This document provides background information on George Orwell's novel Animal Farm. It begins by introducing Orwell and his experiences that influenced him to write the allegorical novel. It then defines the literary devices of fable, allegory, and satire that Orwell employs. The document outlines the major characters and events in Animal Farm and what they represent. It also discusses the themes, propaganda techniques, and point of view in the novel. In summary, the document provides context and terms to understand Animal Farm as an allegory for the Russian Revolution and critique of totalitarianism.

1. Animal
Farm
By George Orwell
Background and
Important Terms

2. Animal Farm’s Author
Author: George Orwell
Orwell was a political
writer who wrote
about the social ills of
the strict class
structure of England.
He was a socialist,
believing in total
equality for all
citizens.

3. He saw first hand the
corruption of communism
in Spain when those in
power began to take
advantage of the citizens.
His hatred of totalitarianism
and the abuse he witnessed
in the name of communism
prompted him to write the
Animal Farm.
Orwell and Communism

4. Fable and Allegory
Fable- A usually short narrative making an
edifying or cautionary point and often
employing as characters animals that
speak and act like humans.
Allegory-The representation of abstract
ideas or principles by characters,
figures, or events in narrative, dramatic,
or pictorial form.
The blindfolded figure with scales is an
allegory of justice.

5. Allegory in Novel
Farmer Jones = Czar Nicholas II
Old Major= Karl Marx
Boxer= Unskilled labor class
Squealer=Russian Newspaper
Mollie= skilled middle class
Moses=Church/Religion
Snowball= Trotsky
Napoleon=Stalin
Dogs=KGB Police
Pilkington=Churchill
Frederick=Hitler
Manor Farm= Soviet Union
Windmill= Industrialization

6. Satire-A literary
work in which
human vice or
folly is attacked
through irony,
sarcasm,
derision, or wit.
Satire

7. Propaganda
Propaganda-the systematic attempt to spread ideas or
beliefs. The information given in propaganda may or
may not be accurate.
■ Facts that support the ideas being promoted will
be given accurately. Facts that contradict the
ideas being promoted will be withheld or distorted.

8. Stereotypes in Animal Farm
Pigs have a bad name for
selfishness and
gluttony.
Horses are slow-witted,
strong, gentle, and
loyal.
Sheep are brainless and
behave as a flock,
without individual
initiative.

9. Major Conflicts
Animals vs. Mr. Jones
Snowball vs. Napoleon
Common animals vs. pigs
Animal Farm vs.
neighboring humans
■ All are expressions of the
underlying tension
between the exploited and
exploiting classes and
between the lofty ideals
and harsh realities of
socialism

10. The Setting
Manor Farm
■ First is a capitalistic dictatorship by
Mr. Jones.
■ After the animals revolt it is
renamed Animal Farm.
The novel takes place on an
imaginary farm in England.
■ Animal Farm is set in an
unspecified time period
■ Readers can assume that Orwell
means the fable to be
contemporaneous with the object
of its satire, the Russian
Revolution, 1917-1945.

11. Major Themes in Animal Farm
● Oppression
● Revolution
● Corruption
● Class Warfare
● Language as Power
● Religion
● Government & Control
● Tyranny
● The danger of a naïve working class
● The abuse of language as
instrumental to the abuse of power
● Absolute power absolutely corrupts

12. Point of View
● Third person omniscient
■ narrator is uninvolved, non-judgemental

13. Animal Farm: Do Now:
Working in pairs/small groups, create a poster that educates your classmates
about the propaganda device you have been assigned:
● Name-calling
● Glittering generalities
● Euphemisms
● Transfer
● Testimonial
● Plain Folks
● Bandwagon
● Fear
● Unwarranted extrapolation
Be sure to include:
A definition of this propaganda device, written in your own words
Specific aspects/characteristics of this propaganda device
What the impact of this propaganda device
Two examples of this propaganda device

14. Do Now:
One Human Family, Food for All
Explain this allegory. What does
this story appear to be about on
the surface, and what is it really
about on a deeper level?

15. Chapter 1 Reading
Chapter 1 Audio Book

16. Chapter 1 Discussion
Questions
1. Why are all the animals going to the barn?
2. Describe Boxer’s character (personality) and give examples of
things that show that.
3. “The life of an animal is misery and slavery.” Old Major says
that. Do you think he was right about that? Why?
4. What do the humans do that makes them evil in Old Major’s
eyes?
5. What does Old Major warn the animals against doing after
they defeat the men?
6. How does Old Major inspire the animals?

