George Orwell Labels Animal Farm a Fairy Story. Read the Following Labels. As You Proceed

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Animal Tales

George Orwell labels Animal Farm a fairy story. Read the following labels. As you proceed to read the fable, you will see that a single label does not neatly fit the work of literature, but several of these terms will apply to some degree.

1. Beast Epic (beast fable): a tale or collection of tales written in an allegorical style, in which the main characters are the animals and the tone, is often satirical.

1. Fairy Tales: A story or fantasy that appeals to our sense of the marvelous, in which we suspend disbelief and let our subconscious, patterns of wish fulfillment express themselves through magical occurrences, characters, or objects.

1. Fable: the action of a fable illustrates a moral, which usually (but not always) explicitly stated at the end. Usually talking animals illustrate human vices, follies, and virtues.

1. Allegory: an extended metaphor in which characters, objects, incidents, or descriptions carry one or more sets of fully developed meanings in addition to their apparent and literal ones. Such characters, places, things, and events thus often functions as symbols of the concepts or ideas being referred to.

1. Satire: A work that ridicules some aspect of human behavior by portraying it at its most extreme.

1. Irony: The reader’s or audience’s awareness of a reality that differs from the reality the characters perceive or the literal meaning of the author’s words.

Judgment QuestionsAnimal Farm
1. Do you believe that life in the USA would be perfect if everyone were equal? Why or why not?

2. You are designing a society in which everyone is equal. Write at least three laws for this society.

3. What problems can you foresee that might arise in a society with enforced “equality for all”? How would you handle these problems?

4. Do you believe that total equality is possible, or would human nature assure that some people would eventually dominate others?

Aesop’s Fables

Directions: Read the following fables. Connect the appropriate moral to the appropriate fable.

The Ant and the Chrysalis

An Ant nimbly running about in the sunshine in search of food came

across a Chrysalis that was very near its time of change. The

Chrysalis moved its tail, and thus attracted the attention of the Ant,

who then saw for the first time that it was alive. "Poor, pitiable

animal!" cried the Ant disdainfully. "What a sad fate is yours!

While I can run hither and thither, at my pleasure, and, if I wish,

ascend the tallest tree, you lie imprisoned here in your shell, with

power only to move a joint or two of your scaly tail." The Chrysalis

heard all this, but did not try to make any reply. A few days after,

when the Ant passed that way again, nothing but the shell remained.

Wondering what had become of its contents, he felt himself suddenly

shaded and fanned by the gorgeous wings of a beautiful Butterfly.

"Behold in me," said the Butterfly, "your much-pitied friend! Boast

now of your powers to run and climb as long as you can get me to

listen." So saying, the Butterfly rose in the air, and, borne along

and aloft on the summer breeze, was soon lost to the sight of the

Ant forever.

Moral:

The Ass and His Masters

AN ASS, belonging to an herb-seller who gave him too little food

and too much work made a petition to Jupiter to be released from

his present service and provided with another master. Jupiter,

after warning him that he would repent his request, caused him to

be sold to a tile-maker. Shortly afterwards, finding that he had

heavier loads to carry and harder work in the brick-field, he

petitioned for another change of master. Jupiter, telling him

that it would be the last time that he could grant his request,

ordained that he be sold to a tanner. The Ass found that he had

fallen into worse hands, and noting his master's occupation,

said, groaning: "It would have been better for me to have been

either starved by the one, or to have been overworked by the

other of my former masters, than to have been bought by my

present owner, who will even after I am dead tan my hide, and

make me useful to him."

Moral:

The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

A Wolf found great difficulty in getting at the sheep owing to

the vigilance of the shepherd and his dogs. But one day it found

the skin of a sheep that had been flayed and thrown aside, so it

put it on over its own pelt and strolled down among the sheep.

The Lamb that belonged to the sheep, whose skin the Wolf was

wearing, began to follow the Wolf in the Sheep's clothing; so,

leading the Lamb a little apart, he soon made a meal off her, and

for some time he succeeded in deceiving the sheep, and enjoying

hearty meals.

Moral:

The Boys and the Frogs

SOME BOYS, playing near a pond, saw a number of Frogs in the

water and began to pelt them with stones. They killed several of

them, when one of the Frogs, lifting his head out of the water,

cried out: "Pray stop, my boys: what is sport to you, is death to

us."

Moral:

The Dogs and the Fox

SOME DOGS, finding the skin of a lion, began to tear it in pieces

with their teeth. A Fox, seeing them, said, "If this lion were

alive, you would soon find out that his claws were stronger than

your teeth."

Moral:

Match the correct moral with the appropriate fable:

1. He that finds discontentment in one place is not likely to find happiness in another
2. One man’s pleasure may be another’s pain
3. It is easy to kick a man that is down
4. Appearances are deceptive
5. Appearances are deceptive (two fables fit this category)

What’s in a Name?

An allegory usually gives characters names that suggest their qualities. The names are sometimes quite obvious and sometimes they are more subtle. What qualities seem to be suggested by these character names in Animal Farm?

Napoleon
Snowball
Squealer
Moses
Boxer

1. The English language has appropriated the names of numerous animals for common verbs, adjectives, and nouns with very different meanings. See how well you know your animals.

1. To monkey around

1. To pig out

1. To rat on someone

1. To outfox someone

Animal Farm Questions
Directions: All answers must be in your binders. Do not write your responses on this paper; there is not enough room.

Chapter One questions
1. Why did the animals all agree that it was important to hear what Old Major had to say?

