Name : ___________________________
Assigned: 2/26
DUE: 3/5
Essay Assignment
Table of Contents:
I. The Assignment
p. 2
II. Suggested Outline
p. 2
III. Sentence Starters for Body Paragraphs
p. 3
IV. What does it mean to analyze and explain?
p. 3-4
V. Conclusion
p. 4
VI. IMPORTANT: If you choose to do outside research
p. 5
VI. Rubric
p. 6
I. The Assignment
Historical Context:
George Orwell’s Animal Farm was published in 1946. The novel is about a rebellion of
animals that revolt against their cruel master and establish a new society. Eventually, the new
society becomes corrupt and resembles the farm as it was under humans. While the novel can be
read as a simple story of political corruption, it is also a satire of the Russian Revolution and the
Soviet Union under Josef Stalin. Many characters and things that happen in the novel mirror
real life people and historical events, and Orwell uses these connections to satirize Soviet
history.
Your Task: Using information from the novel, your notes, and your knowledge of global history, write an
essay in which you:
● Identify, analyze, and explain how three characters, symbols, and/or events in Animal Farm
represent people or things from Soviet history.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
II. Suggested Outline:
Introduction: restate the historical context
Body Paragraph 1: Identify, analyze, and explain how one character/symbol/event from Animal Farm
represents a person or thing from Soviet history.
Body Paragraph 2: Identify, analyze, and explain how a second character/symbol/event from Animal Farm
represents a person or thing from Soviet history.
Body Paragraph 3: Identify, analyze, and explain how a third character/symbol/event from Animal Farm
represents a person or thing from Soviet history.
Conclusion: Restate the main idea. In your own words, what is the overall lesson Orwell wants to leave the
reader about the Soviet Union and human nature?
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III. Sentence Starters for Body Paragraphs:*
*Don't forget, only using sentence starters means your
grade can't be higher than a "C"
● Body Paragraph 1: One character/symbol/event and how they represent something from the Soviet Union’s
history.
One character/symbol/event that represents something from the Soviet Union is ____name a
___character/symbol/event from Animal Farm______________. This is because in Animal Farm,
________________describe your character/symbol/event in your own words – this should take a few sentences
sentences – make sure you’re describing something specific about the character, symbol, or event that you will
compare to the historical figure/thing that they represent ______________ . This is very similar to ___name
a person, event, or development from Soviet History here______ from the Soviet Union. In the Soviet
Union’s history ____________explain and analyze the event from Soviet history, and how it resembles
what happened in Animal Farm – this should take a few sentences - make sure you’re describing_________
specific details, using vocabulary and key terms from the unit, and not just using generalities
.
Body paragraphs 2 and 3 should follow the same basic format as above. Make sure you don’t just recopy
the sentence starters though; doing this will make your writing redundant (repetitive).
IV. What does it mean to analyze and explain?
In simple terms, analyze means to break something down into parts to explain it better. Explain means to give
the meaning of something, or use facts and details to make something easier to understand.
See my paragraph below. I'll write about Moses the Raven, since he was a minor character and I doubt most of
you would choose him to write about (since I am writing about him, you cannot use him in your essay).
One character from Animal Farm that represents
something from the Soviet Union is Moses the Raven. In
the early chapters, the narrator describes how Moses the
Raven tells the animals stories about "Sugarcandy
Mountain," a wonderful land the animals go to when they
die. Moses is also described as Mr. Jones' especial pet. It is
also mentioned that Moses tells tales, but does no work.
This is very similar to how communists viewed religion in
the Soviet Union. In this way, Moses represents religion
and the Church. Communists believe religion is the "opiate
of the masses," and the promises of heaven are used to keep
This first part is where I identify. I
chose a character (Moses), and
identified what he represented in the
real world (religion/the Church).
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the working class easier to control. When Moses talks of
"Sugarcandy Mountain," it is like how communists say
that promises of heaven are what keep the working class
from rising up in this life. This is why the Pigs always
say that Moses' tales were lies, and chase him off the farm
after the Rebellion. Similarly, Stalin at first banned
religion after coming to power, but later allowed it to
return, as he saw its use in controlling the population.
