Activities for teaching

1. George Orwell
sexcrime

2.  BORN ERIC BLAIR IN INDIA IN 1903, George Orwell was
educated as a scholarship student at prestigious boarding
schools in England. Because of his background—he
famously described his family as “lower-upper-middle
class”—he never quite fit in, and felt oppressed and
outraged by the dictatorial control that the schools he
attended exercised over their students’ lives.
 After graduating from Eton, Orwell decided to forego
college in order to work as a British Imperial Policeman in
Burma. He hated his duties in Burma, where he was
required to enforce the strict laws of a political regime he
despised. His failing health, which troubled him
throughout his life, caused him to return to England on
convalescent leave.
 Once back in England, he quit the Imperial Police and
dedicated himself to becoming a writer.

3. Thinking
Relating to others
Using language, text and
symbols
Managing self
Participating and contributing
 Read the plot summary handout and , in pairs, answer the following:
1. List the 3 main characters.
2. Describe Big Brother.
3. Identify the language that the Party is trying to enforce.
4. Identify the 3 continents.
5. Where does Winston work and what does he do there?
6. Who is Emmanuel Goldstein?
7. Describe Winston and Julia’s relationship. How did they meet? How
do they conduct their relationship?
8. What happens when Winston meets O’Brien?
9. Describe what happens in Room 101.
10. What did O’Brien want from Winston all along?
Gathering
11. Read the Context on page 3 in your booklet. information

4. Gathering
information
1984 is a challenging and stimulating novel that was written by
Orwell as a warning against totalitarianism, however, since 1984
has passed, the warnings have become even more relevant than
in Orwell’s time.
Part one of the novel outlines the dismal life of Winston Smith
and the depressing tone of the novel. There is perpetual war and
surveillance is a “perfected art”. The protagonist starts to keep a
diary and so sets himself on the path to being an “enemy of the
party” that he serves.

5. Thinking
Relating to others
Using language, text and symbols
In groups, consider the following: Managing self
Participating and contributing
1. What does the opening sentence of the novel suggest? (Consider the
language used)
2. Why do you think Orwell named the protagonist Winston
Smith?(What is interesting about the name Smith? Which
famous person was named Winston?)
3. What is unusual about the party mottos? (pg.13)
Processing
4. What is the purpose of newspeak? (pg.2)
5. Who is Big Brother and what is the significance of his name?(pg.16)
6. How does the party control history? Do you think this is
possible?(pg.14)

6. Create a storyboard for the film played during the 2
minutes Hate.
Include:
 At least 8 squares
Thinking
 The party slogan Using language, text and
 Pictures symbols
Managing self
 Camera shots and angles
Applying

7.  1984 is one of Orwell’s best-crafted novels, and it remains one of the most powerful
warnings ever issued against the dangers of a totalitarian society. In
Spain, Germany, and the Soviet Union, Orwell had witnessed the danger of absolute
political authority in an age of advanced technology. He illustrated that peril harshly in
1984. Like Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (1932), 1984 is one of the most famous
novels of the negative utopian, or dystopian, genre. Unlike a utopian novel, in which
the writer aims to portray the perfect human society, a novel of negative utopia does
the exact opposite: it shows the worst human society imaginable, in an effort to
convince readers to avoid any path that might lead toward such societal degradation.
In 1949, at the dawn of the nuclear age and before the television had become a fixture
in the family home, Orwell’s vision of a post-atomic dictatorship in which every
individual would be monitored ceaselessly by means of the telescreen seemed
terrifyingly possible. That Orwell postulated such a society a mere thirty-five years into
the future compounded this fear.
 Of course, the world that Orwell envisioned in 1984 did not materialize. Rather than
being overwhelmed by totalitarianism, democracy ultimately won out in the Cold
War, as seen in the fall of the Berlin Wall and the disintegration of the Soviet Union in
the early 1990s. Yet 1984 remains an important novel, in part for the alarm it sounds
against the abusive nature of authoritarian governments, but even more so for its
penetrating analysis of the psychology of power and the ways that manipulations of
language and history can be used as mechanisms of control.
Gathering

8. Setting questions
1. List the 3 main settings.
2. Choose 1 and create a brainstorm of adjectives to
describe it.
3. Locate at least 3 quotes to support your descriptions.
4. Draw a picture of what you think your setting would
look like.
Thinking
Using language, text and
symbols Processing
Managing self Applying

9. 1. Oceania - One of the three
totalitarian superpowers that
rule the world using censorship
and pure terror.
2. Mr. Charrington’s rented
room - Winston and Julia’s
secret hideaway where they
come to make love and hide
from the telescreens and
constant watch of the Party.
3. Ministry of Love - A
rehabilitation center which uses
torture and brainwashing
technique in order to
completely conform its
prisoners into the thinking and
beliefs of the party only to be
Gathering later killed, sent to forced labor
camps, or even released back
into society.

