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Nineteen Eighty-Four: Part II
Class Discussion Rubric
A / B / C / D / F- You have participated frequently in the conversation with high-quality responses to your classmates’ ideas.
- You have been thoughtful and referred to the text.
- You have listened well to others and not interrupted them while speaking.
- You have taken notes while others have spoken.
- You have participated some in the conversation with mostly high-quality responses.
- You have been thoughtful and paraphrased the text.
- You have listened well to others and not interrupted them while speaking.
- You have taken some notes while others have spoken.
- You have participated, but you have not really been in the conversation. You may have simply answered a question or read your response instead of responding to a classmate.
- You did not refer to the text.
- You have listened well to others and not interrupted them while speaking.
- You have taken a few notes while others have spoken.
- You seemed to be listening well, but only spoke once or twice during the discussion.
- You did not interrupt others.
- You have only taken notes on your questions.
- You did not speak up at all and did not seem particularly engaged.
- Or, if you did speak up, you were rude during the discussion.
- You have taken no notes.
- Write your own question here. Your question should be a thoughtful question to provoke discussion.
- Think about the importance and roles of various objects in the novel such as the glass paperweight with the coral in the middle, the bed in Mr. Charrington’s apartment, the food that Julia brings, and the picture of the church. Consider even the ways in which Winston refers to people by their body parts. Why is there so much focus on these objects? Are some more important than others?
- How are Winston and Julia dissimilar? Why would Orwell juxtapose two contrasting characters? What do you think about Winston’s comment that Julia is “only a rebel from the waist downwards” (Part II, ch. 5)?
- Discuss the importance of context in understanding Nineteen Eighty-Four. Of course discuss what you’ve learned in our class, but think about what you’ve learned in other classes and in the past, too. Do you think an understanding of historical context is important in understanding Orwell’s argument? Could a reader uninformed of the novel’s rhetorical situation still find the novel moving and fulfilling?
- Have you come to understand Orwell’s argument better? What does it seem to be? Why is there such a shift in the second part of the novel? How does Winston’s romantic relationship factor into Orwell’s argument?