Animal Farm by George Orwell

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Animal Farm by George Orwell

• Background Information
• Modified from a Power Point Presentation found on
  the website
• www.bchs.ppsb.org/uploads/150/10/Intro_to_Animal_F
  arm.pps

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Characteristics
Length 50,000 to 75,000 words Prose In
paragraph form Fiction by Nature Not true Uses
entertainment, propaganda, and expression of a
personal philosophy
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Elements

• Characters the personalities in a novel
• Developing Character (Round) a character who
  changes in some way during the course of the
  story usually a major character who has several
  sides or traits to his personality
• Static Character (Flat) a character (usually a
  minor character) who does not change during the
  story this kind off character generally has
  only one or two personality traits.
• Protagonist a character who is trying to
  achieve some goal (usually the main character)
• Antagonist a character who is trying to stop
  the protagonist

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(1903-1950)
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Real Name Eric Blair British Political
Novelist Born To English parents in India
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After his father retired, Eric and his family
moved back to England.
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He was sent to boarding school at the age of
eight to prepare for Eton, an exclusive prep
school. Because he had a scholarship, he was
teased and humiliated frequently.
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(No Transcript)
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1927
Returned in Europe
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He chose to live in poverty because he felt
guilty for the job he had done in Burma - for
having been a part of an oppressive government.
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He saw poverty as a way to understand
the problems of the oppressed and helpless by
becoming one of them.
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Orwell was a Socialist
Socialist someone who believes that the
government should own businesses so that everyone
will be equal
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Two Things That Influenced Orwell To Write
Animal Farm
His hatred for Injustice Political Lying
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He desired a society in which separate
classes would not exist.
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His second famous book
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It's a Fable
It's an Allegory
Most fables have two levels of meaning. On the
surface, the fable is about animals. But on a
second level, the animals stand for types of
people or ideas. The way the animals interact and
the way the plot unfolds says something about the
nature of people or the value of ideas. Any type
of fiction that has multiple levels of meaning in
this way is called an allegory.
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It's a Satire
A composition making fun of something, usually
political. Animal Farm makes fun of political
society after the Bolshevik Revolution.
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Historical Context
Russian society in the early twentieth century
had two social classes a tiny minority
(bourgeoisie) controlled the countrys
wealth. The working class was called the
proletariat.
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Communism arose in Russia when the nations
workers and peasants rebelled against and
overwhelmed the wealthy and powerful class of
capitalists and aristocrats.
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This was based on Karl Marx and his
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The call for action was . . .
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Tsar Nicholas II, monarch of Russia, was forced
to abdicate the throne.
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His daughter, Anastasia, was lost.
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Lenin, a Russian revolutionary, took power in
the name of the Communist Party.
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When Lenin died, Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky
competed for control of the Soviet Union.
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Stalin banished Trotsky and took control.
He began his brutal killings, overseeing
the deaths of approximately twenty million Soviet
citizens.
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Themes
1. Freedom individual dignity must be
guarded very carefully.
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Themes
2. Language is a powerful tool used
improperly, it can enslave and confuse us.
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Themes
3. Weakness can be dominated by strength,
fear, and trickery.
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Themes
4. Hope vision must be kept alive, or we
might live like the animals of Manor Farm.
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Themes
5. Power corrupts, and absolute
power corrupts absolutely.