<p>George Orwell’s 1984</p><p>Book 1 Chapter 1</p><p>1. What is the first indication that this is not “our” time period?</p><p>2. What is ironic about the name of Winston’s apartment building and its appearance?</p><p>3. Describe the poster that is found on every landing and outside. Why make him “handsome?”</p><p>4. What is the caption and what is the purpose?</p><p>5. Describe Winston Smith.</p><p>6. Describe the telescreen and what it does.</p><p>7. What are two ways that people’s activities are monitored by the government?</p><p>8. How do the “thought police” work?</p><p>9. How would all this monitoring make you live?</p><p>10. Where does Winston work? Describe it.</p><p>11. Find evidence to support what happened in London to get them to where they are now.</p><p>12. Why do you think Winston can’t remember his childhood?</p><p>13. What are the slogans of the party? 14. Into what 4 ministries has the government been divided and with what are the ministries concerned?</p><p>15. What is ironic about the Ministry of Love?</p><p>16. How does life appear to be for people and why might there be “victory gin?”</p><p>17. What does his alcove allow Winston to be able to do that others can’t?</p><p>18. How is having a journal a “compromising possession?”</p><p>19. Winston means “from a friendly country:” and Smith is a very common last name. In what ways does Winston not fit his names?</p><p>20. Why won’t the government let people know the actual year?</p><p>21. What do the reactions to the movie tell you about society? 22. Explain the Two Minutes Hate. What purpose might it serve? How do people react to it?</p><p>23. What is the name of Goldstein’s underground network?</p><p>24. Why does Winston hate the dark-haired girl?</p><p>25. Why have an anti-sex league?</p><p>26. What keeps Winston “alive?”</p><p>27. What has he written in the notebook?</p><p>II.</p><p>1. Describe Winston’s neighbor using Orwell’s words.</p><p>2. Why is her husband, and all those like him, important to the Party?</p><p>3. What are the children disappointed they will miss? Why will they miss it? What does this say about society? Parental oversight?</p><p>4. How are all the children “horrible?” 5. Why are parents afraid of their own children?</p><p>6. Due to the victory in battle, what “bad news” is given?</p><p>7. What are the sacred principles of Ingsoc?</p><p>8. Reflect on “How could you make appeal to the future when not a trace of you, not even an anonymous word scribbled on a piece of paper, could physically survive?”</p><p>9. Why does Winston consider himself a “dead man” now? </p><p>10. How will Winston know if someone has read his journal? How could they?</p><p>III.</p><p>1. Explain Winston’s first dream.</p><p>2. What does he know is true about his dream?</p><p>3. How had his mother’s death been “tragic?” 4. How is his present different then when his mother died?</p><p>5. Who is in the second part of his dream?</p><p>6. What word is on his lips when he awakens? How might this connect to the description of the second dream?</p><p>7. How do you get clothes in this society? What does it tell us about Winston’s status?</p><p>8. How many years has it been since the world changed into what it is now?</p><p>9. What seemed to be responsible for the change?</p><p>10. What has been going on ever since? 11. Why can Winston remember that they used to be at war with Eastasia?</p><p>12. What does the party have the ability to do with the past? What is reality control?</p><p>13. What lie in the history books is Winston sure is a lie?</p><p>14. What do you think about mandatory physical activity for all the people? How might this be advantageous for society? 1984 Part One</p><p>IV.</p><p>1. How do you write in Winston’s society? </p><p>2. Why do you think people are encouraged to throw away all paper? </p><p>3. Why does Winston have to call up an earlier Times magazine news article? </p><p>4. What happens to all of the old magazines after information was changed in them? </p><p>5. Does the Ministry of Truth ever admit that they change this information? </p><p>6. Explain “Everything faded away into a shadow-world in which, finally, even the date of the year had become uncertain.”</p><p>7. What does the little sandy blonde woman in the cubicle next to Winston do for her job? </p><p>8. What kind of news is produced for the proletariat? </p><p>9. Why would they give the lower classes this sort of news? </p><p>10. What does Winston love? </p><p>11. Why? </p><p>12. What does it mean that Withers is categorized as an “unperson?” </p><p>13. What is interesting about the way Winston changes the Withers’ story</p><p>14. Explain, “It struck him as curious that you could create dead men, but not living ones.” </p><p>V.