10. In pairs, define/explain the following terms:
 Newspeak – include an example and it’s interpretation
 The Party
 The Proles (proletariat) Thinking
Relating to others
 Vaporisation Using language, text and
 Thoughtcrime symbols
Managing self
 Floating Fortress Participating and contributing
 Telescreen
 Big Brother
 Ingsoc Gathering
 Orthodoxy Processing
Report back to class.

11. Choose 5 of the terms and complete the chart:
Term Similarity today
Thinking
Using language, text and Processing
symbols Applying
Managing self

12. Thinking
Relating to others
Using language, text and symbols
Managing self
Participating and contributing
 In pairs, read through the notes and complete the
following:
1. Glue the picture of Winston into your book.
2. Define totalitarianism – you will need a dictionary.
3. List 6 characteristics that describe Winston.
4. List 3 crimes that Winston commits.
5. Explain a reason for Winston’s rebellion.
6. Discuss Winston as a heroic figure. What qualities
does he possess that could define him as one?
7. Report back to class. Gathering
Processing

13.  When Winston first meets Julia he doesn't know her name and thinks
she is a typical Party follower--a mindless, well-behaved robot. She
works as a mechanic on a novel-writing machine.
 She has short, thick, dark hair, a freckled face and is twenty-six years
old. Around her waist she wears a red sash, a symbol of the Junior Anti-
Sex League.
 Later Winston discovers that Julia merely participates in the Anti-Sex
League and other community activities as a cover and that
she, too, hates the Party.
 She is intelligent and less likely to be fooled by Party propaganda than
even Winston, but she is more interested in evading authority and
having a good time than trying to overthrow the government. Julia is a
highly sexual person.
Gathering

14.  In pairs, read through the notes and complete
the following:
1. Write as many adjectives around the picture of
Julia as you can to describe her.
2. In what ways is Julia a contradiction?
3. In what ways is Julia different from Winston?
4. From her first appearance as "the dark-haired
girl," through to the end of the novel, Julia is a
key figure in 1984. Trace the path of Julia in
relation to Winston's life; in what ways does
Thinking
she influence him? Did you trust her, initially?
Relating to others
Using language, text and Overall, do you feel she had a positive or
symbols negative impact upon him?
Managing self Gathering
Participating and contributing
Processing
Applying

15.  O'Brien has a very important, mysterious job. He is a large, well-built
man with a 'coarse, humorous, brutal' face. He wears spectacles.
 Winston has always hoped that O'Brien may be an ally and also against
Big Brother. As it turns out, he has been toying with Winston and is in
charge of his torture and 're-integration' in the Ministry of Love.
 The two of them do have a special kind of empathy, although O'Brien
can also be very cruel and is determined to force Winston to conform:
''Do you remember writing in your diary,' he said, 'that it did not matter
whether I was a friend or an enemy, since I was at least a person who
understood you and could be talked to? You were right. I enjoy talking
to you. Your mind appeals to me. It resembles my own mind except that
you happen to be insane.' (Part 3, Chapter 2, pg. 271)
Gathering

16. Thinking
Relating to others
Using language, text and
symbols
Managing self
Participating and
contributing
 In pairs, read through the notes and complete the
following:
1. Explain how O’Brien tricks Winston.
2. Why is O’Brien a mystery to the reader?
3. Explain what the quote, “They got me long ago.” tells us
about O’Brien.
4. Describe the role that O'Brien plays in Winston's life.
Why do you think that initially, Winston is drawn to
O'Brien? Why does he implicitly trust him, despite the
enormous dangers involved?
Processing

17. Gathering
Processing
1. In pairs, create a diagram to
compare and contrast the
Differences Similarities Differences following characters:
 Winston and Julia
 Winston and O’Brien
 O’Brien and Julia
Winston
2. Find 2 quotes to represent:
Julia
 Winston
 Julia
 O’Brien
3. Explain who says each quote
and why.
Thinking
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Using language, text and symbols
Managing self
Participating and contributing

18. Thinking
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Using language, text and
symbols
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Participating and
contributing
Character Conflict/problem How they coped Successful?
Winston Smith
Julia
O’Brien
Gathering
Processing
Applying

