George Orwell

Year 10 English/History

Gifted & Talented

Welcome•You have been selected for this

session because of your ability and enthusiasm in English and/or History

•This morning’s session will help you to develop a deeper understanding of

Animal Farm and the ideas behind the writing of it

•It should also help to prepare you for the English/History/World Politics

courses available at IB Diploma Level

Learning Aims•To understand the social, historical and political context in which George

Orwell was writing•To explore and analyse a range of other writing by George Orwell

•To consider how George Orwell would respond to life in the 21st Century

Outcome•To produce a 21st Century piece of

Orwellian writing – using George Orwell’s techniques to express your

views on a modern issue

Revision1. When did George Orwell write

Animal Farm?

2. What messages did he wish to convey through this book?

3. What techniques did he use to achieve this?

Revision1. When did George Orwell write

Animal Farm? 1945

2. What messages did he wish to convey through this book? How

wickedness, indifference, ignorance, greed and myopia

corrupt the revolution.

3. What techniques did he use to achieve this? Satire and allegory

RevisionLook at the card you have been given.

1. Who or what is depicted in the picture?

2. What does Orwell use this character/ event/item to represent?

3. What message is he trying to convey through his depiction of

this?

Nineteen Eighty-four1984 was Orwell’s last major work, written in

1948 when he was dying of TB

A dystopian novel, imagining life under a repressive surveillance state

The novel has been viewed as a prediction of the future if totalitarianism continued - a continuation of the ideas of Animal Farm

A major influence on our culture – Big Brother and Room 101 both come from this novel

Chapter OneWe are going to read the first chapter

of the novel.

As we read, consider Orwell’s presentation of the following:

1.Life in London in 1984

2.The Party and its relation to its people

3.New technologies/innovations

4.Winston, the protagonist

Group DiscussionWhat unfamiliar terms (neologisms) does

Orwell use to describe life in 1984?

What do you think it would be like to live in ‘Airstrip One’?

What techniques do The Party use to control their people?

What impressions do you form of Winston, the protagonist of the novel? What predictions would you make about his role in the novel?

Room 101Winston and Julia begin a relationship and

start working for “The Brotherhood”, a secret rebellious organisation

However, they are betrayed, imprisoned and subjected to a range of torture

We are going to watch the most famous torture scene from the film version of 1984 –

Winston’s visit to Room 101: http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=pLFIxt2cK_0

Room 101What techniques does The Party use

to torture Winston?

What are they hoping to achieve through this torture? Why?

Can Orwell’s vision of the future be taken at all seriously – could the world ever become like this? Has it already?

Orwell TodayWhat are the major issues facing

British/world society today?

What might George Orwell have to say about these if he were writing today?

What writing can you imagine Orwell producing in the present day?

Creative Writing TaskCreate your own piece of Orwellian writing about a 21st

century social/political issue – choose one of the following:

1.An allegory using different characters and settings to tell the story of a recent/current event

2.An essay/non-fiction piece describing views on a current issue

3.A dystopia suggesting what the world might be like in the future (eg.2084) if current trends continue

Remember to use Orwellian techniques (irony, description, neologisms etc.) in your writing

Creative Writing TipsNever use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech

which you are used to seeing in print.

Never use a long word where a short one will do.

If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

Never use the passive where you can use the active.

Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday

English equivalent.

ReflectionWhat have you learnt about George

Orwell today?

What have you found most interesting?

How has this supported your learning in English and/or History?

Has this helped you to reflect on current affairs – if so, how?

Is there anything else you think should be included in future sessions?

Orwell Trivia Quiz

• In what year was George Orwell born?• What is George Orwell's real name?• Which school did George Orwell attend?• Where was Orwell born?• Which war did Orwell fight in?• Where did Orwell write Nineteen Eighty-Four?• What was the subject of Orwell's first article for the

Observer in 1942?• Winston Smith was a character in which Orwell

book?

