Before the revolution they had been hideously oppressed by the capitalists...But
simultaneously, true to the principles of _________, the Party taught that the proles
were natural inferiors who must be kept in subjection.”
A. Big Brother
B. Doublethink
C. The Ministry of Truth
D. “The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism”
12. “The fabulous statistics continued to pour out of the telescreen. As compared
with last year there was more food, more clothes, more furniture, more cooking
pots, more fuel, more ships, more helecopters, more books, more babies—more of
everything except disease, crime, and insanity.”
This Party announcement is an example of__________.
A. duckspeak
B. INGSOC
C. newspeak
D. reality control
13. The name “Big Brother” most closely relates to what tactic used by historical
figures such as Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin?
A. cult of personality
B. propaganda
C. pseudonyms
D. secret police
**14. What crime does the main character commit when he opens the diary and
writes “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” in it?
A. writecrime
B. pencrime
C. bookcrime
D. thoughtcrime
15. Showing an expression of surprise or disbelief when a war victory is announced
would be an example of _________.
A.
B.
C.
D.
facecrime
doublethink
betrayal
duckspeak
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16. The following passage is the opening passage from Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s short
story “Harrison Bergeron.”
“The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren't only equal
before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter
than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was
stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th,
and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents
of the United States Handicapper General.”
What element of dystopian literature does this passage best represent?
A. communication is poor, artificial, stilted, and limits the range of thought
B. equality is achieved by numerous laws and unceasing vigilance.
C. power rests in a corrupt dictator sometimes called the “Handicapper General.”
D. Individuals are of little, if any consequence, the desire being for uniformity within
the society.
**17. What does Winston write in his diary?
A. Be true to yourself and stand up for what you believe. Do not let anyone put you
down.
B. Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all
else follows.
C. Do the best you can. Trust that tomorrow will be better.
D. Even if this is discovered, I am still glad I wrote it.
**18. What bothers Winston more than the thought that he might be a lunatic?
A. The thought that he might be wrong.
B. The thought that there are many more lunatics like him.
C. The thought that he might be right after all.
D. The thought that he is the only lunatic left alive.
19. Who is “the principle traitor, the earliest defiler of the Party’s purity”?
A. Big Brother
B. Emmanuel Goldstein
C. O’Brian
D. Winston Smith
**20. Which of the following gives the organization of the Party in the correct order,
from top to bottom?
A. the proles, the Outer Party, Big Brother, the Inner Party
B. Big Brother, the Inner Party, the Outer Party, the proles
C. Big Brother, the Inner Party, the proles, the Outer Party
D. the Outer Party, the proles, the Inner Party, Big Brother
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21. “The preparations for Hate Week were in full swing, and the staffs of all the
Ministries were working overtime. Processions, meetings, military parades,
lectures, waxwork displays, film shows, telescreen programs all had to be organized;
stands had to be erected, effigies built, slogans coined, songs written, rumors
circulated, photographs faked.”
This passage represents the Party’s use of __________.
A. campaigning
B. forced labor
C. propaganda
D. reality control
**22. During their meeting, O’Brien says Winston will receive _________________.
A. a lifetime supply of good wine
B. a copy of Goldstein’s book
C. a new identity
D. another message in five days
23. According to “The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism” what is the
aim of modern warfare?
A. To use up the products of human labor
B. To raise the standard of living
C. To remain in control of the other two superpowers
D. To continually keep the population low
**24. What is the final, most essential command of the Party?
A. The Party tells people to stop caring about anyone.
B. The Party tells people to kill their enemies.
C. The Party tells people to vote to keep the Party in office forever.
D. The Party tells people to reject the evidence of their eyes and ears
**25. Winston tells Julia the real betrayal will be if they can be made to
____________.
A. steal from the Party
B. tell lies about O’Brien
C. get others to join the Brotherhood
D. stop loving each other
**26. What does Winston discover about Mr. Charrington?
A. He and O’Brien are brothers.
B. He is a member of the Thought Police.
C. He is planning to organize the proles for an uprising.
D. He has been murdered
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**27. What does Winston find out about The Book?
