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Animal Farm: Exploring Chapter One Learning Purposes

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Animal Farm: Exploring Chapter One Learning Purposes Monday 11th January 2020 Animal Farm: Exploring Chapter One Learning Purposes • Revisit chapter one of Animal Farm • Consider key seng, characters and themes within the novella • Understand exam requirements Prior learning: Future learning: On next slides… ConBnue to revisit the novella whilst focusing on seng, characters and themes. Develop analyBcal wriBng skills for Secon B. Paper 1, Sec>on B • You will choose one essay based queson from a choice of two. • Each quesBon will give you a short quotaon to get you started. • QuesBons will focus on one of more of the following areas: plot, seng(s), character(s) and theme(s) and will require you to explore the quesBon in relaon to the context. • Marks will also be given for accurate use of spelling, punctuaon and grammar. • You do not need to analyse language and structure. Starter • You have 60 seconds to write down everything you can remember about Animal Farm. • It can be storyline, characters, themes, anything you can think of! Key Words • Allegory (noun)/allegorical (adjec:ve) - a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or poliBcal one. • Rhetoric – the art of effecBve or persuasive speaking or wriBng. Applying Context • When applying context to your wriBng, which is necessary for your Animal Farm response, it must only be used to enhance the point that you are making. • As we are revising the text, we are going to be focusing on the seng, characters and themes as opposed to meBculously linking each aspect of the Russian RevoluBon to a character or event within the novella. • Students have, in the past, focused way too much on showing the examiner how much they know about context. WriBng a paragraph that details all of your knowledge of how the text is allegorical will not be helpful. • As with Macbeth, context should be aached to you explanaons of the text. Reading Chapter One As a class, read through the first chapter. Whilst reading, consider the following: • What do we learn about the seng? • What do we learn about Old Major? • How is language used to persuade and inspire? govern Man song Manor Beasts comrades England dream Recap Major of rebel Old __________ Farm is run by Mr Jones, a drunken farmer who cares liSle for the welfare of his animals. _____ _________, the prize-winning boar, had a strange dream and calls a meeBng to speak with the farm animals. Old Major calls the animals “______________." He describes all the hardships the animals face on the Farm—long hours, liSle food, and death in the slaughterhouse when they've ceased to be useful. He states that _______ is the cause of animals problems - Men, who produce nothing, but take whatever they want from the animals. He reveals his _______ of a Bme when animals __________against men and _________ themselves. He teaches them a __________ called ‘_______ ____ ________’. SeEng: The Barn • The events of the novella take place at Manor Farm. • In the first chapter, the animals congregate in a ‘big barn’ to hear what Old Major has to say. • Old Major is posi:oned atop a plaSorm, signifying how highly he is viewed by the rest of the animals. • The barn is the birthplace of the revoluon. • There is no date associated with the events of the novella – we can suggest that this is because Orwell’s message (standing up to totalitarianism and dictatorship) is to be considered throughout Bme, not just this specific instance in history. • Task – find five quotes associated with the ideas above, and explore their significance. Character: Old Major imagina&ve respected intelligent visionary quick-tempered wise influenal impulsive disillusioned Look at this bank of adjecBves describing Old Major. Note down the three that you agree with the most and add suppor:ng quotaons from the text. Character: Old Major • Major is a ‘highly regarded’ pig who is a natural leader. He is twelve years old and has a ‘wise and benevolent appearance’. • Major’s speech prophesises much of what will happen on the farm – the irony being that it happens under Napoleon, not Jones. • Major’s speech is vital as it allows Orwell to establish the hope of an equal and fair society – one that we agree with. This also provides the standard by which we judge the farm following the revoluBon. Theme: Language and Power Old Major’s speech is an example of rhetoric – persuasive speaking. Skim back through pages 3-7 and consider how the following could be considered persuasive. Respond in your exercise books: 1. RepeBBon of ‘comrades’ 2. Rhetorical quesBons 3. Direct address (‘You cows that I see before me’) 4. Possessive pronouns (‘Ours’) 5. Major’s repeBBon of ‘I’ understanding the feelings and ideas of others Theme: Language and Power Ideas to consider: • Major’s repeBBon of ‘comrades’ creates a rapport between himself and the animals on the farm. Despite his (literal) higher posiBon on the plaorm, he uses language to create a sense of equality amongst the animals. • Rhetorical quesBons are used by Major to highlight the issues that the animals face. This could then have the animals considering how happy they are with their current situaon and whether or not they want change. • Using direct address to target specific groups of animals is Major’s way of appealing to each of them based on issues specific to their group. If they feel as though he is addressing their personal plights, they may be more inclined to get involved with the rebellion. Theme: Language and Power Ideas to consider (connued): • Possessive pronouns are used to evoke a sense of pride and ownership within the animals. This creates a greater divide between the animals and mankind. This divide would also assist in creang closer relaonships between the animals. • Major’s repeBBon of ‘I’ is used to show that he has experience. His use of anecdotal evidence and stories about his life serve to build trust between himself and the rest of the farm. Everyone respects Old Major for his age and wisdom. a brief, personal story about an individual or an event Theme: Language and Power • It is important to remember that within the novella, pigs are considered to be the smartest animals on the farm. • This could then be used to jusBfy how Old Major’s rousing speech sets the events of the novella in moBon: the pigs are smart enough to take on Major’s ideas for their own and the other animals are not smart enough to know any beZer. It is the catalyst. Response Produce a paragraph for the following: “Now comrades, what is the nature of this life of ours? Let us face it, our lives are miserable, laborious and short.” How is Old Major important in Animal Farm? You must refer to the context of the novel in your answer. üConsider the rhetorical language that we have just discussed. Response Old Major’s importance in the novella solely stems from the rousing speech that he delivers to the rest of the animals in the barn. In it, he asks the animals to consider ‘the evils of this life of ours’ evoking a sense of collecveness and community within the animals whilst crea&ng a greater divide between them and mankind. This divide would also assist in crea&ng closer rela&onships between the animals which is something Old Major would need for his pleas of rebellion to be successful. Essen&ally, for the first &me, the animals are offered hope of a beNer future, and a life free from labour and violence. Whilst Old Major’s speech is ini&ally a posi&ve thing for the animals, it is Orwell’s inten&on to show how easily ideas can be manipulated to serve a different purpose, as demonstrated through Napoleon’s acons throughout the text. Plenary Originally, Animal Farm was subBtled ‘A Fairy Story’. Why do you think Orwell chose this subBtle for the novella? EXT – Context: Orwell and Totalitarianism • WriSen by George Orwell, Animal Farm explores how a group of farm animals lead a rebellion against their owner. • Orwell exposed and criBqued the human tendency to oppress others poliBcally, economically, and physically. Orwell parBcularly hated totalitarianism. • Totalitarianism is a poliBcal ideology that prevents opposiBon from other poliBcal parBes and opposiBon from individuals within the state. • He did everything he could, from wriBng editorials to compiling lists of men he knew were Soviet spies, to draw aenBon to the horrors of the Soviet Union. • Orwell wrote Animal Farm because he wanted to tell the true story of the Russian RevoluBon in a way anyone could understand, even if they didn’t know all the historical details. EXT – Context: Russian Revolu>on • The main acBon of Animal Farm is allegorical for the Russian RevoluBon of 1917 and the early years of the Soviet Union. • Russia in the late 19th and early 20th Century was a place of vast poverty and incredible wealth; it was ruled by an immensely powerful Tsar (emperor). • Peasants were made to work for rich landowners in return for ridiculously small payments. This was known as collecBve farming. • During the Russian RevoluBon of February 1917, Tsar Nicholas II, the monarch of Russia, abdicated and many poliBcal figures began jostling for power. Before long, the Soviet Union was formed. .
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