January 3, 2014
Animal Farm
By George Orwell
Allegory - Satire - Fable
“All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.”
Key Words
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Dystopia
Fable
Irony
Satire
Allegory
Communism
Propaganda
UEQ:
How can an author’s use of
allegory promote social change?

LEQ: How does
George Orwell
structure chapter 1
to lay the
foundation for
allegorical
meaning?
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Introduction of:
Setting
Plot: Exposition
Characters
conflict
Bellringer Activity: Finding
Meaning in a Fable

Read the short
fable from Aesop’s
fables.

With your learning
team, decide what
your fable means
or what “life
insight” it teaches.
The Bundle of Sticks : An old man on the point
of death summoned his sons around him to give
them some parting advice. He ordered his
servants to bring in a bundle of sticks, and said
to his eldest son: "Break it." The son strained
and strained, but with all his efforts was unable
to break the Bundle. The other sons also tried,
but none of them was successful. "Untie the
sticks," said the father, "and each of you take a
stick." When they had done so, he called out to
them: "Now, break," and each stick was easily
broken. "You see my meaning," said their father.
Meaning: There is strength in unity.
Who is George Orwell and what
was the purpose of his fable,
Animal Farm?

Fable: a simple
fictional story
(often with animal
characters) that
teaches a life
insight

Allegory: a story
with more than
one level of
meaning; symbolic
meaning teaches
insights
Activity 1: Meet George Orwell;
informational focus

Directions: Read
the biographical
information about
George Orwell.

Using the
Biographical data
in the information
sheet, answer the
questions on the
student worksheet.
1984

The novel, published in
1949, takes place in 1984
and presents an imaginary
future where a totalitarian
state controls every aspect
of life, even people's
thoughts. The state is
called Oceania and is ruled
by a group known as the
Party; its leader and
dictator is Big Brother.
Ticket out of the Door

Write 3 facts that
you’ve learned
about George
Orwell.
George Orwell and His Beliefs
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Orwell was a person who had a reputation for standing apart
and even making a virtue of his detachment.
This “outsider” position often led him to oppose the crowd.
Orwell’s beliefs about politics were affected by his experiences
fighting in the Spanish Civil War.
He viewed socialists, communists, and fascists as repressive
and self-serving.
He was skeptical of governments and their willingness to
forsake ideas in favor of power.
Interesting Fact:
George Orwell’s real name was Eric Blair.
George Orwell in India
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He was born in India and
spent his early years
there since his father held
a post there.
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He was a lonely boy who
liked to make up stories
and talk with imaginary
companions.
As an adult, he worked
for the Imperial Police in
British occupied India.
Why Animals?

In explaining how he came to write Animal
Farm, Orwell says he once saw a little boy
whipping a horse and later he wrote,

“It struck me that if only such animals became aware
of their strength we should have no power over them,
and that men exploit animals in much the same way
as the rich exploit the [worker].”
January 6, 2014 Monday
Animal Farm
By George Orwell
Allegory - Satire - Fable
“All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.”
UEQ:
How can an author’s use of
allegory promote social change?

LEQ: How does
George Orwell
structure chapter 1
to lay the
foundation for
allegorical
meaning?





Introduction of:
Setting
Plot: Exposition
Characters
conflict
Bellringer: Aesop’s Fables

Read along as we
read the fable
aloud in class.