A. O’Brien wrote part of The Book.
B. The Book does not exist
C. The Book has the only accurate record of history.
D. All copies of The Book have been destroyed.
28. What is in Room 101?
A. An electric chair
B. Complete darkness
C. Spiders
D. Whatever the prisoner fears most
29. “A new poster had suddenly appeared all over London. It had no caption, and
represented simply the monstrous figure of a Eurasian soldier, three or four meters
high, striding forward with expressionless Mongolian face and enormous boots, a
submachine gun pointed from his hip.”
This passage from 1984 most nearly corresponds with:
A. Campaign adds during presidential elections
B. World War II propaganda depicting the Japanese as dark, treacherous murderers
C. The propaganda posters of Mao Zedong used to manipulate public opinion
D. Recruiting posters used by the U.S. military depicting brave American soldiers
**30. Winston and Julia meet after they have been released. How do they react to
each other?
A. They still love each other.
B. They do not feel the same anymore.
C. They completely ignore each other.
D. They get married.
**These items were borrowed with some slight changes from one of my cooperating
teacher’s tests and I think she copied these questions from enotes.com
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1984
Unit Test
Essay: 40 Points
“You haven’t a real appreciation of Newspeak, Winston,” he said almost sadly. “Even
when you write it you’re still thinking in Oldspeak. I’ve read some of those pieces that you
write in the Times* occasionally. They’re good enough, but they’re translations. In your
heart you’d prefer to stick to Oldspeak, with all its vagueness and its useless shades of
meaning. You don’t grasp the beauty of the destruction of words.”
*the Times is the name of the Newspaper in George Orwell’s 1984
In a well-written essay, analyze and discuss ALL of the following:




the official language of Oceana
the importance of language to maintaining Party control
the effects of the shift in language and thinking as mentioned above
the ways that this shift affects Winston Smith
Provide evidence from text to support your analysis.
Write your essay on the college ruled notebook paper provided.
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Mult
iple-Choice Answers
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
B
B
D
C
C
C
D
C
A
C
B
D
A
D
A
D
B
D
B
B
C
B
A
D
D
B
A
D
B
B
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Possible Essay Answers
Components of Answer:
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Newspeak is the official language of the Party in George Orwell’s novel 1984.
Language is important to freedom.
Newspeak is important to Party control because it limits the scope of language and hence the
ability of the citizens of Oceana to express themselves.
Ultimately the limited language will limit the scope of human thought
o “Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the
end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in
which to express it. Every concept that can ever be needed will be expressed by exactly
one word, with its meaning rigidly defined and all its subsidiary meanings rubbed out and
forgotten. Already, in the Eleventh Edition, we’re not far from that point. But the
process will be continuing long after you and I are dead. Every year fewer and fewer
words, and the range of consciousness always a little smaller.” (52)
The party limits language by:
o Ridding the party of synonyms and antonyms—The basic idea behind Newspeak is to
remove all shades of meaning from language, leaving simple dichotomies (pleasure and
pain) which reinforce the total dominance of the Party. Similarly, Newspeak root words
served as both nouns and verbs, which allowed further reduction in the total number of
words.
o Words with negative meanings were removed as redundant, so “bad” becomes “ungood”
“By 2050—earlier, probably—all real knowledge of Oldspeak will have disappeared. The whole
literature of the past will have been destroyed. Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Byron—they’ll
exist only in Newspeak versions, not merely changed into something different, but actually
contradictory of what they used to be. Even the literature of the Party will change. Even the
slogans will change. How could you have a slogan like “freedom is slavery” when the concept of
freedom has been abolished? The whole climate of thought will be different. In fact there will be
no thought as we understand it now. Orthodoxy means not thinking—not needing to think.
Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.”
As the novel progresses, Winston Smith (who works...) has a growing awareness of how the Party
manipulates the People by manipulating language. As he tries to remember what life was like
before the Revolution, his decreasing ability to remember the past disturbs him.
