MGC English—1984 Assignment Sheet
A & B Blocks
19 September 2012
“Destroy my desires, eradicate my ideals, show me something better, and I
will follow you.” –Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Notes From Underground, p. 25
“The ideal set up by the Party was something huge, terrible, and
glittering—a world of steel and concrete, of monstrous machines and
terrifying weapons—a nation of warriors and fanatics, marching forward
in perfect unity, all thinking the same thoughts and shouting the same
slogans, perpetually working, fighting, triumphing, persecuting—three
hundred million people all with the same face.” –Orwell, 1984, p. 74
BACKGROUND: George Orwell’s futuristic science fiction thriller 1984 is, simply put,
one of the most influential texts of the 20th century, and for good reason. Though Orwell
predicts a bleak world of surveillance, propaganda, torture, betrayal, hatred, conformity,
and ignorance, the novel itself is filled with eye-opening wisdom, gripping action,
tangible suspense, titillating eroticism, and emotional turmoil.
More specifically, 1984 is about a world of the future, called Oceania, where “The Party”
rules supreme. At the top of this society’s hierarchy lies Big Brother, the “benevolent”
ruler who watches over everything. Though Big Brother may or may not be a real person
in the world of the novel, the idea of Big Brother is perhaps more important. Big Brother
is the face of a government which both controls the spread of public information and
gathers immense amounts of surveillance against its own population. In the face of Big
Brother, we can see a perfected model for authoritarian government—he possesses
complete control over the media, the economy, education, leisure, and the government,
and as such he has complete control over the minds of all his subjects.
One of these powerless sorts is Winston Smith, the hero of this novel. Winston, a low
level bureaucrat in the Records Department of the Ministry of Truth (read: Lies), must
find his way out of the tangled web of doublethink, Newspeak, Thought Police,
telescreens, international spies, and domestic informers if he is to escape the stultifying,
complacent, and alienating existence of life in Oceania. Indeed, his gradual realization of
the oppressive nature of his society, and his feverish attempt to escape it, provide this
novel’s principal plot. In addition, Winston’s illegal relationship with a female coworker provides narrative tension.
There are almost too many themes to discuss. On a literal level, we can explore this
novel as an exploration of the horrors of totalitarianism—including conformity, distrust,
violence, and epic banality. In a possibly more sophisticated sense, however, 1984 raises
fundamental questions about the nature of memory, identity, love, and the relationship of
the individual to the society which have been the primary focus of science fiction ever
since (of which the work of American science-fiction novelist Phillip K. Dick—and the
films inspired by his books—provides the most fascinating example).
OBJECTIVES: Besides the fact that 1984 is a gripping, compelling novel, we are
reading it for the following purposes.
Content Objectives: By the end of this unit, students will understand…
a) …the way(s) that dystopian science fiction connects allegorically to the real
world.
b) …the difference between “personal rebellion” and “principled rebellion”.
c) …the difference between “objective reality” and “subjective reality”.
d) …how to construct a perfect totalitarian state.
e) …which elements of Orwell’s dystopia are still relevant today.
Skills Objectives: By the end of this unit, students will be able to…
a) …take concise and effective reading notes.
b) …identify a novel’s key metaphors and motifs.
c) …find and interpret ambiguous quotations.
KEY VOCABULARY: Some of the most important terms to know for an adequate
reading of 1984 are:
a) Allegory: a story or an image that runs parallel to reality and thus comments on
that reality; for example, Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is an allegory because its
narrative (the story of the Escaped Man) comments on the way that people who
gain enlightenment and try to spread it are often shunned or destroyed by their
societies. (Adjectival form: “allegorical”)
b) Dystopia: a “negative utopia”; or, in other words, an image of a future society in
which things are as bad as they could be. Dystopias almost always relate to some
foul element of the present that has metastasized and taken control. (Adjectival
form: “dystopian”)
c) Totalitarianism: a system of government in which one person or party maintains
all control and power in the society.
d) Objective Reality: that which exists independent of individual consciousness; an
understanding that the world we experience is shared from one person to another;
the notion that your red is my red.
e) Subjective Reality: aka, perception; that which exists from a unique and individual
perspective; the notion that your red may be my blue.
MGC THEMES and KEY QUESTIONS:
a) Power: How does a single group of people gain such total power in society?
What are the methods that people use to gain control over other people? Why do
people submit to this power?