With your learning
team, try to
decode the
meaning of the
fable.
The Boy and the Filberts
A BOY put his hand into a pitcher full of
filberts. He grasped as many as he could
possibly hold, but when he tried to pull out
his hand, he was prevented from doing so by
the neck of the pitcher. Unwilling to lose his
filberts, and yet unable to withdraw his hand,
he burst into tears and bitterly lamented his
disappointment. A bystander said to him, "Be
satisfied with half the quantity, and you will
readily draw out your hand."
Moral: Do not attempt too much at once or do not be too greedy.
Activity #1: Review George
Orwell
What influences in his life developed
his social consciousness that lead to
him writing a fable/allegory as a social
commentary?
His work as an Imperial policeman in India in 1922, and
witnessed the subjugation of the native people and the
accompanying injustice.
George Orwell
British Author & Journalist
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1903-1950
Born in India
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At that time India was a part of the British
Empire, and Blair's father, Richard, held a post
as an agent in the Opium Department of the
Indian Civil Service.
The Blair family was not very wealthy - Orwell
later described them ironically as "lower-uppermiddle class". They owned no property, had no
extensive investments; they were like many
middle-class English families of the time, totally
dependent on the British Empire for their
livelihood and prospects.
Noted as a novelist and critic, as well as a
political and cultural commentator
One of the most widely admired Englishlanguage essayists of the 20th century
Best known for two novels critical of
totalitarianism in general, and Stalinism in
particular:
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Animal Farm
Nineteen Eighty-Four
“Liberty is telling people what they do not want to hear.”
1984

The novel, published in
1949, takes place in 1984
and presents an imaginary
future where a totalitarian
state controls every aspect
of life, even people's
thoughts. The state is
called Oceania and is ruled
by a group known as the
Party; its leader and
dictator is Big Brother.
George Orwell and His Beliefs





Orwell was a person who had a reputation for standing apart
and even making a virtue of his detachment.
This “outsider” position often led him to oppose the crowd.
Orwell’s beliefs about politics were affected by his experiences
fighting in the Spanish Civil War.
He viewed socialists, communists, and fascists as repressive
and self-serving.
He was skeptical of governments and their willingness to
forsake ideas in favor of power.
Interesting Fact:
George Orwell’s real name was Eric Blair.
Question: According to the non-fiction
biographical essay we read, why did he
change his name to George Orwell?
Why Animals?

In explaining how he came to write Animal
Farm, Orwell says he once saw a little boy
whipping a horse and later he wrote,

“It struck me that if only such animals became aware
of their strength we should have no power over them,
and that men exploit animals in much the same way
as the rich exploit the [worker].”
The Fable

The fable is one of the oldest
literary forms - much, much older
than the novel or the short story. A
fable is usually short, written in
either verse or prose, and conveys
a clear moral or message. The
earliest fables still preserved date
back to 6th Century Greece B.C.E.
The author of these fables, Aesop,
used animal characters to stand for
human "types." For example, a fox
character might embody the human
characteristics of cunning and
cleverness. Though Aesop's animal
fables were ostensibly about
animals, they were really
instructional tales about human
emotions and human behavior.
Animal Fables

The most popular animal fables of
the 20th Century are the Just So
Stories (1902) written by Rudyard
Kipling. Kipling's fables were
adapted by Disney in the movie
The Jungle Book. Orwell admired
Kipling and the Just So Stories
would seem to have influenced the
form of Animal Farm. Orwell took
the short animal fable and
expanded it to the length of a short
novel in the form of an allegory.
Children’s Book? – No!
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After Animal Farm was published in 1945, George
Orwell discovered with horror that booksellers were
placing his novel on children’s shelves. According to
his housekeeper, he began traveling from bookstore
to bookstore requesting that the book be shelved with
adult works. This dual identity — as children’s story
and adult satire — has stayed with Orwell’s novel for
more than fifty years.
What are 4 Key Literary Terms that help
us to understand Orwell’s meaning in
Animal Farm?
Fable
Satire
allegory
Irony
Allegory
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Most fables have two levels of meaning. On the surface, the
fable is about animals. But on a second level, the animals
stand for types of people or ideas. The way the animals
interact and the way the plot unfolds says something about
the nature of people or the value of ideas. Any type of
fiction that has multiple levels of meaning in this way is
called an allegory.
Allegory (cont’d)
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Yet there is no reason that
allegory must be limited to
two levels. It is possible to
argue that Animal Farm
also has a third and more
general level of meaning. For
instance, the pigs need not
only represent specific
tyrannical soviet leaders.
They could also be symbols
for tyranny more broadly:
their qualities are therefore
not simply the historical
characteristics of a set of
actual men but are the
qualities of all leaders who
rely on repression and
manipulation.
Squealer, Snowball, & Napoleon
Allegory (cont’d)
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Boxer
Keystone Alert
Animal Farm is strongly allegorical,
but it presents a very nice balance
between levels of meaning. On the
first level, the story about the
animals is very moving. You can be
upset when Boxer is taken away by
the horse slaughterer without being
too aware of what he stands for. But
at the same time, each of the
animals does serve as a symbol. The
story's second level involves the
careful critique Orwell constructed to
comment on Soviet Russia.
Satire
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In a satire, the writer
attacks a serious issue by
presenting it in a ridiculous
light or otherwise poking fun
at it. Orwell uses satire to
expose what he saw as the
myth of Soviet socialism.
Thus, the novel tells a story
that people of all ages can
understand, but it also tells
us a second story— that of
the real-life revolution.
Keystone Alert
Soviet Coat of Arms
Keystone Alert
Irony (cont’d)