</p><p>1. Why might employees be allowed to buy Victory Gin during their lunch time? Do they get a choice as to the meal? 2. Why might the party make razor blades unobtainable? </p><p>3. What does Syme like so much about public hangings? </p><p>4. What effect does the gin have on Winston this time? </p><p>5. What does the eleventh edition of the dictionary essentially do? </p><p>6. What purpose will that serve? </p><p>7. Explain how you would say the opposite of “good” in Newspeak. </p><p>8. How would you say a stronger version of “good?” </p><p>9. A really stronger version of “good?” </p><p>10. What is the aim of Newspeak and why? </p><p>11. By 2050 what will happen to thinking? </p><p>12. What will happen to the great writers? </p><p>13. What Winston sure will happen to Stymie in the future? </p><p>14. Who hangs out at the Chestnut Street Café? </p><p>15. What is a “sub?” </p><p>16. What had Parsons’ daughter done when on her hike? </p><p>17 .How does Parson feel about what she did</p><p>18. Who is concerned about what happened to the man? </p><p>19. What is ironic about the people demonstrating about the raising of the chocolate ration to 20% a week? </p><p>20. What does Winston realize about people around him? </p><p>21. Why might his type of person flourish best under the domination of the party? </p><p>22. What commonality do the people have who Winston believes won’t ever be vaporized?</p><p>23. Why does the girl with the dark hair make Winston nervous? 24. What is “Facecrime?” </p><p>1984 VI.</p><p>1. How does Winston want to respond to his memory</p><p>2. Why did he feel badly for the man who had the facial tick? </p><p>3. What is the most deadly danger? </p><p>4. Who is Katharine? </p><p>5. What is the punishment for being found with a prostitute? </p><p>6. Why might the party encourage prostitution?</p><p>7. Why might BB prohibit party members from getting married? </p><p>8. What is the only purpose of married? </p><p>9. Why would the Party want to kill sexual instinct? </p><p>10. What had Winston discovered about his wife early on in their marriage? </p><p>11. On what condition would he have agreed to stay with her? </p><p>12. What had he seen in the lamplight when he was with the prostitute? </p><p>13. Why do you think the “therapy” of writing down his deed didn’t stop him from still desiring from screaming at the to of his lungs? </p><p>VII. 1. Why are the proles the only hope of destroying the Party? </p><p>2. Why is Winston disgusted at the women fighting over a saucepan? </p><p>3. Explain, “Until they become conscious they can never rebel, and until after they have rebelled, they cannot become conscious.”</p><p>4. Why is no attempt made to indoctrinate the proles with the ideology of the Party? 5. What did most proles not even have in their homes? </p><p>6. What else are proles allowed to do? </p><p>7. How is the children’s history textbook an example of propaganda? </p><p>8. Once in his life Winston knew an actual falsehood. What was it.? </p><p>VIII.</p><p>1. What does Winston smell and what does it bring back? </p><p>2. What memory does it probably bring back from his “forgotten childhood?” </p><p>3. Why does the Party make communal recreation mandatory? </p><p>4. When is the only time a Party member is alone? </p><p>5. What interests Winston about the fact that a few proles are arguing about the lottery? </p><p>6. What was the purpose of the great purges? </p><p>7. How is life different for the proles than the Party? </p><p>8. How can this be allowed? Why isn’t the Party concerned? </p><p>9. What are some things the history books said it was like prior to the revolution? </p><p>10. What does Winston buy at the junkshop? </p><p>11. How is the second floor of the shop different from Winston’s apartment? </p><p>12. What is one thing that the Party did to the proles with the same “thoroughness” as to everyone else? </p><p>13. Why might Winston have decided to go back in a month and buy the picture of St. Clement’s Dane? </p><p>14. When he comes out of the junk shop, who is there? </p><p>15. What does Winston consider doing? 16. Why would people endure torture when they knew in the end they would be killed just he same?</p>