Animal Farm

By George Orwell
1. Six-Word Stories: In the box below, brainstorm for words that would best tell your story/view on life.

Play around with the arrangement of six words. You can add words that are not in the above box:
Option One: ______________________________________________________________________
Option Two: ______________________________________________________________________
As we read Animal Farm, look for six words that the sheep will live by. When you find them, write
them on this line: ___________________________________________________________________
At the end of the novel, you will create a final visual version of your six-word story/view on life.
Final six-word version: ________________________________________________________
Visual Concept:______________________________________________________________

You will receive instructions on how to create and post a visual media format.

George Orwell: M-STEAL/ GETSELF

Write down information that you think could have shaped/influenced his thinking/personality.
Early Life
School Life
Careers
Life Influences
Writings

How shaped/Inf.

How shaped/Inf.

How shaped/Inf.

How shaped/Inf.

How shaped/Inf.

What is the most interesting thing about George Orwell?____________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________
If he were alive today, what question would you ask him? ___________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
LInternationale
Write down words that strike you/ stand out to you

Pick the most striking word: _______________________________

What struck you about this word? Does it have any connotations? Do we use this word? Do we have a
similar/ or opposite word? What would be the American equivalent to LInternationale?

Animal Farm
2. Allegory: Literary Device in which characters, actions, events, images, or objects are symbolic of a
hidden meaning, usually political or moral in nature.
Identify each animal/event/ object with the corresponding historical figure/historical event/ symbolic
representation. Support your identification with a quote or explanation.
Animal/Term/Idea Historical
Quote from Novel or Summary Explanation
Visual for
Figure/Event
Memory
Association
(A) Old Major
(B) Snowball
(C) Napoleon
(D) Squealer
(E) Boxer
Benjamin
(F) Mollie
(G) Mr. Jones
(H) Mr. Frederick
(I) Mr. Pilkington
Clover
Muriel
Moses

Mr. Whymper
The Pigs
The Rebellion
The Farmhouse
Beasts of
England
Hoof and horn flag
The Battle of the
Cowshed
The Windmill
(J)The Dogs
The cat
Revolt of the Hens
Battle of the
Windmill
Trials of the
Animals
Special Pig
Committee
You will be assigned a letter (A-J), which corresponds with a character. You will create a trading card for
that character on TRADING CARD CREATOR. You will print ten copies of your card, bring those
copies to class, and trade cards with classmates. Your goal is to obtain ten different character cards.

3. Characterization: Orwell Characterizes Napoleon, Snowball, and Squealer as three different types of
leaders, each with positive and negative traits. Provide two positive and two negative traits for each pig.
Use M-STEAL to cite an incident, action, or speech that illustrates each characteristic.
Pig
Napoleon

Snowball

Squealer

Positive Traits
1.
Evidence:

Negative Traits
1.
Evidence:

2.
Evidence:

2.
Evidence:

1.
Evidence:

1.
Evidence:

2.
Evidence:

2.
Evidence:

1.
Evidence:

1.
Evidence:

2.
Evidence:

2.
Evidence:

In SAY, SHOW, SO (Claim, Evidence, Commentary) format, respond to the following prompt: In terms of Animal
Farm, discuss the most important and most damaging characteristic of a good leader. Be sure to provide evidence
to support your claim. Do these same characteristics apply to historical or current leaders?

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4. Persuasion: Keep Track of the persuasive techniques used in the novel.

Character

Quote and page # Summary

What character
wanted

devices/ strategies
used

Write two obituaries for Napoleon: one that would appear in the official Animal Farm newspaper and one
that would appear newspaper in a country where info about his dictatorship is known.

Watch Commercials: Go to last page of packet

Animal Farm close reading quotations

Chapters 6 and 7
Quote (Mark up the Text)
1. "All that year the animals
worked like slaves. But they were happy in
their work; they grudged no effort or sacrifice,
well aware that everything they did was for
the benefit of themselves and those of their
kind who would come after them, and not for
a pack of idle, thieving human beings" (54).
2. "This work was strictly voluntary, but any
animal who absented himself from it would
have his rations reduced by half" (54).
3. "Nothing could have been achieved without
Boxer, whose strength seemed equal to that of
all the rest of the animals put together. When
the boulder began to slip and the animals cried
out in despair at finding themselves dragged
down the hill, it was always Boxer who
strained himself against the rope and brought
the boulder to a stop" (56).
4. "it would have to be made up by the sale of
eggs, for which there was always a market in
Willington. The hens, said Napoleon, should
welcome this sacrifice as their own special
contribution towards the building of the
windmill" (58).
5. "Afterwards Squealer made a round of the
farm and set the animals' minds at rest. He
assured them that the resolution against
engaging in trade and using money had never
been passed, or even suggested. It was pure
imagination, probably traceable in the
beginning to lies circulated by Snowball"
(59).
6. "It was about this time that the pigs
suddenly moved into the farmhouse and took
up their residence there. Again the animals
seemed to remember that a resolution against
this had been passed in the early days, and
again Squealer was able to convince them that
this was not the case" (61).

