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The SettingWinston lives in Oceania, specially Air Strip One, which is the new name for England. As you can see from the map, Air Strip One is right next to hostile territory, which is why it is so easily bombed. Time - well, 1984, however, the date is not important. It is a warning of our future. Orwell wanted to title it 1948 since it was being published in 1947, but his publishers thought a more futuristic date was needed. It could easily be titled 2020 or 2040. The revolution must have happened somewhere in the late 50s. Winston's childhood may have been free from Ingsoc, but he cannot remember anything from that far back. Jump to sections in the book:
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Read This Book!Big Brother has deemed it O.K. for party members to read this book. Don't have one of those old fashioned paper kind? Never fear! You can read it here as a synthetic book (or synthbook in Newspeak): READ ME Or you can click each chapter as linked on the left. There is a comic book version being done by Frederick Guimont. Check out his page here: I've had problems getting the site to work, so I provided links to the chapters completed in the chapter section. Try the official site first. CharactersPrimary Characters
Secondary Characters
Corena J. is awesome. NewspeakThe language of Oceania. This is English, but with words removed. In fact words get removed every time they update the dictionary. The idea is that eventually there will be whole generations that have no words for ideas like freedom, so there would be no way in which to even think about that concept. Here is how it is explained in the book: Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. Every concept that can ever be needed will be expressed by exactly one word, with its meaning rigidly defined and all in subsidiary meanings rubbed out and forgotten. Here is a basic primer: The Appendix goes into more detail on Newspeak.
DoublethinkThis is the act of believing something to be true even though you know it is false. For example, in the book, people hear one news report. The next day, they will hear a contradictory news report. They believe the new one, even though they know it cannot match up with the old report. Here is how the book addresses it: His mind slid away into the labyrinthine world of doublethink. To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it, to believe that democracy was impossible and that the Party was the guardian of democracy, to forget whatever it was necessary to forget, then to draw it back into memory again at the moment when it was needed, and then promptly to forget it again: and above all, to apply the same process to the process itself. That was the ultimate subtlety: consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once again, to become unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just performed. Even to understand the word 'doublethink' involved the use of doublethink. Extra Credit Opportunity - Make a meme for 1984 that captures the feel of the meme and the essence of the book. Worth 2 quiz grades. An extra ten points if the meme is so good that I put it on this page. I made this one on Image Flip. Big Brother Is Watching You ProjectYou will find or create a BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU poster. At the right time I will give you the dates for the assignment. You will bring the poster to me for approval and get a 60 for the grade. Then you will go out and post the poster on campus somewhere to get the remaining 40 points. You will take a photo of you with the poster and send it to me. If you would like a 110 grade, then you will seek out one of the many cameras that we have here on campus and post your poster where it can be seen by the camera. Your photo will need to show me the camera and poster so I'll know to count it. The Junior Anti-Sex LeaguePropaganda Project
Thought PoliceWarning! Three of your classmates secretly hold this badge and will report you if you say or even think about anything that does not promote Oceania or Big Brother. Failure to conform will mean that you may become an unperson and lose your five points bonus on the test for good citizenship.
Apple vs. Big Brother
During Superbowl XVIII in 1984, Apple used this commercial to introduce their new computer, the Apple Macintosh. It was directed by Ridley Scott. Extra Credit Opportunity - What is grammatically wrong with this commercial? Worth 1 Daily grade. In 2007, the commercial was re-released as an ad for Obama when he was running against Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Primary. Apparently it was not endorsed by his administration and the guy who created it resigned his position.
I Need This ShirtA double plus good student would get it for their favorite teacher. Why Not Watch Big Brother for a Change?
This 1956 version is, well, old. However, it does loosely follow the book.
This is a documentary about the book and George Orwell. If you are trying to understand what the book is about, watch this. It is about 45 minutes long.
This is an animated summary of the book with analysis provided by Sparknotes. You may wish to watch this before the test. Captain Britain vs. The Thought PoliceIn Mighty World of Marvel, a British Marvel comic, vol.2 issue 13, "A Funeral on Otherworld", Captain Britain faces off against a 1984 world. This issue was released in none other than the year 1984, of course. Extra Credit Opportunity: This is Earth-744. Research this or other Marvel alternate realities in the extra credit assignment Marvel Multiverse. Manray Is Watching You
Return to 12th Grade Page Return to Lord Alford Site Teachers! If you've enjoyed this site, you might like Extreme English Teacher Blog. Thanks to www.gerenser.com/1984 for this list of questions. I modified a few of them to meet the needs of my class. Use these to check your understanding. |
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Synthbook
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~ | Book 1 Chapter 1 Questions: 1. What bothers Winston?
