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Senior Seminar: Language, Power, and Politics Summer Reading/Writing Assignment 2015-2016
This assignment is for students who have enrolled in “Senior Seminar” (AP Lit teamed with AP Gov’t).
Please complete the reading, and BOTH Part One AND Part Two of the writing assignments below.
ASSIGNMENT:
Read George Orwell’s 1984, including the Appendix (“The Principles of Newspeak”).
There are TWO writing parts to this assignment, but you have options on what to complete for Part
One and for Part Two.
PART ONE
Option A
Write a 3-4 page response to the novel. Your response must focus on all of the following bulleted
topics:
 The relationship between language and political power and the role both play in 1984.
 The relationship between the individual and society in 1984.
 Three short quotations that you believe are essential to understanding important conflicts
(individual v. society, individual v. individual, individual v. self) in the novel. Write commentary
on the quotations, noting features of content, style, word choice, tone, and mood and clearly
explain what the quotes reveal about those conflicts in the story.
OR
Option B
Write a 3-4 page response to the novel. Your response must focus on all of the following bulleted
topics:
 Choose two examples of imagery (include short quotations) and analyze the meaning and
significance of those images to the meaning of the work as a whole (that is, their significance to
major themes and overarching ideas).
 Choose two examples of symbolism (include short quotations) and analyze the meaning and
significance of those symbols to the meaning of the work as a whole (that is, their significance to
major themes and overarching ideas).
Avoid “doubling up” and using the same quotations for both literary elements.
 Write a prequel, sequel or “missing” chapter of 1984. It can be a short, 1-2-page chapter or a
good running start of a longer one. Make sure that the style and content are consistent with
Orwell’s own work.
There are no “mix and match” combinations. In other words, the bulleted items must be grouped as
they are above.
Include details and examples from the novel in your response but also express the ideas, insights, and
opinions that you are forming about these topics. Speak as yourself to others who have read the book
but who are also just forming their own opinions and insights about the novel.
IMPORTANT NOTE: We expect you to write your response without “having the answers” or being
“right” about your insights. It can be tempting to check your understanding by looking at study guides
like Spark Notes, but do not use such materials even to reassure yourself. Write from your own reading
and thinking about the novel.
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PART TWO
Option A
Choose a current public policy issue being debated in the halls of government and the media that
has a connection to 1984. This issue must be current (debated/discussed within the last year) and is
an issue not an event. The right to privacy and government surveillance is an issue. A change to
National Security Agency procedures recently announced by the White House is an event. Write a 34 page analysis of how this issue relates to the novel by addressing the following:



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Examine the similarities and differences between how this issue is depicted in 1984 and how it
plays out in the real world.
What is the impact of this issue on the characters in 1984? What is its impact on American
society today? How do both respond to this issue?
How do the governments in 1984 and the US deal with this issue and what is their justification
for handling it in this way?
Based on your analysis of this one issue, predict its eventual outcome in the “real world.” Will
things end up are they do in 1984? Or do you see a different resolution?
OR
Option B
Choose two articles from a variety of major news source (Washington Post, New York Times, CNN, etc.)
and take on the role of one of the characters in the 1984. How would that character react to each news
story? What would he or she say about each one? Write a 3-4 page paper in the voice of the character
you have chosen. You may use the first-person “I”:

Summarize each article and comment on it from a political and cultural point of view. Although
you are writing as one of the characters in the book, the context and setting in which that
character is responding is today, present time, present world.
 Staying in character, now reflect on the impact the content of the article is likely to have on the
society in 1984. Is there a connection? If not, why is such an event impossible in 1984?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Regardless of your choices of options in Part One and Part Two, type your paper response on regular
paper, double spaced, 1-inch margins on ALL sides. Include your name and the date (single-spaced) on
the first page, followed by your response. PLEASE CLEARLY INDICATE YOUR CHOICES for EACH PART.
You will be asked to read aloud your 3 – 4-page writing in small groups (teacher-created) on the first day
of class.
QUESTIONS?
Mr. Zack
Mrs. Gilbert
DRZack@fcps.edu
MDGilbert@fcps.edu
Looking forward to a great year of intense discussion and amazing literature!