GCSE English Literature Unit 1:Understanding Prose

“Animal Farm” by George Orwell

Learning Objective

• To understand the significance of events in the Russian Revolution and begin to make connections between these events and those in the novel.

The Russian Revolution

Marxism•Karl Marx (a German) initially

inspired the Russian Revolution.

• In 1848, he wrote the Communist Manifesto. In this he explained the theory of communism.

•He talked about the way the poorest workers are exploited by the rich.

• He said, in order to be ‘free’the poor had to control their lives by working and fight for a better future.

Communism• The workman is the most important because they

are the ones who create the resources.

• Private property is an evil thing. Property must be owned collectively (as a group.)

The process:

1st is the revolution of the common man.

2nd is the ‘dictatorship’ where one of the ordinary men assume leadership, so as to ensure power is retained.

3rd the dictatorship ‘withers away’ so that all men become free and equal.

Tsar Nicholas II

• In the Russian Empire things were bad.

• The Tsar Nicholas II was a feeble and selfish ruler. People were unhappy with him because the ordinary people lived in terrible conditions.

• Russia was involved in World War One and there was a big division between the rich and poor.

• The main opponent to the Tsar was a man called Nicolai Lenin.

Lenin and the Bolsheviks

There was an uprising against the Tsar. The royal family was executed and a new party came to power. But the war continued and the lives of the ordinary people didn’t get much better.

Lenin lead a party called the Bolsheviks, which was made up of ordinary men including Trotsky and Stalin. They wanted a better life for the people in which all men were equal.

In 1918, the Bolsheviks seized power and the old government was removed.

TrotskyLenin died in 1924 and there was a struggle for power among his followers, especially between Trotsky and Stalin.

Trotsky wanted the revolution to go worldwide but Stalin wanted to concentrate on developing Russia’s strength.

Stalin won the battle and Trotsky was exiled.

Trotsky was always accused of plotting against Stalin and was eventually sentenced to death.

Stalin

By the 1920’s Stalin was the supreme ruler of the USSR.

He established an effective propaganda system and seized control of all information outlets such as newspapers.

He forced peasants to increase agricultural production through mass collective farms that were little more than working prisons.

In the 1930s in an effort to prop up his power, Stalin set in progress a campaign known as ‘The Great Terror.’

Millions were purged – that is imprisoned or killed in belief that they were opponents of the state.

This wall is part of a homage to the victims of Stalin's Great Terror Purges of the 30s.

To help him gain power, Stalin was supported by his secret police – the NKVD (later KGB.)

His main rivals were forced to confess their crimes at ‘show trails’ and were ruthlessly executed.

He emerged as a ‘god-like’figure.

Nikolai Yezhov, the young man strolling with Stalin to his left, was shot in 1940. He was edited out from a photo by Soviet censors. Such retouching was a common occurrence during Stalin's reign.

Stalin died in 1953, but until the 1990s the name Trotsky could not be mentioned.

Questions:

1. Who wrote the Communist Manifesto?

2. What does communism involve?

3. What did Lenin and the Bolsheviks want?

4. Who fought for power after Lenin died?

5. What did Stalin do when he got into power?

6. What happened in the 1930s?

7. Who did Stalin use to help him gain power?

8. How did he treat his rivals?

9. Do you think he was an effective leader? Why or why not?

Extension

1. Having read the novel, discuss which characters from “Animal Farm” may correspond with the main figures in the Russian Revolution.

1. Can you identify any parallels between events in the novel and historical events from the revolution?

“ANIMAL FARM”

Approaching the text

Activity 1

• In pairs, collect similes and metaphors that we apply to humans, comparing them to animals, e.g.:

• “as wise as an owl…”

• “as stubborn as a mule…”

• “he’s a swine…”

• “she’s a cat…”

• Discuss what all your examples mean and try to decide whether the qualities we give to these animals are at all like the real animals.

Chapter 1: what do you think?

• Read and answer in your exercise book the ‘What do you think?’ question on page 12.

Chapter 1: further questions

In the exam, you will be asked to provide an answer with close reference to the language used in the text.

• Answer questions 1 to 5 on page 12, paying special attention to Orwell’s language choices in the quotations you select.