Animal Farm: Chapter 1

Recap learning:

1. What job did George

Orwell have in Burma?

2. What did he first

experience in Burma that

made him always side

with the working classes?

3. What war did he volunteer

to fight in?

4. For what purposes did

George Orwell write?

1.Totalitarianism a. Someone who is

guided by values and

principles

2. Dictator b. a short moral story

(often with animal

characters)

3. Idealist c. a form of government

in which the ruler is an

absolute dictator

4. Allegory d. A leader who has

sole and absolute

power

Foreshadowing: the presentation in a work of literature

of hints and clues that tip the reader off as to what

is to come later in the work. The writer gives the

reader a hint--just a shadow--of something to come

later in the story. . . . to plant clues, and to intensify

the suspense.

What predictions about characters and events

do you have?

The Power of Oratory

In chapter one, Old Major speaks eloquently to the animals. He reminds them of the way they are exploited and repressedby humans.Old Major uses the power of oratory:• to put forward his ideas and visions for the future• to persuade his audience about the ‘truth’ of his arguments

Oratory is inspired public speaking. An orator uses techniques such as:•Rule of three•Rhetorical question•Emotive language•Hyperbole•Repetition•imperatives

Name of

rhetorical device

Example

1. Rule of three a. Poor innocent creatures slaughtered

2. Rhetorical

question

b. My sister uses so much makeup, she broke a

chisel trying to get it off last night

3. Emotive

language

c. “Friends, Romans, Countrymen” – William

Shakespeare in Julius Caesar

“Blood, sweat and tears” – General Patton

Our priorities are “Education, Education,

Education” – Prime Minister, Tony Blair

4. hyperbole d. It is vital to stay alert!

5. repetition e. How do you solve a problem like Maria?

6. imperatives f. Our priorities are “Education, Education,

Education” – Prime Minister, Tony Blair

"Now, comrades, what is the nature of this life of ours? Let us face it:

our lives are miserable, laborious, and short. We are born, we are given

just so much food as will keep the breath in our bodies, and those of us

who are capable of it are forced to work to the last atom of our strength;

and the very instant that our usefulness has come to an end we are

slaughtered with hideous cruelty. No animal in England knows the meaning

of happiness or leisure after he is a year old. No animal in England is

free. The life of an animal is misery and slavery: that is the plain truth.

"But is this simply part of the order of nature? Is it because this land

of ours is so poor that it cannot afford a decent life to those who dwell

upon it? No, comrades, a thousand times no! The soil of England is

fertile, its climate is good, it is capable of affording food in abundance

to an enormously greater number of animals than now inhabit it. This

single farm of ours would support a dozen horses, twenty cows, hundreds of

sheep--and all of them living in a comfort and a dignity that are now

almost beyond our imagining. Why then do we continue in this miserable

condition? Because nearly the whole of the produce of our labour is stolen

from us by human beings. There, comrades, is the answer to all our

problems. It is summed up in a single word--Man. Man is the only real

enemy we have. Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and

overwork is abolished for ever.

Find examples of persuasive techniques

in Old Major’s speech. Find examples of

1. Rule of three

2. Rhetorical question

3. Emotive language

4. hyperbole

5. repetition

6. imperatives