17. Chapter 1: Discussion
Questions
● How does Old Major describe the lives of farm animals in England?
What specific words and phrases does Orwell use to clearly develop
Old Major’s perspective on animals’ experience? Select at least three
examples from pages 6-9 and explain how they develop his perspective.
● What is Old Major’s perspective of human beings? What specific words
and phrases does Orwell use to develop Old Major’s tone as he
describes humans? Select at least three examples from pages 7-10 and
explain how they develop his tone.
● What specific words and phrases does Orwell use in the song “Beasts of
England” to develop the tone of this song? Select At least three
examples from pages 12-13 and explain how they develop the tone.

18. Chapter 1: Review
“Animal Farm”
Do now:
● How is the current farm system (pp. 7-8) that Old Major
describes similar to capitalism? Provide evidence from
these pages to support your answer.
● How is the system that Old Major imagines (pp. 7-10)
for the future of the farm similar to communism?
Provide evidence from these pages to support your
answer.

19. Chapter 2: Discussion
Questions
1. What are the animals preparing for? When do they think it will happen?
2. Read the paragraph about Snowball and Napoleon. What do you think it
means when the author says,
“Snowball…..was not considered to have the same depth of character.”
3. What is name the pigs give to Old Major’s ideas?
4. What are some objections the other animals have to working for the
revolution?
5. What are two things Molly is scared she will lose after the revolution?
6. What finally convinces the animals to fight?
7. Why do they destroy the horse ribbons?
8. What rules are set out for the animals, who thought of them, and who
writes them?
9. What do you think happened to the milk?

20. Chapter 1&2 Quiz
1. What is significant about how the animals arrange
themselves as they gather to hear Major? What might this
arrangement say about future meetings or events?
2. According to Major, what is the cause of all the animals’
problems?
3. What motto does Major give the animals?
4. After Major’s death what happens to the idea of rebelling
against man?
5. What causes the animals to finally rebel against Mr. Jones
and his four farmhands?
6. How does the behavior of the pigs foreshadow their
eventual leadership positions?

21. Homework
Complete Close Reading
Questions on Google
Classroom.

22. Chapter 2 Close Reading
● On page 21, Boxer is said to have “fetched the small straw hat which he
wore in summer to keep the flies out of his ears and flung it on the fire with
the rest.” What does this reveal about his character?
● What incidents/lines of dialogue in the text reveal that Mollie may not be
as enthusiastic about the revolution as the other animals? Select at least
two details from the text and explain how they demonstrate Mollie’s
hesitance.
● What is significant about the final line of the chapter, “when they came
back in the evening it was noticed that the milk had disappeared” (p. 26)?
What can be inferred from this line? Carefully explain your thinking.

23. Chapter 2 Do now:
Review
What does the following line of text reveal about the pigs?
“The pigs now revealed that during the past three months they had taught
themselves to read and write from an old spelling book which had belonged
to Mr. Jones’s children”
A. The pigs have spent considerable time and energy preparing for the
revolution.
B. The pigs are more committed to the revolution than the other animals.
C. The pigs believed that learning to read was the only way to get the
other animals to respect them as leaders.
D. The pigs have already broken one of Old Major’s rules by learning how
to read.

24. Chapter 3: Discussion
Questions
1. What was the first harvest like after the rebellion? Who didn’t do any of the hard work
and why?
2. Which animal was doing an enormous amount of work? What did the other animals
think of him?
3. Describe how the animals felt after the first harvest. Had the work habits or behavior of
all the animals
changed after the rebellion?
2
4. What was Snowball’s and Napoleon’s relationship like?
5. What did Napoleon do with the nine puppies? Why do you think he did this?
6. Who was drinking the milk? Who were the windfall apples for? How did the others feel
about this?
What did Squealer say that made the animals who didn’t get to eat the windfall apples
satisfied?

25. Do Now Chapter 3
How does Squealer use the propaganda
techniques of fear in his speech on pages 35–36?
Provide at least one piece of quoted textual
evidence and explain how it demonstrates this
technique. Use the word “manipulate” in your
answer.