Orwell Trivia Quiz

• In what year was George Orwell born? 1903• What is George Orwell's real name? Eric Blair• Which school did George Orwell attend? Eton Colllege• Where was Orwell born? Bengal• Which war did Orwell fight in? Spanish Civil War• Where did Orwell write Nineteen Eighty-Four? Isle of Jura• What was the subject of Orwell's first article for the Observer in

1942? India• Winston Smith was a character in which Orwell book? Nineteen

Eighty-Four

Orwell Timeline

• Jun 25, 1903• George Orwell Born• Eric Arthur Blair—later known as George Orwell

—is born in Motihari, Bengal, a British colony in what is now India. His father, Richard Walmesley Blair, works in the Indian Civil Service overseeing opium exports to Asia.

Orwell Timeline

• 1904• Young Orwell Moves to England• The young Eric Blair travels to England with his

mother, Ida Mabel Limouzin Blair, and his six-year-old sister Marjorie. The Blair children are raised in England and see their father only during his sporadic returns from India.

Orwell Timeline

• 1914• What happened?

Orwell Timeline

• 1914• What happened?• World War I begins (1914-18)

Orwell Timeline

• May 1917• Scholarship to Eton• Eric Blair enters Eton, the famous boys' prep

school in England, as the recipient of a prestigious King's Scholarship.

Orwell Timeline

• 1917• What else happened?

Orwell Timeline

• 1917• What else happened?• Russian (Bolshevik) Revolution led by Lenin and

Trotsky; Communist Party replaces czars

Orwell Timeline

• Dec 1921• Orwell Leaves Eton• After a lacklustre academic career, Eric Blair

leaves Eton without a diploma. He later records his bitter memories of the English prep school system in a posthumously published essay sardonically entitled "Such, Such Were the Joys."

Orwell Timeline

• Jun 1922• Orwell in Burma• Eric Blair passes the entrance exam of the

Indian Imperial Police, the police force set up by the British to maintain law and order in their colonies. He is posted to Burma. His experiences in Burma provide material for essays such as "A Hanging" and his first novel, Burmese Days.

Orwell Timeline

• 1922• What else happened?

Orwell Timeline

• 1922• What else happened?• Mussolini, fascist dictator, takes control of Italy;

Stalin appointed Secretary General of Communist Party by Lenin (Lenin dies 1924)

Orwell Timeline

• Jun 1927• Orwell Quits Indian Imperial Police• Blair contracts dengue fever. After five years in the

Imperial Police, Blair leaves Burma because of poor health. Following his return to England, he resigns from the police, disillusioned with British imperialism. He decides instead to become a writer. He spends the next few years drifting around England and Paris, working odd jobs, writing and living amongst the poor. In an attempt to gain material for his writing, he even at one point tries—unsuccessfully—to get arrested.

Orwell Timeline

• 1929• What happened?

Orwell Timeline

• 1929• What happened?• Stalin expels Trotsky and opposition leaders; he

becomes dictator of U.S.S.R.

Orwell Timeline

• 1933• Eric Blair Becomes George Orwell• Eric Arthur Blair adopts the pen name George Orwell,

combining the names of the then-monarch and a nearby river. Shortly after he publishes his first book, a narrative of his tramp-like existence in Europe entitled Down and Out in Paris and London.

Orwell Timeline

• 1933• What else happened?

Orwell Timeline

• 1933• What else happened?• Hitler is elected Chancellor of Germany; a fascist

dictator. Hitler enacts laws revoking the rights of Jews in Germany.

Orwell Timeline

• 1934• Burmese Days• Orwell's first novel, Burmese Days, is published. The

book is a bitter depiction of prejudice and corruption in imperial Burma and is based on his experiences there. Toward the year's end, following his recovery from a bout of pneumonia, Orwell moves to London to work in a used bookstore.

Orwell Timeline

• 1935• A Clergyman's Daughter• Orwell publishes his second novel, entitled A

Clergyman's Daughter. He wrote the book the previous year while recovering from pneumonia.

Orwell Timeline

• Jan 31, 1936• The Road to Wigan Pier• Orwell embarks on a two-month trip to northern England

to investigate living conditions among coal miners there. He publishes his findings a year later in the book The Road to Wigan Pier. Orwell's horror at the miners' living and working conditions marks an important step in his political development, and the second half of his book is a passionate argument in favour of socialism.

Orwell Timeline

• Jun 9, 1936• Orwell Marriage• George Orwell marries Eileen Maud O'Shaughnessy, a

student he met in London. The couple settles into a tiny cottage in Hertfordshire, England. Orwell also publishes the novel Keep the Aspidistra Flying.

