Animal Farm Questions

Chapter 1-3DUE DATE:

  1. How are Mr. and Mrs. Jones presented in Chapter One of the novel? Why is this depiction important for understanding the position of the animals?
  2. In your own words, summarize Old Major’s Dream. Identify one method of rhetoric that he uses to be persuasive.
  3. Reread the section on page four, which begins “Man is the only creature….” How true is this statement today? What people in our society live well but don’t seem to produce anything?
  4. Discuss Squealer’s ability to turn “black into white”. Describe his personality and communication skills. Identify someone in your life that has the same ability.
  5. Cite the first example of “animal inequality” in Chapter One. Why is the timing ironic?
  6. Define personification. Identify five examples of personification within the first three chapters of the book. What is it that makes personification so effective?
  7. Moses makes reference to “Sugar Candy Mountain”. What might this represent in the human world? Why does George Orwell make this reference?
  8. What is the first clue that the pigs are perhaps not entirely truthful with the other animals?
  9. Some of the animals have power; others are powerless. What trait or ability sets the empowered animals apart from the powerless?
  10. Choose one character and predict what might happen to them in this new world of ‘Animal Farm.’

Animal Farm Questions

Chapter 4-6DUE DATE:

  1. Why do Pilkington and Frederick start convincing themselves that the animals involve themselves in unnatural/indecent acts?
  2. a) Describe the emerging differences in the leadership styles of

Snowball and Napoleon.

b)Who do you think is the best leader and why? Give two examples to support your opinion.

  1. Where is it made clear that Napoleon has taken Jones’ place?
  2. What is Squealer’s “unarguable answer”?
  3. What is Squealer’s role in the novel, and on the farm?
  4. Why are the animals “uneasy” about Napoleon’s decision to engage in business with humans?
  5. How does it gradually become easier for the pigs to break the commandments?
  6. Why does Napoleon blame Snowball for destroying the wind mill?
  7. Animal Farm is commonly described as a political allegory for the Russian Revolution and the events that followed. Which events and characters of the book most closely parallel the events of Russian history so far?

Animal Farm Questions

Chapter 7-10DUE DATE:

  1. What character begins to emerge as the animal hero in Chapter Seven, and what qualities of this character are so heroic and inspirational?
  2. What happens to the hens when the protest the selling of their eggs?
  3. Explain the significance of the following quotation:

“Now when Squealer described the scene so graphically, it seemed to the animals that they did remember it. At any rate, they remembered that at the critical moment of the battle Snowball had turned to flee.”

  1. Why do the animals confess to acts of which they are innocent?
  2. Contrast the reactions of Boxer and Clover to the slaughter of the animals.
  3. Why does Napoleon ban the song “Beasts of England”?
  4. Since it was initially decreed that no animal should kill any other animal, why do the animals not object to the killings?
  5. Describe the tone of the following passages:
  6. Why is it ironic that Frederick should pass the animal “forged bank notes”?
  7. Why does Napoleon allow celebration and merry-making after the Battle of the Windmill?
  8. According to the commandments “All animals are equal”; however class distinctions are forming between the groups. Which groups seem to belong to an ‘upper class’ and what extra privileges do they have?
  9. What aspect of Boxer’s death is most disturbing to you and why?
  10. Clearly the animals bought into a system of beliefs called “Animalism”. Consult Pages 87-88 and draw as many parallels to ‘nationalism’ as you can.
  11. Why does Napoleon discredit and disband the rituals that were so much a part of Animalism? Why does he give the farm back its old title: Manor Farm?