1. Warm up
Please take out your Animal Farm Timeline and pass it forward. Also, please prepare to submit your essay if you haven’t already done so.

2. Author Background and Literary Terms
Animal Farm
Author Background and Literary Terms

3. George Orwell The Early Years
Born Eric Blair in 1903 in Bengal, India (part of British Empire)
Went to a prep school where he was recognized for his intelligence but humiliated by poverty.
To Orwell, the school was, “a world of force and fraud and secrecy.”
He felt like, “A gold fish [flung] into a tank full of pike.”
His mother brought Orwell and his siblings back to England to educate them (typical of colonial families)

4. The early Years Cont… Attended Eton on Scholarship at the age of 13
Influence by his teacher Aldous Huxley, known for his dystopian novel, Brave New World
Joined the Indian Imperial Police
Orwell noted that his work on Burma with the Indian Imperial Police made him callous, particularly towards the Bermese. His experience as an imperial officer exposed to Orwell the unjust system that was used to maintain the British Empire. Many of his experiences appear in his literature and they certainly shaped his political perspective, as he said, “I felt I had got to escape not merely from imperialism but from every form of man’s dominion over man.” This philosophy led him into such conflicts as the Spanish Civil War where he joined on the side of those he felt would end “man’s dominion over man”

5. The Spanish Civil War Orwell moved to Spain with his wife to fight in
Franco (Totalitarian Dictator, backed by Hitler and Mussolini) vs. former gov’t forces, including socialist and communist workers
Orwell sympathized with the workers and joined POUM, which had Maxist affliations
He became disillusioned with the cause after the corruption among the communist faction fighting against Franco became apparent.
Orwell’s objective to destroy “man’s dominion over man” was evident in his socialist political stance. Many of his early novels offered critiques of the class system and exposed social injustice, and he continued with such writing even after his experience in the Spanish Civil War.

6. After the Spanish Civil War
Orwell remained a strong voice for democratic socialism (ideals more in line with Marx)
Wrote Animal Farm to expose the corruption of Russian Communism and affirm his ideal version of socialism
Later, wrote dystopian novel, 1984, depicting an even bleaker outlook than Animal Farm
Orwell’s objective to destroy “man’s dominion over man” was evident in his socialist political stance even after the Spanish Civil War. Many of his early novels offered critiques of the class system and exposed social injustice, and he continued with such writing even after his experience in Spain.

7. Literary Terms
Allegory: a narrative that functions two levels of meaning:
literal level (story level)
symbolic level, in which characters represents historical figures or ideas.
Animal Farm is a political allegory where the characters and events represent the historical figures and events of the Russian Revolution

8. Lit. Terms Cont.
Fable: A type of allegory; A short tale told to a moral point in which animals are used to represent human qualities or types. This form is often used for satire
Epigram – a short, witty statement, often used to state the moral at the end of a fable.

9. Lit. terms Cont.
Satire: a ridicule of human shortcoming, cultural events, institutions in an attempt offer a critique or bring about change or reform.
(Different than comedy because its end or purpose isn’t humor or laughter, but criticism)
Often uses:
Irony
Ironic tones are esp. characteristic of satire
Irony adds subtly; attack is never directly stated
Exaggeration
Understatement
Caricature
Sarcasm

10. Lit. Terms (cont.)
Characterization: the technique the author uses to reveal the personality of a character
Symbol: something that stands for or represents more than itself
Foreshadowing: the use of clues by an author to hint at future events in the narrative
Imagery: Language that appeals to the five senses
Connotation – the associations or emotional undertones of a word

11. Journal
Now that you’ve learned a bit about the rise of communism in Russia and about Orwell’s own experience with communism, what do you think will happen as a result of Major’s speech in the novel?