Orwell Timeline

• 1936• What else happened?

Orwell Timeline

• 1936• What else happened?• Spanish General Franco, a fascist, revolts against the

“popular front” government of a coalition of workers and capitalist parties; aided by Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini.

Orwell Timeline

• 1937• Orwell in the Spanish Civil War• Orwell spends six months fighting in the Spanish Civil

War on the side of the left-wing Republican government, which is under attack from General Francisco Franco's fascists. Orwell volunteers for an anti-Stalinist unit. He is shot in the throat by a Kremlin-sponsored sniper but survives. His experience in Spain is the defining moment of Orwell's political awakening. He leaves Spain with a lifelong hatred of totalitarianism, and this stance forms the basis of all of his following works.

Orwell Timeline

• Apr 1938• Homage to Catalonia• In April Orwell publishes Homage to Catalonia, a

nonfiction book about his experiences in Spain.

Orwell Timeline

• 1938• What else happened?

Orwell Timeline

• 1938• What else happened?• “Kristallnacht”—Jewish homes and businesses are

destroyed; Jews sent to concentration camps.

Orwell Timeline

• 1939• Coming Up For Air• England enters World War II. Orwell volunteers for

military service but is turned down because of his poor health. Instead he writes prolifically, turning out essays, reviews, and a novel set in England entitled Coming Up For Air.

Orwell Timeline

• 1939• What else happened?

Orwell Timeline

• 1939• What else happened?• Germany invades Poland; World War II begins.

Orwell Timeline

• Aug 1941• Orwell's Wartime Propaganda Work• Orwell takes a job with the BBC producing wartime

propaganda broadcasts for India. He creates cultural radio programs featuring English and Indian authors, while still writing essays and reviews for left-wing publications.

Orwell Timeline

• 1941• What else happened?

Orwell Timeline

• 1941• What else happened?• Hitler begins the “Final Solution,” the mass extermination

of Jews in death camps.

Orwell Timeline

• 1942• What else happened?

Orwell Timeline

• 1942• What else happened?• 110,000 Japanese Americans on West Coast placed in

Relocation Camps by U.S. Army until 1944.

Orwell Timeline

• Sep 1943• Orwell Leaves BBC• George Orwell resigns from the BBC.

Orwell Timeline

• Nov 1943• Orwell Writes for Socialist Newspaper• Orwell takes a job as the literary editor of the Tribune, a

weekly socialist newspaper. He writes book reviews and a column entitled "As I Please."

Orwell Timeline

• Jun 1944• Orwells Adopt Son• Orwell and his wife adopt a baby boy. They name him

Richard Horatio Blair. In the same month a bomb lands near the family's basement apartment in London. They are not injured, but their home is destroyed.

Orwell Timeline

• Mar 29, 1945• Death of Orwell's Wife• Orwell's wife Eileen O'Shaughnessy dies during a

hysterectomy. Orwell raises their son alone with the help of his sister Avril Blair.

Orwell Timeline

• Aug 17, 1945• Animal Farm• Animal Farm: A Fairy Story is published in the United Kingdom,

overcoming initial resistance from publishers who believe it is too critical of Britain's wartime ally Russia. (A Soviet spy working in the British Ministry of Information also helps to delay publication.) The novel, an allegory of totalitarianism, gets a positive reception and goes on to become one of Orwell's best-known works. It's published a year later in the U.S. Orwell has by now quit his post at the Tribune and is working as a freelance correspondent for the Observer.

Orwell Timeline

• 1945• What else happened?

Orwell Timeline

• 1945• What else happened?• Hitler defeated; WWII ends; U.S. drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima

and Nagasaki, Japan, in August.

Orwell Timeline

• 1946• "Politics and the English Language"• Orwell publishes the essay "Politics and the English Language," a

satirical skewering of bad writing and its political consequences. Though his writing career is flourishing, his personal life flounders. He makes several awkward marriage proposals to different women and is turned down. His home is decrepit. In May, following the death of his older sister Marjorie, Orwell moves to the Scottish island of Jura for the remainder of the year.