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Synthbook
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Book 1 Chapter 2 Important line: "Thoughtcrime does not entail death, thoughtcrime IS death." Questions: 1. Who are the Parsons and what do they represent? |
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Book 1 Chapter 3
In this chapter, Winston has to do his daily exercises. While he does so, he gives us more information about what it is like to live in this world. Note that they can, and do, watch you through the telescreen. This is evident by how she tells calls on Winston to work harder on his toe touches. It also shows the power of fear. This also shows how incredibly dangerous it is for Winston to pursue the diary. Important concepts: Doublethink - click to go to the side bar bit that discusses this concept. Important lines: "'Who controls the past,' ran the party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.'" "A single flicker of the eyes could give you away." Questions: 1. What is Winston’s dream about his mother? How does he feel about himself
in that dream?
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Book 1 Chapter 4
Important concepts: Proletariat - the Proles
- the masses, the uneducated, they do the most of the hard physical work Important line: "Withers, however, was already an unperson. He did not exist; he had never existed." Questions: 1. Describe Winston’s job.
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Book 1 Chapter 5 Important lines: "It's a beautiful thing, the destruction of words . . . In the end the whole notion of goodness and badness will be covered by only six words — in reality, only one word. Don't you see the beauty of that, Winston?" "Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. " "Orthodoxy is unconsciousness." Questions: 1. What is the problem with obtaining razor blades? |
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Synthbook
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Book 1 Chapter 6 The X-rated Chapter Questions: 1. What is the purpose of marriage in the state?
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Book 1 Chapter 7 Important lines: "Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows." "If there is hope, it lies with the proles." "Proles and animals are free." In this chapter, it talks a lot about the past and the problem with knowing what to believe. Winston's big fear is not that he will get caught, but that he is wrong. There is no way of proving that the government is lying about history. One thing the children's history book mentioned was that before the party, infant mortality rate was 300 per thousand while now that the party in in charge it is down to 160 per thousand. This statistic is a way to analysis the effectiveness of medical advances in countries by measuring the number of deaths of babies in their first year of life. To put this in context, the US rate in 1930 was 99. Today the US has a rate of 6. The world average is 49. The worst country in the world is Afghanistan which currently has an infant mortality rate of 135. Questions: 1. How does Winston view the proles?
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Book 1 Chapter 8 Important: Symbols -
Questions: 1. Why does Winston go off on his own? What activities is he missing
out on?
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Synthbook
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~ | Book 2 Chapter 1
Questions: 1. What part of her body has the girl with the dark hair injured?
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Book 2 Chapter 2
Questions: 1. Why is Winston ill at ease once he is alone with Julia?
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Synthbook
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Book 2 Chapter 3
Questions: 1. How and where do Julia and Winston meet?
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Synthbook
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Book 2 Chapter 4 "He was standing in front of a wall of darkness and on the other side of it there was something unendurable, something too dreadful to be faced. In the dream his deepest feeling was always one of self-deception, because he did in fact know what was behind the wall of darkness." Questions: 1. How does Winston react to the singing prole woman?
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Book 2 Chapter 5 "Both of them knew - in a way, it was never out of their minds - that what was now happening could not last long." "He told her of the strange intimacy that existed, or seemed to exist, between himself and O'Brien, and of the impulse he sometimes felt simply to walk into O'Brien's presence, announce that he was the enemy of the Party, and demand help. Curiously enough this did not strike her as an impossibly rash thing to do." Possible futures that Winston envisions:
Questions: 1. Who has vanished?
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Book 2 Chapter 6
Questions: 1. What finally convinces Winston that O’Brien is a member of the Brotherhood?
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Book 2 Chapter 7
Questions: 1. What does Winston remember about his family and his relationship with
his mother?
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Book 2 Chapter 8
Questions: 1. What can O'Brien do that others cannot?
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Book 2 Chapter 9 Read the summary. Questions: 1. Oceania is and always has been at war with _________.
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Book 2 Chapter 10
Questions: 1. What is behind the picture of the church?
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~ | Book 3 Chapter 1
Questions: 1. Where is Winston? How is he treated there and why?
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Book 3 Chapter 2 Important lines: "'What is in Room 101?' The expression on O'Brien's face did not change. He answered drily. 'You know what is in Room 101, Winston. Everyone knows what is in Room 101.'" Questions: 1. What is the photograph of that gets Winston so uptight?
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Book 3 Chapter 3 Read the summary. Important lines: "If you want a picture of the future, imagine a book tamping on a human face - forever." "I have not betrayed Julia," he said. O'Brien looked down at him thoughtfully. "No," he said, "no; that is perfectly true. You have not betrayed Julia." “Tell me,” he said, “how
soon will they shoot me?” Questions: 1. According to O’Brien, what are the three stages in Winston’s re-integration,
and which stage is he about to enter?
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Book 3 Chapter 4
Read the summary. Questions: 1. How has Winston’s environment changed? What does he do with his time?
How does he show his obedience to the Inner Party?
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Book 3 Chapter 5
Questions: 1. What happens in Room 101 and how does this "cure" Winston?
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Book 3 Chapter 6
Questions: 1. What is the setting? |
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