Close Reading Conclusions (Inferences)

7. "It was also more suited to the dignity of

the Leader (for of late he had taken to
speaking of Napoleon under the title of
'Leader') to live in a house than in a mere sty"
(61).
8. "Curiously enough, Clover had not
remembered that the Fourth Commandment
mentioned sheets; but as it was there on the
wall, it must have done so. And Squealer, who
happened to be passing at this moment,
attended by two or three dogs, was able to put
the whole matter in its proper perspective"
(61).
9. "Comrades, here and now I pronounce the
death sentence upon Snowball" (64).
10. "Squealer made excellent speeches on the
joy of service and the dignity of labour, but
the other animals found more inspiration in
Boxer's strength and his never-failing cry of 'I
will work harder!'" (67).
11. "Starvation seemed to stare them in the
face. It was vitally necessary to conceal this
fact from the outside world... Napoleon
decided to make use of Mr. Whymper to
spread a contrary impression" (68).
12. "In these days, Napoleon rarely appeared
in public, but spent all his time in the
farmhouse, which was guarded at each door
by fierce-looking dogs. When he did emerge,
it was in a ceremonial manner, with an escort
of six dogs who closely surrounded him and
growled if anyone came too near" (68).
13. "When the hens heard this, they raised a
terrible outcry. They had been warned earlier
that this sacrifice might be necessary, but had
not believed that it would really happen. They
were just getting their clutches ready for the
spring sitting, and they protested that to take
the eggs away now was murder. For the first
time since the expulsion of Jones, there was
something resembling a rebellion" (69).

14. "It was noticed that whenever he seemed

on the point of coming to an agreement with
Frederick, Snowball was declared to be in
hiding at Foxwood, while, when he inclined
toward Pilkington, Snowball was said to be at
Pinchfield" (70).
15. "The animals were all thoroughly
frightened. It seemed to them as though
Snowball were some kind of invisible
influence, pervading the air about them and
menacing them with all kinds of dangers"
(71).
16. "I do not believe that," he said. "Snowball
fought bravely at the Battle of the Cowshed. I
saw him myself. Did we not give him 'Animal
Hero, First Class,' immediately afterwards?'
'That was our mistake comrade. For we know
now- it is all written down in the secret
documents that we have found- that in reality
he was trying to lure us to our doom'" (72).
17. "And so that tale of confessions and
executions went on, until there was a pile of
corpses lying before Napoleon's feet and the
air was heavy with the smell of blood, which
had been unknown there since the expulsion
of Jones" (78).
18. "they had come to a time when no one
dared speak his mind, when fierce, growling
dogs roamed everywhere, and when you had
to watch your comrades torn to pieces after
confessing to shocking crimes... even as
things were, they were far better off than they
had been in the days of Jones... Whatever
happened she would remain faithful, work
hard, carry out the orders that were given to
her, and accept the leadership of Napoleon"
(78).

5. Fable: Identify the traits for which the animals are known and how Orwell uses that trait in his
character(s).
Animal
Trait
Evidence
Insight into human
nature
Pigs
Intelligence/ greed
Form idea of Animalism
but after rebellion hoard
the riches of the farm
Sheep
Benjamin the donkey

Dogs
Muriel
Cat
Mollie
6. Irony: Identify whether the passages are verbal, dramatic, or situational irony, and explain the irony in
each passage. Satire: use of humor/ irony to expose peoples stupidity/ vices (failings).
Passage
Type of Irony
Explain the Irony
What is being
Satirized?
Then there were lamp oil and
candles for the house, sugar for
Napoleons own table (he
forbade this to the other pigs, on
the ground that it make them fat)

Out of spite, the human beings

pretended not to believe that it
was Snowball who had destroyed
the windmillThe animals
knew that this was not the case.

But the luxuries of which

Snowball had once taught the
animals to dreamNapoleon
had denounced such ideas as
contrary to the spirit of
Animalism. The truest
happiness, he said, lay in
working hard and living frugally.
[T]hey were happy in their work;
they grudged no effort or
sacrifice, well aware that
everything that they did was for
the benefit of themselves and
those of their kindand not for a
pack of idle, thieving human
beings.
[H]e personally congratulated
the animals on their
achievement, and announced that
the mill would be named
Napoleon Mill.

Pick a human stupidity or vice: __________________________________________________

Brainstorm for images that are opposite of the stupidity/ vice: (ex: curiosity: little kid does not walk over
to the stranger with the shiny toy in his hand;
Brainstorm for images for that stupidity/ vice (ex: curiosity: little kid entering a dark room)

Write a not this, but is that, and that, and that poem about the stupidity/vice:
Example: Curiosity is not__ (fill in with rich imagery and metaphor). It is ____ (fill in with rich imagery
and metaphor) It is ____ (fill in with rich imagery and metaphor). It is________ (fill in with rich imagery
and metaphor).

Commercials
Commercial
Axe

Content

Value/Ideal

Means of Influence

Taco Bell

Dove

Novel Project: Groups of 4. Select one of the following options:

1. Write the script for and produce a commercial that uses propaganda to further an idea or cause.
After the written portion of the script, provide an explanation of the propaganda used in the
commercial and a justification for why it was used (explain the intent).
2. Prepare for the appearance of one or more characters on a Sunday morning news show. The
moderator and other political reporters will question the guest or guests about policy decisions or
events on Animal Farm. Rehearse and tape the news show, which you will present to the class.
3. Write and deliver a news report as if you were a television news anchor, for events in chapter 2,
which describes the Rebellion, or for events in chapter 10, in which Animal Farm becomes Manor
Farm again.
4. Design a Web site for Animal Farm. Your site should familiarize Web browsers with the plot
and the satiric and allegorical nature of the novel, as well as the author of Animal Farm. Include
images to make your page more visually exciting, and offer links to other Internet sites that
provide supplementary information which could enhance a readers enjoyment of the novel.
5. Compose and compile a series of poems (min. 8), which will be recited in class (or on tape and
shown to class). The poems should be at least twenty lines long. The poetry should reflect the
tone, mood, theme and events of the novel. The poetry reading should be expressive and artistic.
6. Form a band. Write a minimum of four songs, including lyrics, to be performed for the class
(live or taped). The songs should be at least twenty lines long. The music and lyrics should
reflect the tone, mood, theme and events of the novel.