19. Thinking
Using language, text and
symbols
Managing self
Participating and
contributing
3. Write a magazine article of 150 words for the Victory Vixen
to describe and evaluate an important relationship in the
novel. Include the following:
 Explain why it is important.
 Explain what Winston learnt from Julia/O’Brien in the
novel.
 Describe how he changed.
 Explain and describe the effect this change had upon him.
 Evaluate the relationship by drawing at least 3 conclusions
from the above information.
Processing
Applying

20. Applying Thinking
Using language, text
and symbols
Managing self
Choose ONE of the following topics and write an essay
of AT LEAST 450 words for your answer.
Support your discussion with specific evidence from the
text.
 Analyse how conflict made the change in ONE main
character or individual realistic or believable.
 Analyse how an important setting helped you to
understand a main character’s actions or views in the
text you studied.
 Analyse how actions OR dialogue helped you to
understand ONE main character / individual.

21. Thinking
Relating to others
Gathering Using language, text and
symbols
Processing
Managing self
Applying Participating and
contributing
In pairs, choose one of the following topics to research:
 Totalitarianism
 Joseph Stalin
 George Orwell
 The World of 1984
 1984
Write your information in your own words and present your information
as a PowerPoint. Include at least 7 slides.
Complete the following questions in your journal:
1. Explain in what ways your experience of the events from this novel
differs from your experience of them during your research.
2. Explain why the writer may have chosen to present the story in this way.
3. Analyse how this relates to his choice of narrator.

22. Thinking
Relating to others
Using language, text and
symbols
Managing self
Participating and
contributing
Processing
Applying
 Read through the notes and, in groups, choose a theme and discuss
the following questions:
a) Discuss the meaning of your theme. What is it exactly?
b) Explain how this theme may be seen in today’s world.
c) What does Orwell want us to understand about this theme?
d) Identify any social issues that may be related to this theme. For
example, health issues; power and violence related issues.
e) Imagine that you live in a totalitarian society with these restrictions.
How would you react or behave?
 Present your answers to the class. The class will record your ideas.

23. Thinking
Using language, text and
symbols
Managing self
Gathering Participating and
Processing contributing
Applying
Theme Character who Example Significance
represents theme
The Dangers of
Totalitarianism
Psychological
Manipulation
Physical Control
Control of Information
and History
Technology
Language as Mind
Control

24.  Do you ever feel that your privacy is threatened by the
government, corporations, the media, or other
entities?
 Have you ever had any experiences in which you felt
that your rights to privacy were violated?
 Has anyone ever been in a situation that is
reminiscent of a situation that occurs in 1984?
Thinking
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Using language, text and
Processing
symbols
Applying
Managing self
Participating and contributing

25.  1984 Today
 Telescreens everywhere Closed circuit cameras
everywhere
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Using language, text and
symbols Gathering
Managing self Processing
Participating and contributing Applying

26.  Go to computer and, in pairs, complete Privacy
research assignment. You have 2 periods.
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Using language, text and symbols
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Participating and contributing
Gathering
Processing
Applying

27. 1. Divide the class into groups of approximately four students each. Ask each group to choose one of the privacy issues
they’ve learned about or assign each group a specific issue. Try to divide the issues so that groups cover a variety of
topics; you don’t want every group to cover drug testing or Internet privacy.
2. Have groups prepare scenes to perform in front of the class. Scenes need to include a variety of viewpoints on the issues
and must contain a reference to 1984. Group members should portray characters discussing and debating the group’s
specific privacy-related issue. Each scene should be no more than five minutes long.
Here’s a sample scenario:
An employee has been fired. The reason for the firing is that she allegedly arrived at work late too many times, but she’s
recently discovered that her boss read several of her supposedly private e-mails, in which she spoke of the boss in an
unflattering manner. The characters could include the fired employee, the employee’s lawyer, the boss, and the manager
who wrote the company’s e-mail policy. Either the employee or her lawyer would, in the course of their conversations with
the other characters, make a statement comparing the scenario to something that might have happened in 1984. As an
alternative, the boss or manager could make a statement explaining how the company’s policy differs from the those
described in 1984.
1. Have students perform their scenes in front of the class. After each performance, have the class briefly summarize the
issues raised in the scene.
Thinking
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symbols
Applying
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Participating and contributing

28. Read the following topics and write at least 200 words to answer all
3. Aim to link your discussion to at least 1 theme.
1. Discuss the idea of doublethink. How important is doublethink to
the Party’s control of Oceania? How important is it to Winston’s
brainwashing?
2. How does technology affect the Party’s ability to control its citizens?
In what ways does the Party employ technology throughout the
book?
3. Discuss the idea of Room 101, the place where everyone meets his or
her worst fear. Keeping in mind that for most of Winston’s time at the
Ministry of Love, he does not know what he will find in Room 101, what
role does that uncertainty play in making Room 101 frightening? Does
the cage of rats break Winston’s spirit, or does it merely play a symbolic
role? Thinking
Using language, text and Processing
symbols Applying
Managing self

