Animal Farm Introduction

Learning Intentions KNOW: Biographical information about George Orwell The historical context behind ‘Animal Farm’ The purpose for which Orwell wrote the text DO: Note-taking Watch a documentary Discussion BE: Curious and open-minded

George Orwell – Biographical Information Orwell was born Eric Arthur Blair 1903 in eastern India, the son of a British colonial civil servant He was educated in England before joining the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, then a British colony He resigned in 1927 and decided to become a writer. In 1928, he moved to Paris where lack of success as a writer forced him into a series of menial jobs In 1945, 'Animal Farm' was published. It made Orwell's name and ensured he was financially comfortable Language introduced through Orwell’s texts: Big Brother, thought police, newspeak, doublethink, thoughtcrime Orwell's health deteriorated and he died of tuberculosis on 21 January 1950

Orwell’s Politics An anarchist in the late 1920s, by the 1930s he had begun to consider himself a socialist His work is contains themes of social justice, opposition to totalitarianism (absolute control by the state), and advocating for democratic socialism He was forced to flee for his life from Soviet-backed communists who were suppressing revolutionary socialist dissenters This turned him into a life-long anti-Stalinist, anti-totalitarianist

Orwell’s views on class Orwell was fascinated with the squalor endured by the poor He voluntarily submerged himself into the lowest level of society’s working class Orwell was free to return to England and middle-class comfort whenever he wanted Clues to his true class are found in his language, manner of speaking and his refusal to drink milk spoiled by a bug when starving

Orwell on writing In his essay Politics and the English Language (1946), Orwell wrote about the importance of precise and clear language, arguing the vague writing can be used as a powerful tool of political manipulation because it shapes the way we think. In that essay, Orwell provide six rules for writers: Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech that 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 Break any of those rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous (rude and offensive)

Animal Farm A political fable set in a farmyard but based on Stalin's betrayal of the Russian Revolution