Winston feels that the Proles are the only hope for language and thought
Essay might possibly include: Parallels to the future of the English language—in the English
language today we spell and speak in a limited way via. text messages and e-mails.
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Category
Quality of
Ideas
Points:
________
Expression of
Ideas
Points:
________
Organization
of Ideas
Points:
________
Maturity of
syntax and
vocabulary
Points:
________
Spelling,
Punctuation,
and Usage
Excellent (20-18)
Consistently able to
communicate important
concepts/ ideas in depth; the
ideas are sound and
insightful; the ideas are
developed in great detail,
elaboration of concepts is
rich.
Consistently is clear and
elaborate in communicating
ideas in a style acceptable
to a literate audience; the
logic of the phrasing is
consistently rich and
enlivening.
Addresses all elements of
the prompt. Fully develops
and structures the main idea
implicitly or explicitly; a
strong sense of movement
or focus is found in writing;
structuring elements unify
the entire piece of writing;
segmental markers are
effectively used throughout
writing.
Uses a variety of sentence
patterns and sentence
structures. Full control of
basic words and more
sophisticated language.
Rarely misspells even
difficult words. Always
uses all forms of
punctuation correctly (1
mistake allowed). All usage
is conventional.
Satisfactory (17-15)
Generally communicates
important concepts/ ideas;
much thinking is sound and
insightful; the ideas are
developed in some detail,
some elaboration of
concepts is present
Weak (14-12)
Occasionally able to
communicate important ideas;
ideas are sound at points and
exhibit some insight; the ideas
are not developed in any
detail, little or no elaboration
of concepts is present.
Communicates to audiences
other than the self, but not
always in a stylistic and
sophisticated manner; the
logic and phrasing is most
often sound and the idea
communicated is generally
understood; word choice is
at times rich and enlivening.
Addresses most elements of
the prompt. Develops the
main idea in an incomplete
or loosely structured
fashion; a general sense of
movement or focus is found
in the writing; some
structuring elements are
present; a few segmental
markers are evident
Occasionally conveys ideas to
audiences other than the self;
the logic of the phrasing is
often questionable and the
idea communicated somewhat
uncertain; word choice is
rarely rich or enlivening.
Unacceptable (12-10)
Ideas appear irrelevant
to the prompt or are not
communicated clearly;
ideas lack soundness or
insight; the ideas are not
developed in any detail,
little or no elaboration of
concepts is present
Cannot communicate
ideas; the logic of
phrasing is inconsistent
and the idea
communicated unclear,
often awkward or flat
word choice.
Addresses some elements of
the prompt. Makes the main
idea discernable but it is
wholly unstructured; some
sense of movement or focus is
found in the writing; few or
no structuring features are
present; no segmental markers
are evident.
Does not address the
prompt. Neither states
nor implies a point; little
or no movement or focus
is found in the writing;
no structuring features
are present; no
segmental markers are
evident
Often uses complex
sentence structures;
frequently uses a variety of
sentence patterns. Control
of basic words and more
sophisticated language;
occasional misuse of the
latter.
Typically uses simple
sentence structure although
there is some use of complex
sentence structure with
embedded phrases and
clauses; has some variety in
sentence patterns. Control of
basic words; frequent misuse
of sophisticated language.
Common words spelled
correctly; frequently misspells
more difficult words. Uses
end punctuation correctly;
rarely uses internal
punctuation correctly.
Control of basic usage with
frequent problems in less
important usage areas such as
pronoun antecedents and
misplaced modifiers.
Uses only simple
sentence structure; has
no variety in the
sentence patterns.
Constant misuse of basic
words.
Common words spelled
correctly; occasionally
misspells more difficult
words. Always uses end
punctuation correctly;
generally uses internal
punctuation correctly.
Occasional errors in less
important usage areas.
Points:
________
Name:________________________________________________
TOTAL:__________________________________
Frequently misspells
simple common words.
Fails to use punctuation
correctly. Consistently
makes basic usage errors
such as: lack of subjectverb agreement, use of
double negatives, and
use of improper verb
forms.
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