26. Chapter 4 Discussion
Questions
1. How did animals who were not on Animal Farm view the
rebellion at Animal Farm?
2. How did the humans view the rebellion at Animal Farm?
3. What happened at the Battle of Cowshed?
4. What does the Battle of Cowshed show us about
Snowball, Boxer, and Mollie?
5. What human customs did the animals adopt to celebrate
the Battle of Cowshed? What is the purpose of these
customs?

27. Homework Chapter 3 and
4 Close Reading
Close Reading Questions:
How are the pigs different from the other animals in their behavior and
characteristics? Find at least four examples from today’s reading.
Explain how the expression, “Four legs good, two legs bad” is an
example of glittering generalities (p. 34).
How does Squealer use the propaganda technique of “transfer” on page
35-36? Provide one example and explain how this technique
demonstrates this propaganda technique.

28. Do Now:
The animals recognize the Battle of the Cowshed as
a pivotal moment in the Revolution.
What effects did the battle have on the animals,
individually and as a group? On your own paper, write
a short battle log describing the events and
evaluating the animals’ behavior.

29. Chapter 5 Discussion
1. What does Clover see Mollie doing?
2. What happens to Mollie?
3. What has changed about Sunday meetings?
4. How are Napoleon and Snowball different?
5. What is Snowball’s big idea?
6. Why does Napoleon oppose the windmill?
7. What happens when Napoleon gives a
whimper?
8. How does Squealer justify Napoleon’s
behavior?

30. Chapter 5 Discussion
Questions:
1. Animal Farm can be considered a “fable” or “parable”—a story,
often with animal as characters, meant to teach a moral lesson (A
lesson on how to live your life). Why do you think animals are used
as characters, instead of humans?
2. Choose one event that happened in the first five chapters of
Animal Farm. What message do you think George Orwell was trying
to express by including this event? What lesson do you think it
teaches?
3. What images come to your mind when you think of countries that
are communist or totalitarian?
4. What does Animal Farm teach us about power?

31. Close Reading Questions
1. Describe Snowball’s relationship to Napoleon, providing evidence from the
text to support your answer. What historical figures and events is Orwell
representing in this section of text? Provide specific evidence from pages 44-
49 of Stalin (A Wicked History) to support your answer.
1. Who/what do the dogs in Animal Farm represent? Support your answer with
specific evidence from both texts.
1. What does the windmill in Animal Farm represent? Support your answer with
specific evidence from both texts.

32. Reminders
Quote Journals Should be
Updated Due Date: Wednesday
Vocabulary Quiz on Wednesday
Chapter 1-5 Test Friday

33. Do Now:
How does Napoleon maintain
control over the other
animals on Animal Farm in
Chapter 5?

34. Dramatic Irony
a literary technique where the
author provides information to the
reader that the characters are not
aware of, evoking humor, suspense,
or tragedy.
https://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=_BQ1n4TARa4

35. Chapter 6 Discussion
Questions
1. Was working on Sunday in fact voluntary for
the animals?
2. Who was essential to the work of building the
windmill?
3. In what ways were the original
commandments being broken? Who was
breaking them?
4. How did Napoleon and Squealer use
Snowball to control the animals?

36. Homework
Close reading Questions
Read Chapter 7 for homework
Independent reading

37. Chapter 6: Close Reading
Homework Questions
How does Squealer gaslight the animals on page 64? Provide evidence that
demonstrates this technique from pages 63-64, and explain how this is also
an example of dramatic irony—and the impact it has on the reader.
What method of propaganda does Squealer use on page 67 when he says,
“Surely none of you want to see Jones back?” How does this technique
control the animals’ behavior?
How does Squealer gaslight the animals on page 66? Provide evidence that
demonstrates this technique, and explain how it is an example of dramatic
irony—and the impact it has on the reader.

38. Do now: Chapter 6
Review
How does Squealer gaslight the
animals on pages 66-67 on the subject
of beds? Provide evidence from these
pages to support your answer, and
explain how this is also an example of
dramatic irony—and the impact it has
on the reader.

