Dear Incoming Accelerated English 9 Student: Welcome to high school and Accelerated English 9! This year we will embark on many adventures, have some fun learning together, and explore the world of literature and composition. I have high expectations for my students and your learning opportunities begin this summer. I have selected one book and a few introductory pieces for your summer reading pleasure. All of these pieces are required reading. Introductory pieces to read this summer: • The Russian Revolution • An Allegory: The Russian Revolution and Animal Farm • Animal Farm – About the Author Book to read this summer: • Animal Farm by George Orwell *You may checkout copies of this book from the OHS office. If you would like to purchase a copy, the book is available at most bookstores or on most devices. Assignments: You are expected to read the book and complete the discussion questions by Friday, September 2nd. You will also be responsible for creating five of your own discussion questions. Since deep thought, analysis, and discussion are major elements of this course, you will use your responses to the discussion questions in a Socratic discussion on Tuesday, September 6th. Because we will be having a Socratic discussion, it is critical that you READ the novel. Spark Notes does NOT replace reading the book and will not provide you with sufficient knowledge to aid in your Socratic discussion. Responses must be completed no later than Friday, September 2nd • Responses should be clearly handwritten or typed and printed before class • Be sure you respond to all parts of each discussion question You will receive points for your responses and for your participation in our Socratic discussion. Failure to complete your reading and responses will result in lost points and confusion. Packets with assignment details are available in the main office at OHS. You may also view a copy on the Student Services page of the district website. My email: [email protected] Student Services: http://www.onalaska.k12.wi.us/schools/high/students/ Feel free to email me with any questions. I hope you have a fantastic summer and I cannot wait to meet you! Sincerely, Ms. Wienkes Animal Farm – About the Author Although George Orwell requested that no biography be written about him, it is necessary to know a little about him if you are to understand his writings. He was born Eric High Blair in India in 1903, the middle child of an English government official stationed there. At the age of eight, he was sent to an expensive prep school in England. He was accepted at a reduced tuition rate, and this caused him to be treated as a sort of “charity case” by his snobbish peers. Because of this, his life was marked by a constant sense of failure, and a feeling that the rich and powerful made all the rules in life. These feelings caused him to identify with the underdog and sympathize with the victims of poverty. In 1936, at the age of 33, Orwell went to Spain to write newspaper articles about the Spanish Civil War, but instead he joined a military group that was trying to revolt and overthrow Spain’s government. This group was backed by Trotsky-­‐ite Communists. He was wounded severely, and was discharged from the hospital just in time to escape from the country. He was lucky to get away, because the Communists had outlawed the military group that he had been a part of. Feeling let down by the Communists, Orwell figured that all revolutions fail because those who get the power are corrupted by it. This theme is found in all his writings. When he returned to England, Orwell and his wife lived in a small village where they kept chickens, geese, and goats, and grew vegetables and fruits. His friends recall that he had a great sense of responsibility for the well-­‐being of the animals, and was especially fond of horses. Orwell’s health prevented him from serving in the second world war, but he ended up working for England’s British Broadcasting Company (BBC), which used propaganda to make “our side” look good. In World War II, Russia was on “our side.” During the war, England gave orders to the BBC to speak out in favor of Communism and make it sound really good. Of course, George Orwell was not very happy about doing that. Orwell wrote Animal Farm during the closing years of the war, and finally got it published in 1945. It had been rejected by four publishers because of its theme. Publication of the book was timely because it was just at this point people were beginning to find out about the true aims and methods of the Russian Communists. It is generally agreed that Orwell’s purpose in writing Animal Farm was to warn the world about the dangers of totalitarianism as well as to poke fun at (satire) people who think a perfect society is possible. From his own experiences, Orwell developed this idea: Power always corrupts, and therefore revolutions always fail. New masters are always corrupted by new power. In other words, ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY. Source: "About the Author." Lawndale High School. Web. <http://www.lawndalehs.org/ourpages/auto/2006/9/28/1159420313445/Animal_Farm_1_.pdf>. How to Write Successful Responses: • Support your ideas with textual evidence. o In order to be successful in your Socratic discussion, it is essential that you are able to make specific references to the text to support and defend your ideas. § This could mean including direct quotes or referencing specific events in the book. • Responses should be insightful, logical, and contribute to deeper construction of meaning. o Because the purpose of a Socratic discussion is to dive deeper into the text, it is essential that you are able to think beyond the basic level of comprehension. This will require you to utilize your critical thinking skills to find deeper meaning and connections within the book and the world around us. Animal Farm Discussion Questions 1. What are the qualities of a good leader? What might be the reasons why a government might be overthrown? 2. Imagine how Snowball may have run things if he had gotten rid of Napoleon. Would things have been different? Are there indications that Snowballs ideas for running the farm would have proved more beneficial to the animals? Or would things have turned out the same? Explain your reasoning. 3. Moses discusses Sugarcandy Mountain, which is symbolic of heaven to the animals, giving them something to look forward to in life. What are some things you personally look forward to in your future? 4. What is your response to the pigs using propaganda and manipulating the facts and figures to show the other animals they are producing much more than before? What are some ways we have seen this in real life? 5. Discuss a part of your life or its surroundings that have changed significantly over the years. 6. Do you believe that total equality is possible, or would human nature assure that some people would eventually dominate others? Explain your reasoning. 7. “Surely there is no one among you who ants to see Jones come back?” Throughout the animals’ reign on the farm, Napoleon and Squealer dangle the possibility of Jones’ return as a constant danger keeping most of the other animals in fear, and thus, submission. Do you think that this was a valid threat? Do you feel, overall, the animals were better or worse off once they were in control of the farm? Explain your reasoning. 8. Throughout the novel, the natural characteristics of each animal figure heavily in with their motives and pronouncements. How do the actions of Napoleon (a pig), Boxer (a horse), Benjamin (a donkey), and the dogs and sheep reflects the traits normally associated with the animal? Do you feel that Orwell purposely chose certain types of animals to assume certain roles? Explain your reasoning. 9. Repeatedly, the animals sacrifice themselves in order to complete the windmill, only to see it destroyed time and again. What, if any, symbolic role does the windmill play? How do you account for the pigs’ insistence that it be built and re-­‐built? Explain your reasoning. 10. Among the various characters in the novel, whom do you feel is the noblest or most worthy? Which animal would be best suited to lead a group against Napoleon and the pigs? What qualities would this animal need to possess to do so? Explain your reasoning. 11. Do you find it strange that Molly, the narcissistic and lazy horse, successfully leaves the farm and goes to live among humans, even though she is fully aware of the “evil” that Man represents? Explain your reasoning. 12. The novel ends with a chilling passage, where Clover notices something odd about humans and pigs in the farmhouse: “Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which. What is Orwell saying here? How did you interpret this final scene? Explain your reasoning. 13. In reading Animal Farm, Lord Action’s (universally considered to be one of the most learned Englishmen of the nineteenth century) famous pronouncement “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” may come to mind. How and why is this statement applicable to the course of events in the novel? Explain your reasoning. 14. Explain how Animal Farm can be seen as a fable (story conveying a moral) even though it does not have a moral stated at the end. Provide a moral of your own and explain it in terms of the novel. 15. Animal Farm is full of subtle and not so-­‐subtle lessons on blind conformity and the misuse of power. What are some of the lessons you’ve personally taken away from the novel regarding education of the masses, knowledge of history, idealist thought, and class structure? Has the novel changed your worldwide views in any way? Use the space below to write five discussion questions of your own. These questions should be open-­‐ended, require higher thinking, and provoke the interest of your peers. We will be using these discussion questions in our Socratic discussion. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.