Aim: How is Animal Farm by George Orwell a satirical allegory?
Do Now: Whole Class Discussion-Why was it so difficult to decide on what should be human rights? What makes your choices "rights" as opposed to "privileges"?
- The government has a huge impact on humans right
- Each person has their own experiences and way of thinking so it's impossible for everyone to agree fully on what should be human rights. There are also many different ways of perceiving things and being affected by them.
- It would be easy to decide on rights if this was an ideal world, but since it's not, there isn't a realistically perfect way to decide on what should be human rights and if it is the right choice or not.
- Each person should have the right to make a choice because it is how you speak your mind. You can still make choices, even when you aren't given the privilege to make them, and that makes it a human right because you can choose to do whatever you want to do.
Satire: A literary composition in which human foolishness/wicked behavior are held up to scorn, derision, or ridicule. In a satire, the writer attacks a serious issue by presenting it in a ridiculous light, or otherwise poking fun at it.
*Examples of Satire- The Daily Show, The Onion, Scary Movie, South Park, Songs by Weird Al Yankovich
Animal Farm is mostly about the former Soviet Union in particular, about their socialist experiment. This satire could be used to expose certain things (ex. about the government & how the people are treated).
Allegory: Literary work in which characters, events, objects, and ideas have secondary or symbolic meanings. All the things in this book are a symbol of what happened in the Bolshevik revolution. Can be read on more than one level.
*Examples of Allegory- The Crucible, The Divine Comedy, Aesop's Fables, Lord of the Flies, The Wizard of Oz.
Animal Farm
- About the Soviet Union
- The Tsar’s government was overthrown and replaced by the Bolshevik leadership,
- When Lenin died, Trotsky and Stalin fought for power and eventually Stalin won.
- Stalin wanted to move the Soviet Union into the modern industrial age.
- The government took land to create farms.
- The Five Year Plan was created using military tactics.
- About 20 million people were killed on rigged trials.
Aim: How can we symbolically analyze the character “Old Major?”
Do Now: Pair Share-How is Old Major characterized?
- Old Major represents Lenin.
- He plays the role of a grandfather because he is very old and wise.
1. What are the rules that Old Major lays out for animals? Which of these rules are most distinct? What do they foreshadow?
- Rule: Everyone is equal. This foreshadows that there will be people who struggle to gain power in the farm.
-Rule: Two-legged creatures are enemies and no matter how many victories they gain, the animals should not act like them. This is a pretty strict rule and it foreshadows that maybe one of the animals will try to break this rule
2. With respect to the song “Beasts of England,” consider: Who is included in the song? What is the purpose of singing? Why does Orwell explain who learns the lyrics first?
- Included in the song: The "tyrant man" who will lose this throne to the animals.
- Purpose of singing: Since Old Major is about to die, he wanted to leave his fellow animals with some wisdom: that all men are evil and the animals have to take them down.
3. What is the overall meaning of Old Major’s dream?
- There will at some point be a world in which the animals will live without the tyranny of men. They will finally be free and happy.
1. Read the info about Karl Marx. What connections can be drawn between Old Major and Marx?
- Both were oppressed by the higher power
- Both were highly respected because of their knowledge/power
- Both offered potential ways of fixing major problems.