Orwell uses dramatic irony
to create a particularly subtle
satire. Satire stages a
critique of an individual,
group, or idea by
exaggerating faults and
revealing hypocrisies. The
dramatic irony of Animal
Farm achieves this aim
indirectly. We see the
hypocrisy that the animals
don't and therefore
understand in this backward
fashion that the book is
deeply critical of the pigs.
Activity #2: Close reading of
Chapter 1 with Study Guide
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Vocabulary
Reading
Comprehension
Literary Analysis
Techniques and
character
development
Significant Quotes
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As you read, look
for literary
techniques and
significant quotes.
Write down any
questions or
observations that
you have.
TOD
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List 5 characters
from Animal Farm.
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List what
government
system Orwell
came to hate
during his work as
a policeman in
India.
January 7, 2014
Animal Farm
By George Orwell
Allegory - Satire - Fable
“All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.”
UEQ:
How can an author’s use of
allegory promote social change?

LEQ: How does
George Orwell
structure chapter 1
to lay the
foundation for
allegorical
meaning?





Introduction of:
Setting
Plot: Exposition
Characters
conflict
Chapter One
Group A
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
benevolent
cynical
enmity
ensconced
lurched
regarded
Animal Farm
Vocabulary
Chapter 1
Chapter One
Group B
7.scullery
8. Trodden
9.Mincing
10.tyranny
11.dissentients
Which of the three
vocabulary words matches
the definition?
Benevolent
Cynical
enmity
1..Definition: showing kindness or
goodwill
Write the vocabulary word that matches each
given definition.
2._________distrustful of human nature
3___________ extreme ill-will or hatred
between enemies
4__________settled in comfortably or
securely
5__________moved with unsteadiness
from side to side
Close reading of Chapter 1:
Three Goals
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Basic Reading
comprehension of
Plot and
Characterization
Scavenger Hunt:
Observations of
Orwell’s Literary
Techniques

Later goal…analyze the
allegorical meaning and Orwell’s
political application of the story.
How does Orwell employ the
conventions of a “fairy tale” to establish
a foundation for his allegory?

What are the
conventions of a
fairy tale?
Activity #2: Elements of the Fairy tale
as a Literary Device—find evidence of
each within the text

Convention of the
“world of the
humans in the
house” juxtaposed
with the “world of
the animals” in the
barn or “what
happens when the
humans sleep”
Convention of the
“I have a dream”—
Disclosure of dream,
vision, or prophecy
that serves as a
catalyst to
plot/conflict
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Chapter 1: Characterization
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How does Orwell
introduce the
reader to his
characters?
He describes them as
they gather for a
meeting to hear the
words of Old Major.
Activity #2: Character
Scavenger Hunt
Activity #3: Study Guide
Chapter 1
Check your answers
with your learning
team.

Go over answers
as a class.
Activity #4: Significant Quotes
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Work with your learning team to find at
least 5 significant quotes from Chapter
Write the quote, then:
A. . Identify the character who says the
quote,
B. .the page #, and
C.why it is significant/what it reveals to
the reader.
TOD Jan 7, 2014