29. Thinking
Using language, text
and symbols Applying
Managing self
Choose ONE of the following topics and write an essay of AT
LEAST 450 words for your answer.
Support your discussion with specific evidence from the text.
 Analyse how the author’s choice and presentation of setting
helped develop a main theme.
 Analyse how the ending of the text helped you understand the
purpose of the text more clearly.
 Analyse how the presentation of conflict helped develop your
understanding of an important issue.
Note: “Conflict” could include internal conflict as well as conflict
between characters, groups or ideas.

30.  Complete the work sheet.
Gathering
Thinking Processing
Using language, text and Applying
symbols
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31. 1. Read through the
handout.
2. In pairs, create a
poster to represent
Thinking one symbol or
Relating to others motif. Include:
Using language, text and
symbols  A visual
Managing self representation
Participating and
contributing  A quote
 An explanation of
its significance or
meaning in the
Processing novel
Applying
 Colour and
creativity!

32. Features of the text

33. Features are also referred to as techniques and include:
 The style of language used (poetic techniques)
 The viewpoint of the text
 Symbols and motifs
 Allusions

34. George Orwell wrote 1984 not necessarily as a “futuristic” novel but
as a criticism of life in the 20th century. Of course, other purposes
can be identified as well. However, Orwell’s narrative techniques do
support his purpose which is to write a satire .
Identify and evaluate (say how well it worked or what effect it had)
at least TWO techniques which George Orwell uses to shape
his work.
You could mention:
•direct, “spare”, journalistic style of writing
• use of satiric techniques (irony, humour, exaggeration)
• point of view
• use of symbolism

35.  Read through the handout & complete the following chart:
Motif Theme Significance

36.  Read the handout and complete the following chart:
Symbol Character Significance

37. Read through the handout and complete the chart:
Imagery Example/ Quote Characters involved Significance

38.  Explain how imagery added to your understanding of the
text. Include examples to support your discussion. Write at
least 150 words.
 List at least 3 reasons why the author included imagery to
1984. How did this add to the narrative?
 Explain how the themes in the novel are linked to specific
imagery.

39.  A simile is a direct comparison that always contains the
words as or like. A simile adds vivid, descriptive details.
 A metaphor is a comparison which does not use like or as.
A metaphor is a comparison which says one thing is
another.
 Metaphors are used to highlight certain qualities of the
thing being described.
 Personification is where a non-living object is given living
qualities, writing of it as if it were a living person.
Appearances, actions, thoughts, and feelings can all be
given human attributes. Personification is used to enliven
the writing and/or creating humour.

40.  Read through the chapter beginning on page
182 and record an example of a simile; a
metaphor; and personification.
 Explain the purpose of each in the context of
this chapter.
 Explain how each relates to one or more of the
themes in the text.

41. Alliteration is the repetition on consonant sounds at the
beginning of words placed closely together to create a sound
echo. Alliteration is used to:
 add humour or power
 create a mood or feeling
 help the flow or movement of language. emphasise
important points.
Onomatopoeia uses words that imitate and reproduce real-life
sounds and actions.
 Onomatopoeia helps to increase reality in the text by
adding another dimension by suggesting the sound as well
as.
Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds. The trick is not
to think of it as the same letter, but the same sound. Like
alliteration assonance allows the poem to flow more
quickly or it can slow the poem down as each word is
emphasised to reflect the meaning of that part of the poem.

42.  Read through the chapter beginning on page 144 and
record an example of alliteration; assonance; and
onomatopoeia.
 Explain the purpose of each in the context of this chapter.
 Explain how each relates to one or more of the themes in
the text.

43. •Identify the name of the language feature
used in this sentence and explain it’s effect.
•Explain why you think that the narrator
chooses this particular phrase to describe
the state of the island at that time.
•Record another such comparison in this
chapter and explain its purpose. Be sure to
consider the tone, meaning and significance
of your chosen sentence.

44.  How would you describe the author's tone in 1984?
Does it add to or detract from the character's
discourse?

45. Use the information we have covered to answer one of
the following questions.
 Analyse how ONE OR MORE symbols were used
to present an important idea or ideas.
 Analyse how features made the text particularly
effective and refer to ONE or TWO key parts in
the text to support your ideas.
 Analyse how techniques were used to show
changes in a main character or individual in a text
you have studied AND why these changes were
important to the text as a whole.