 Personal v. Principled Rebellion: What are the reasons why people
might not submit to that power? Is rebellion worth it?
b) Identity: Are we the product of our environment, or are we truly free to decide
who we want to be in life?
c) Interconnectedness: How is Orwell’s “global” system (outlined in Goldstein’s
book) prescient1 about the way things work today? In what way(s) was he wrong?
LINKED QUESTIONS:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
How does Orwell’s totalitarian future borrow from his understanding of the
French Revolution?
Does Orwell’s dystopia contradict the central ideas of the Enlightenment?
How?
What is the political orientation of 1984? Is it a left-wing novel or a rightwing novel? Which of the 19th century ‘isms can you connect to the novel?
Why?
What would dystopian capitalism look like? Dystopian socialism? Dystopian
fascism? Dystopian anarchism? Dystopian totalitarianism?
ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULES:
HONORS ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE:
[REMINDER: all Honors students must take detailed reading notes every night there is a
reading assignment. These notes will be checked every day.]
DUE Thursday, 20 September: READ in 1984, PART ONE, chapter 1-2 (pp. 1-29).
DUE Friday, 21 September: NO CLASS—One School One Book Day!
DUE Monday, 24 September: READ in 1984, PART ONE, chapters 3-6 (pp. 29-69).
DUE Wednesday, 26 September: NO SCHOOL—Happy Yom Kippur!
DUE Thursday, 27 September: NOTHING DUE.
DUE Friday, 28 September: READ in 1984, PART ONE, chapters 7-8 (pp. 69-104).
DUE Monday, 1 October: NO READING. Instead, WRITE a short response paper on
Part One of the novel. See separate assignment sheet.
1
Prescient (adj.): possessing foreknowledge of the way things will be in the future.
DUE Wednesday, 3 October: READ in 1984, PART TWO, chapters 1-3 (105-136). In
addition, PREPARE for Vocab Quiz #1.
DUE Thursday, 4 October: READ in 1984, PART TWO, chapters 4-8 (136-179).
DUE Friday, 5 October: READ in 1984, PART TWO, chapters 9-10 (179-224).
DUE Monday, 8 October: NO SCHOOL! Happy Columbus Day! Enjoy your
homework free weekend!
DUE Wednesday, 10 October: NOTHING DUE!
DUE Thursday, 11 October: READ in 1984, PART THREE, chapters 1-2 (225-260).
DUE Friday, 12 October: READ in 1984, PART THREE, chapter 3 (260-274). In
addition, PREPARE for Vocab Quiz #2.
DUE Monday, 15 October: READ in 1984, PART THREE, chapters 4-6 (274-297).
Done with reading! Yay! Sad!
DUE Wednesday, 17 October: PREPARE to lead Group Discussion. Collaborate this
weekend on a lesson plan for the class (use GoogleDocs!), making sure to plan ahead. I
will collect your lesson plan at the end of the period, and you will all receive a group
grade for it.
DUE Thursday, 18 October: WRITE central argument and paragraph arguments for
your 1984 argumentative essay. In addition, please COMPILE a list of ten ambiguous
quotations that you can use to prove your argument.
DUE Friday, 19 October: WRITE two rough body paragraphs of your 1984 essay.
Submit them to turnitin by 7am and print out hard copies.
DUE Monday, 22 October: WRITE remaining rough body paragraphs of your 1984
essay. Submit them to turnitin by 7am and print out hard copies.
DUE Wednesday, 24 October: REVISE rough draft and finish final draft. Submit to
turnitin by 7am today.
C1 ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE:
[REMINDER: all C1 students must take detailed reading notes every night there is a
reading assignment. These notes will be checked every day.]
DUE Thursday, 20 September: READ in 1984, PART ONE, chapters 1-2 (pp. 1-29).
DUE Friday, 21 September: NO CLASS! One School One Book Day!
DUE Monday, 24 September: READ in 1984, PART ONE, chapters 3-4 (pp. 29-49).
DUE Wednesday, 26 September: NO SCHOOL—Happy Yom Kippur!
DUE Thursday, 27 September: NOTHING DUE.
DUE Friday, 28 September: READ in 1984, PART ONE, chapters 5-6 (pp. 49-69).
DUE Monday, 1 October: READ in 1984, PART ONE, chapter 7 (pp. 69-81).
DUE Wednesday, 3 October: READ in 1984, PART ONE, chapter 8 (pp. 81-104). In
addition, PREPARE for Vocab Quiz #1.
DUE Thursday, 4 October: READ in 1984, PART TWO, chapters 1-2 (pp. 105-126).
DUE Friday, 5 October: READ in 1984, PART TWO, chapters 3-5 (pp. 127-156).