39. Chapter 7: Reading
Discussion
1. What did the humans think caused the windmill to fall down? What did the animals think
caused the
windmill to fall down? Did all the animals agree on what caused the windmill to fall?
2. Who inspired the animals to work on the windmill?
3. How did the animals conceal the fact that they were running out of food? Why did they do
this?
4. How did Napoleon treat the other animals?
5. How was Snowball being used on Animal Farm?
6. Why did the dogs attack Boxer?
7. Why do you think the hens were actually working with Snowball? If not, why did they confess
to being
with Snowball?
8. How did the animals feel after all the executions of the traitors?
9. What happened to the song “Beasts of England”? Why did this happen?

40. Chapter 7: Close Reading
Homework Questions
On page 67 of Joseph Stalin (A Wicked History), author
McCollum writes, “In Stalin’s time, few people understood the
extent of the disaster. Stalin banned journalists and other
writers from publishing accounts of the famine.”
What parallels can you draw between Animal Farm and this
quote? Support your answer with specific evidence from pages
74-75.
Reread the hens’ uprising on pages 76–77 of Animal Farm.
What connection can be drawn between real-life events
discussed in Chapter 9 of Joseph Stalin (A Wicked History)?
Provide evidence from both texts to support your ideas.

41. Chapter 7: Close Reading
Homework Questions
On page 67 of Joseph Stalin (A Wicked History), author
McCollum writes, “In Stalin’s time, few people understood the
extent of the disaster. Stalin banned journalists and other
writers from publishing accounts of the famine.”
What parallels can you draw between Animal Farm and this
quote? Support your answer with specific evidence from pages
74-75.
Reread the hens’ uprising on pages 76–77 of Animal Farm.
What connection can be drawn between real-life events
discussed in Chapter 9 of Joseph Stalin (A Wicked History)?
Provide evidence from both texts to support your ideas.

42. Do Now:
What is important about
pages 86-87 of the text?
What are your reactions to
this passage?

43. Chapter 8 Reading
Discussion Questions
1. In what ways do the pigs use the other animals’ illiteracy and lack
of intelligence to keep the animals from rebelling against the pigs?
2. In what ways is Napoleon treated like a very special animal? Why
do the pigs want Napoleon to be considered special?
3. What clues are there in the account of the Battle of the Windmill
that Napoleon might be a coward and that Squealer probably is a
coward?
4. How does Squealer “spin” the Battle of the Windmill to make the
animals happy and proud? Why does he do this?

44. Chapter 8 Close Reading
Comprehension
On page 91, the animals reread the Seven Commandments. How does this
scene develop dramatic irony? Carefully explain your thinking.
Where in today’s reading does Squealer use the technique of gaslighting?
Provide specific examples from the text to support your answer and explain
how this scene develops dramatic irony.
Reread pages 107-109. How does Orwell create dramatic irony on these
pages? Provide specific lines of text to support your answer, and carefully
explain your thinking.

45. Do Now: Chapter 8
Review
Reread the top paragraph of page 11, where Old
Major explains the principles that he believes
the animals must adhere to if they wish to
create a successful and just society. How have
the pigs betrayed these principals? What are
the consequences of their betrayal? Provide at
least three examples from Chapter 8 to support
your answer.

46. Chapter 9 Reading Comprehension
1. What was Boxer looking forward to at the beginning of the chapter? Did he get to realize
his desire?
What happened to Boxer in this chapter?
2. Which animals’ rations were not reduced? Why?
3. What techniques did the pigs use to make the animals think their lives were okay? How
did they get the
animals to forget their problems?
4. In what ways were Napoleon and his family treated differently from the other animals?
5. Who returned to the farm after being gone for a long time? Why do you think the pigs
allowed him to
stay?
6. What did Squealer tell the animals about Boxer’s fate? How did Squealer and Napoleon
twist the truth
about Boxer in order to strengthen themselves? How did the pigs use Boxer’s body?

47. Chapter 9 Close Reading
What are the differences in the connotations of the words
“readjustment” versus “reduction”? What propaganda
technique is he using? Carefully explain your thinking.
What is significant about the line, “They found it comforting
to be reminded that, after all, they were truly their own
masters and that the work they did was for their own benefit.”
(p. 116)
How does Squealer use the propaganda technique of
“testimonial” when he describes Boxer’s death on page 124?
Provide an example and carefully explain your thinking.

48. Do now: Chapter 9
Review
How does Orwell develop
dramatic irony on pages 124-
126? Support your answer with
at least two pieces of evidence
from these pages, and carefully
explain your thinking.