Orwell Timeline

• 1947• Orwell Contracts Tuberculosis• Orwell returns to London to write. It is so cold in the winter that he

burns his books and his son's toys for heat. In April he returns to Jura. In December, his poor health worsens and he is diagnosed with tuberculosis.

Orwell Timeline

• Jan 1949• Writing Nineteen Eighty-Four• A month after finishing the manuscript of his latest novel, Nineteen

Eighty-Four, Orwell checks into a sanatorium in England to recover from tuberculosis. His health is very bad, and friends are worried about him.

Orwell Timeline

• Mar 1949• Orwell Informs on Suspected Communists• A friend named Celia Kirwan comes to visit Orwell at the hospital

where he is recuperating. She is working for a propaganda unit of the British government and asks Orwell if there is anyone who should not be hired for the unit. In what turns out to be a controversial move, Orwell gives Kirwan a list of people whom he suspects of having communist sympathies.

Orwell Timeline

• Mar 1949• Orwell Informs on Suspected Communists• A friend named Celia Kirwan comes to visit Orwell at the hospital

where he is recuperating. She is working for a propaganda unit of the British government and asks Orwell if there is anyone who should not be hired for the unit. In what turns out to be a controversial move, Orwell gives Kirwan a list of people whom he suspects of having communist sympathies.

Orwell Timeline

• Jun 1949• Nineteen Eighty-Four Published• The novel Nineteen Eighty-Four is published. The novel, portraying

a creepy dystopia of total government control, is a huge hit with readers and critics.

Orwell Timeline

• Oct 13, 1949• Orwell's Second Marriage• His health failing fast, Orwell marries an editorial assistant named

Sonia Brownell in his hospital room in London.

Orwell Timeline

• Jan 21, 1950• Death of George Orwell• George Orwell dies of tuberculosis. He is buried in an Anglican

ceremony in Oxfordshire, England, under a simple plaque reading "Here lies Eric Arthur Blair."

Orwell Timeline

• Critic and biographer, Tom Hopkinson, writes in his introduction on Orwell that all of Orwell’s works are similar in that they reflect the life experiences of the author.

• “They are all tales of solitary characters, each in one way or another an expression of Orwell himself, seen against backgrounds that are taken from his own experience.”

• Although there is a danger in looking for similarities in an author’s life and his or her fictional work, an examination of the important personal and world events that shaped Orwell’s life and thought is helpful in gaining insight into the political and social ideas found within his novels.

Orwell Timeline

• Directions: Answer the questions below using the time line.• Questions:• Which personal events seem to have affected Orwell the most?

Explain your reasons.• What three wars had a personal influence over Orwell? In which

war did he actually fight?• Which fascist dictators rose to power during Orwell’s lifetime?• Which novel by Orwell is a direct satire about Stalin and his political

practices?• Which “totalitarian” event occurred in the United States during World

War I?

Orwell Timeline

• Directions: Answer the questions below using the time line.• Questions:• Which book gives evidence that Orwell’s experiences at boarding

school developed in him a sympathy for the poor and a lasting dislike for social status and power based upon wealth?

• Into what social class was Orwell born? Was Orwell ever truly poor?

• Looking at the themes and topics of Orwell’s novels, is Hopkinson’s statement (above) valid?

• Which world event do you think had the most profound influence on Orwell as he wrote 1984? Why do you think this?

• Was Orwell ever married? Did he have any children?

Orwell Timeline

• Directions: Answer the questions below using the time line.• Questions:• Which book gives evidence that Orwell’s experiences at boarding

school developed in him a sympathy for the poor and a lasting dislike for social status and power based upon wealth?

• Into what social class was Orwell born? Was Orwell ever truly poor?

• Looking at the themes and topics of Orwell’s novels, is Hopkinson’s statement (above) valid?

• Which world event do you think had the most profound influence on Orwell as he wrote 1984? Why do you think this?

• Was Orwell ever married? Did he have any children?

Orwell Timeline

• Directions: Answer the questions below using the time line.• Questions:• Why didn’t Orwell fight against the Nazis in World War II?• What did Orwell decide to do after he graduated from a prestigious

preparatory high school? Why do you think he dislike this job?• Was Orwell’s first book based on his own experiences? Explain.• In what book did Orwell express a concern for the poor working

class in England?