Here is where I analyze and explain. I
break down the different parts
(Sugarcandy Mountain = heaven), and
talk about how it illustrates what
communists thought about religion. I
break down and explain how chasing
Moses off the farm relates to Stalin
banning religion, but later allowed it
back.
V. Conclusion
I would include these two parts:
1. Restate the three characters/symbols/events you discussed and what they represent.
&
2. What was the lesson Orwell wanted us to learn about the Soviet Union/communism/
human nature as a whole? In other words, what was the moral of the story?
In conclusion, it is clear that _______restate the three symbols/characters/events and what they
represented from the Soviet Union. The lesson that this satire about communism and human nature
leaves the reader with is _____________this part could and should be several sentences_________.
4
VI. IMPORTANT: If you choose to do outside research:
You must cite any information that is not from your notes or from your own knowledge! In college, even
“putting something into your own words” counts as plagiarism if you are not citing where the information
came from (ESPECIALLY SPARKNOTES, SHMOOP, OR ANY OTHER LITERARY WEBSITE)!
Use MLA citation. See examples below:
• Books:
Bibliography citation (comes at the end of the paper):
Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.
Example:
Gellner, Ernest. Nations and Nationalism: New Perspectives on the Past. Ithaca: Cornell University
Press, 2009.
In text citation (comes in the text after you have included information from the source)
(Author, page number)
Example:
Nationalists often encouraged industrialization to make their countries stronger and to promote a
powerful military (Gellner, 256).
• Websites:
Bibliography citation (comes at the end of the paper):
“Title of webpage.” Website domain name. URL. Date of publication (if available, if not, put ‘n.d.’). Date of
access (when you looked up the website).
Example:
“Nationalism.” Wikipedia.org. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationalism. Dec. 2011. January 14, 2013.
In text citation (comes in the text after you have included information from the source)
(Website domain name, “Name of article”)
Example:
Nationalism is all about identity. Nationalists want everyone in their country to be a part of the same
culture (Wikipedia.org, “Nationalism”).
If you find any sources beside a book or a website, see me.
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VII. Rubric
Grade
A
B
C
D
F
Explanation
 Thoroughly develops all aspects of the task evenly and in depth
 Is more analytical than descriptive
 Richly supports the theme with many relevant facts, examples, vocabulary, and details from both
the events of Animal Farm and the history of the Soviet Union
 Demonstrates a logical and clear plan of organization
 Includes an introduction and a conclusion that are beyond just copying the historical context
 Develops all aspects of the task but may do so somewhat unevenly by developing some body
paragraphs more than others
 Is both descriptive and analytical
 Supports the theme with many relevant facts, examples, vocabulary, and details from both the
events of Animal Farm and the history of the Soviet Union
 Demonstrates a logical and clear plan of organization
 Includes an introduction and a conclusion that are beyond just copying historical context
 Develops all aspects of the task with little depth or develops at least two paragraphs in some
depth
 Is more descriptive than analytical, mostly just describes events that happened in the novel
without explanation and analysis of the connection between the two
 Includes some relevant facts, examples, vocabulary, and details; may include minor inaccuracies
about both the events of Animal Farm and the history of the Soviet Union, or resorts to
generalities (“Stalin and Napoleon were both greedy” without an explanation or discussion of
what that means using specific examples)
 Demonstrates a satisfactory plan of organization
 Includes an introduction and a conclusion that simply copy the historical context
 Minimally develops all aspects of the task with little depth or develops at least two aspects of the
task in some depth
 Is mostly descriptive, describes a few things that happened but doesn't explain the connections
 Includes few relevant facts, examples, vocabulary, and details; may include major inaccuracies
about both the events of Animal Farm and the history of the Soviet Union
 Demonstrates a general plan of organization; may lack focus, may contain digressions; may not
clearly identify which aspect of the task is being addressed
 Includes an introduction and a conclusion that copy the historical context, and/or may lack one
or the other
 Minimally develops some aspects of the task
 Is descriptive, may lack understanding, application, or analysis
 Includes few or no relevant facts, examples, or details; may include major inaccuracies
 May demonstrate a weakness in organization; lacks focus, contains digressions; does not clearly
identify which part of the task is being addressed
 May lack an introduction and/or conclusion
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