1. Anthem Author & Background Information Anthem: Ayn Rand BornBorn: February 2, 1905, Saint Petersburg, RussiaSaint Petersburg DiedDied: March 6, 1982, New York CityNew York City SpouseSpouse: Frank O'ConnorFrank O'Connor EducationEducation: Saint Petersburg State UniversitySaint Petersburg State University MoviesMovies: Atlas Shrugged: Part I, The Fountainhead, Love LettersAtlas Shrugged: Part IThe FountainheadLove Letters pbs.org

2. The Author: Ayn Rand Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, in February 1905 She lived during the Russian Civil War & the Bolshevik Revolution: these gave way to the Communist era in Russia. She majored in Philosophy & History in College & studied screen-writing at Cinema Arts. When Stalin ascended to power in the 1920s, she escaped to Chicago in 1926. She then moved to Hollywood to become a screen-writer.

3. Rand married the actor Frank O’Connor. She wrote a screen play called Red Pawn, a play Night of January 16 th, and then her first novel We the Living (1933). Anthem was published in Great Britain in 1938. She later revised the novella, and, in 1946, published it in the United States. She is best known for The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957).

4. New Movie: 2011 DirectorDirector: Paul JohanssonPaul Johansson DVD release dateDVD release date: November 8, 2011 RatingRating: PG-13 (USA) ProducersProducers: John Aglialoro, Harmon KaslowJohn AglialoroHarmon Kaslow ropeofsilicon.com

5. Communist Russia Stalin was the leader of the USSR & he improved the country’s economic status. Stalin also ordered purges (execution) of all those who opposed him, especially independent thinkers & intellectuals. Millions of people were killed including government officials, military, & common people. There were also forced labor camps and collective farms, causing many people to die from starvation. Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 until his death in 5 March 1953.

6. Anthem: Themes & Ideas Theory of Objectivism, or ego-ism, the idea that an individual’s worth comes from him or herself, not from what they contribute to society. The novel is written as an allegory, a fictional story whose purpose is to present a fictional idea. (Allegory: a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material forms; figurative treatment of one subject under the guise of another.)

7. Dystopian Novel dystopia [dis-toh-pee-uh] an imaginary place where everything is as bad as it can be (opposite of utopia) Rand describes a dystopia in the novel, an imaginary world through which Rand shows the negatives of Collectivism: 1.the principle of ownership of the means of production, by the state or the people 2.a social system based on this principle

8. To Know Before You Read... The novel is written using the word we because people were not allowed to use the word I. They were a collective society and not an individual one. The novel is written in the future, and people can barely remember/know what life was like (life as society now). Imagine that everything has been wiped out and society is starting from scratch even though it is the future.