DUE Monday, 8 October: NO SCHOOL—Happy Columbus Day! Enjoy your
homework free weekend!
DUE Wednesday, 10 October: NOTHING DUE.
DUE Thursday, 11 October: READ in 1984, PART TWO, chapters 6-9 (pp. 157-217).
[Woah…did he really just assign 60 pages of reading for today??? Well, yes and no.
Pages 184-217 comprises a section of 1984 known as “The Book”, and this section of
text will be optional for C1 and C2 students. So in reality, this is more like 33 pages of
reading. Sound more reasonable?]
DUE Friday, 12 October: READ in 1984, PART TWO, chapter 10 and PART THREE,
chapter 1 (pp. 217-239). In addition, PREPARE for Vocab Quiz #2.
DUE Monday, 15 October: READ in 1984, PART THREE, chapters 2-3 (pp. 239-274).
DUE Wednesday, 17 October: READ in 1984, PART THREE, chapters 4-6 (pp. 274297). Done with reading! Yay!
DUE Thursday, 18 October: WRITE central argument and paragraph arguments for
your 1984 argumentative essay. In addition, please COMPILE a list of ten ambiguous
quotations that you can use to prove your argument.
DUE Friday, 19 October: WRITE two rough body paragraphs of your 1984 essay.
Submit them to turnitin by 7am and print out hard copies.
DUE Monday, 22 October: WRITE remaining rough body paragraphs of your 1984
essay. Submit them to turnitin by 7am and print out hard copies.
DUE Wednesday, 24 October: REVISE rough draft and finish final draft. Submit to
turnitin by 7am today.
C2 ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE:
[REMINDER: C2 students are not required to take notes. However, if you do choose to
take notes (which I heartily recommend), you will receive generous extra credit points.
We will talk about this extra credit assignment in our semi-weekly meetings.]
DUE Thursday, 20 September: READ in 1984, PART ONE, chapters 1-2 (pp. 1-29).
DUE Friday, 21 September: NO CLASS! One School One Book Day!
DUE Monday, 24 September: READ in 1984, PART ONE, chapters 3-4 (pp. 29-49).
DUE Wednesday, 26 September: NO SCHOOL—Happy Yom Kippur!
DUE Thursday, 27 September: NOTHING DUE.
DUE Friday, 28 September: READ in 1984, PART ONE, chapters 5-6 (pp. 49-69).
DUE Monday, 1 October: READ in 1984, PART ONE, chapter 7 (pp. 69-81).
DUE Wednesday, 3 October: READ in 1984, PART ONE, chapter 8 (pp. 81-104). In
addition, PREPARE for Vocab Quiz #1.
DUE Thursday, 4 October: READ in 1984, PART TWO, chapters 1-2 (pp. 105-126).
DUE Friday, 5 October: READ in 1984, PART TWO, chapters 3-5 (pp. 127-156).
DUE Monday, 8 October: NO SCHOOL—Happy Columbus Day! Enjoy your
homework free weekend!
DUE Wednesday, 10 October: NOTHING DUE.
DUE Thursday, 11 October: READ in 1984, PART TWO, chapters 6-9 (pp. 157-217).
[Woah…did he really just assign 60 pages of reading for today??? Well, yes and no.
Pages 184-217 comprises a section of 1984 known as “The Book”, and this section of
text will be optional for C1 and C2 students. So in reality, this is more like 33 pages of
reading. Sound more reasonable?]
DUE Friday, 12 October: READ in 1984, PART TWO, chapter 10 and PART THREE,
chapter 1 (pp. 217-239). In addition, PREPARE for Vocab Quiz #2.
DUE Monday, 15 October: READ in 1984, PART THREE, chapters 2-3 (pp. 239-274).
DUE Wednesday, 17 October: READ in 1984, PART THREE, chapters 4-6 (pp. 274297). Done with reading! Yay!
DUE Thursday, 18 October: WRITE central argument and paragraph arguments for
your 1984 argumentative essay. In addition, please COMPILE a list of ten ambiguous
quotations that you can use to prove your argument.
DUE Friday, 19 October: WRITE two rough body paragraphs of your 1984 essay.
Submit them to turnitin by 7am and print out hard copies.
DUE Monday, 22 October: WRITE remaining rough body paragraphs of your 1984
essay. Submit them to turnitin by 7am and print out hard copies.
DUE Wednesday, 24 October: REVISE rough draft and finish final draft. Submit to
turnitin by 7am today.