1. Animal Farm
Introduction

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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)

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