Animal Farm (Utopia and Dystopia)

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ANIMAL FARM and dystopia: signs of troubled times

Key question: How does George Orwell use animal farm as a political statement?

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Video 2

Understanding UTOPIA

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Video 2

Understanding DYSTOPIA

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DYSTOPIA

UTOPIA

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DEFINING UTOPIA AND DYSTOPIA

5- Focus on...

1- George Orwell: Teller of political tales

2- The political context: Communism

3- Discovering the book

7- Mission 1

6- Opening activity

10- Final Project

9- Mission 3

8- Mission 2

let's Study

george orwell: Teller of political tales

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- George Orwell, "Such, Such Were the Joys", 1952 "

What I have most wanted to do throughout the past ten years is to make political writing into an art."

Listen to this short BBC radio documentary about Animal Farm. Focus on the part from 2'39 to 5'39. Louise Hidalgo is interwiewing Orwell's son, Richard Blair. Your task: Take notes about Orwell's political ideas and what led him to have these beliefs. Note down what you learn about Animal Farm as well. Then, share your findings with your classmates.

George Orwell (1903-1950) was born into a British colonial family in India. He was very interested in politics, mainly left wing. He worked as a journalist and a literary critic as well as writing both non-fiction books and two of the most famous English novels of the 20th century: Animal Farm and 1984.

Discovering the author's life and times

The political context: communism

02

Focus on...

THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

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Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Discovering the book

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Your task

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Analyse the different book covers. Which one do you prefer? Explain.

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"ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL. BUT SOME ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHER." Mr Jones of Manor Farm is so lazy and drunken that one day he forgets to feed his livestock. The ensuing rebellion under the leadership of the pigs Napoleon and Snowball leads the animals taking over the farm. Vowing to eliminate the terrible inequities of the farmyard, the renamed Animal Farm is organised to benefit all who walk on four legs. But as time passes, the ideals of the rebellion are corrupted, then forgotten. And something new and unexpected emerges... Animal farm - the history of a revolution that went wrong - is George Orwell's brilliant satire on the corrupting influence of power. "Remains our great satire of the darker face of modern history"Malcolm Bradbury"Animal Farm has seen off all the opposition. It's as valid today as it was fifty years ago." Ralph Steadman

The back cover blurb

6- The Russian Revolution

1- A Fable

2- An Allegory

3- Utopia and dystopia

5- Irony

4- Symbolism

8- Totalitarianism

9- Propaganda

Focus on...

animal farm

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1. You have read Orwell's Animal Farm and you have seen the play. What do you remember about the plot? Place- Characters - their personality- problem encountered and its solution 2. Now watch this video and compare the boy's synopsis with yours.

Opening activity

Mission 1 chapter 1

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Jigsaw 15 min

Listen

Start

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Mission brief: Analyse the elements of language and interpret what is happening.

Political analysist B2

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Mission brief: Study the names of the protagonists

Profiler B1

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Mission brief: Gather the key details of what is going on and supervise your team's work

Investigate Analysts A2+

Mission 1 - CHAPTER 1

The agent is located in a country where a ....................... is about to happen. Our agent is undercover and sending us coded information: using descriptions of characters and actions. He is helping us understand the situation. In this first chapter, he is describing a meeting he attended, led by an ........................ who seems to be planting the seeds of ............................. against ..................... . Some characters are ............................ at first, but they all decide to .................. against the ............................. to .............................. over the farm, pursue their ideal and be ............................ . Through the code names he gives the characters and the descriptions he makes, he is giving us an overview of the main powers at play. ............................ is presented as a driven leader and his speech gives ............... to the animals. ................... is a horse, so he's strong and as his name suggests, he is ....................... and resilient. .................'s name is the name of a plant used to feed animals and likewise, she is a mother-figure, a caregiver. ............................. is a donkey who is very old and probably quite wise. ........................ on the other hand is a vain .................. and her name makes you think of a pretty young, and maybe naïve girl. However, Mollie is short for Mary so she could also stand for a pure and ........................... figure. She is worried by change so maybe she won't agree with Old Major. Through this story, our agent is trying to show us that something "Major" is about to happen in this place. He transcribes Old Major's speech but alos reports a ................ used to galvanize the animals which could become the ............................. for them. We're certain that a ...................................is about to happen because Old Major gives a lot of hope to the animals.

our MemO

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Now you have completed mission 1 successfully make a link between fiction and history. 1/ What historical moment is refered to in this extract? 2/ What do you think was Orwell's goal with this first chapter? 3/ Go read the Focus on... page. What is the genre of this novel? GET READY FOR MISSION 2 NOW!

Mission 1 -Conclusion

MISSION 2 CHAPTER 4

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Listen

Start

Jigsaw 15 minutes

Political analysist B2

Profiler B1

Investigate Analysts A2+

Your task

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Your task

MISSION 2 - CHAPTER 4

The agent witnesses a ....................................... on the farm. The men are trying to ..................... ............. the farm; they come with ............................ and ......................... . But ............................. has been preparing for this battle and he launches his first attack as a ....................................... . Then, the ................................... attack but the men still seem to be winning. Once again, ...................................... has planned fot this, and the animals ..................................... to the barn. Snowball .................................the last attack and it is very .................................. . Snowball is ..................., a sheep ...................... and Boxer almost ....................... a man. It is a victory and all the animals are ........................................ . The animals create ................................ for war heroes. This is one of the first signs of ................................ on the farm as some animals are ....................................... into first-class and second-class heroes. A ...................................... is held to commemorate the battle and it is even given a name, making it a ...................................... in the farm's history. The scene is ..........................., but also ................... due to the pigeon's dropping and the geese pinching the humans' legs. But above all it is ............................ because Mr Jones ends up on a pile of ............................ in a reference to slapstick comedy. (comédie burlesque). It is tragic because from this point onwards, the ...................... start to act like ........................... by making war and having the same military codes as men. In addition, animals are no longer ............................. and they are ranked according to their .................................... to the cause. This victory is the ........................... of Animal Farm as a ............................... for the animals, where they are all fighting together against a common ........................... . Even though the cretation of tow types of military decorations hints at the ........................... turn of Animal Farm, and also that maybe, not all animals are truly .........................., it is still a powerful celebration of the farm's heroes and values.

Our memo

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Imaginaires To what extent can we say that the use of animals in texts, poems, novels is a representation of reality and society? Art & Contestation How do artists use their work as political statements? What is the role of art and culture in political contestation?

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