1. What problems did Old Major say that the animals had on Manor Farm?

1. List some characteristics about Mr. Jones.

1. Why did the meeting break up?

1. What was Major’s dreams and hopes for the future?

Chapter 2 questions

1Describe Snowball (use the description from page35).

1. Describe Napoleon (use the description from page 35).

1. Why did the animals not want to rebel at first? 36

1. What stories did Moses the Raven tell? 37

1. Describe Boxer. 37

1. Why did the animals rebel against Mr. Jones? 38

1. What had the pigs taught themselves to do? 42

1. What do you think happened to the milk at the end of the chapter?

Chapter Three Questions

1. At the end of chapter two, what do you think happened to the milk?

1. While the rest of the animals worked, what did the pigs do? P 45

1. Why were the animals so happy? P 46

1. Why did all the animals admire Boxer? P 46-47

1. What did Benjamin the donkey think of this new lifestyle? P 47

1. Explain how the animals came to decisions. P 48

1. List at least two committees that Snowball created. P 49

1. Which animal could only learn four letters at a time? P 50

1. Describe Mollie. P 50

1. What are Napoleon’s ideas about education?

1. What reason does Squealer give for the pigs to have the milk?

Chapter four Questions

1. Describe the Battle of Cowshed.

1. Who made all of the plans for the Battle of Cowshed?

1. Why did Boxer get upset at the end of the battle? Who consoled him with a speech? What did this animal say?

1. What awards were given at the end of the battle?

Chapter Five Questions

1. Describe the Battle of Cowshed.

1. Who made all of the plans for the Battle of Cowshed?

1. Why did Boxer get upset at the end of the battle? Who consoled him with a speech? What did this animal say?

1. What awards were given at the end of the battle?

Chapters Six and Seven Questions
(1) How much work are the animals now doing?

(2) Why does Napoleon decide to engage in trade with neighboring farms?

(3) How do the animals react?

(4) How is the windmill destroyed? Why does Napoleon blame Snowball?

(5) Why does Napoleon insist the windmill must be rebuilt immediately?

(6) Why does Napoleon order that the hens' eggs be sold?

(7) How does Napoleon react when the hens' rebel against his orders?

(8) Why does Napoleon revive the threat of the farm being sabotaged by Snowball

(9) Explain why the animals confessed to being traitors. Or is there any explanation?

(10) Why does Napoleon order the animals to stop singing "Beasts of England?"

Chapters Eight and Nine
(1) What purpose is served by the production figures Squealer reads to the animals?

(2) How is Napoleon becoming more and more like a typical dictator?

(3) Compare/contrast the poem "Comrade Napoleon" to "Beast of England."

(4) Describe the sale of the stack of lumber. How does Napoleon outwit himself

(5) What makes the battle against Frederick's men different from the Battle of the Cowshed

(6) Why do the men blow up the windmill?

(7) The animals celebrate a victory, but at what cost?

(8) Describe the whisky incident. Why would Orwell make this scene somewhat humorous?

(9) Why are the animals so easily fooled, even when they find Squealer with a ladder and white paint beside the barn at night?

(10) What is happening to Boxer?

(11) What are living conditions like for all of the animals except the pigs and dogs?

(12) Why does Napoleon allow Moses to return and to tell his stories about Sugarcandy Mountain

(13) What happens to Boxer? How do the animals accept it?

(14) Of what kind of person does Benjamin remind you? Give some examples. What is your opinion of such people? What makes people behave this way?

Chapter Ten Questions

(1) What changes have the years brought to the farm?

(2) How does Orwell make fun of bureaucracy?

(3) How do the animals no feel about their social order, their farm?

(4) What drastic actions do the pigs use to shatter the animals' complacency?

(5) All seven commandments are erased. What is the new commandment and how has it been true from the beginning?

(6) At the conference with neighboring farmers, what new changes does Napoleon point out

(7) What happens to the pigs' appearance?

Russian Revolution / Animal Farm
Czar Nicholas II

• A poor leader at best, compared to western kings
• Cruel- sometimes brutal with opponents
• Sometimes kind – hired students as spies to make money

Karl Marx

• Invented Communism
• “Workers of the World Unite”, take over government
• Dies before Russian Revolution

Communism

• Same
• All people are equal
• Government owns everything, people own government

Leon Trotsky

• Other leader of “October Revolution”
• Pure Communist, followed Marx
• Wanted to improve life for all Russia
• Chased away by Lenin’s KGB

Joseph Stalin

• Not a good speaker, not educated like Trotsky
• Didn’t follow Marx’s ideas
• Cared for power, killed all that opposed him
• Used the KGB, allowed church, and propagandized

Propaganda department of Lenin’s government

• Worked for Stalin to support his image
• Used any lie to convince the people to follow Stalin
• Benefited from the fact that education was controlled

KGB – Secret Police

• Not really police, but forced support for Stalin
• Used force, often killed entire families for disobedience
• Totally loyal, part of Lenin’s power, even over army

Vain, selfish people in Russia and the world

• Some people didn’t care about the revolution
• Only thought about themselves
• Went to other countries that offered more for them

Dedicated, but tricked Communist supporters

• People believed Stalin because he was “Communist”
• Many stayed loyal after it was obvious Stalin was a tyrant
• Betrayed by Stalin who ignored and killed them

Skeptical people in Russia and outside Russia

• Weren’t sure revolution would change anything
• Realizes a crazy leader can call himself a communist
• Knew that communism wouldn’t work with power
• Hungry leaders

Overall details of Russian Revolution

• Supposed to fix problems from Czar
• Life was even worse long after revolution
• Stalin made Czar look like a nice guy