animal farm gcse essay questions

• Animal Farm

George Orwell

• Literature Notes
• Essay Questions
• Animal Farm at a Glance
• Book Summary
• About Animal Farm
• Character List
• Summary and Analysis
• Character Analysis
• Character Map
• George Orwell Biography
• Critical Essays
• The Russian Revolution
• Major Themes
• Full Glossary
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• Cite this Literature Note

Study Help Essay Questions

1. Compare the lives of the animals when they live under Jones and under Napoleon. In what ways has Napoleon proven himself a similar tyrant?

2. Closely examine old Major's speech to the animals in Chapter 1 and discuss the ways in which he uses language to persuade his listeners.

3. Explain how one of the novel's minor characters (such as Mollie or Moses) illuminates Orwell's major themes and issues.

4. Examine Orwell's tone when describing the way the animals think of themselves under Napoleon's rule: How does Orwell's tone add to the novel's humor?

5. Explain how the human characters contribute to the novel's themes and issues.

6. Based upon Animal Farm , what deductions can a reader make about the kind of political system of which Orwell would approve?

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Animal Farm

By george orwell, animal farm essay questions.

How is Animal Farm a satire of Stalinism or generally of totalitarianism?

Answer: A good way to answer this question is to pick a specific example of totalitarianism in any country, historical or current, and explain how the ideas Orwell puts forth in Animal Farm apply to it. Go back and forth between the historical facts and the events of the novel. Note the actions of the leaders, the mechanisms of fear and power, and the reactions of the people over time.

Elucidate the symbolism inherent in the characters' names.

Answer: The symbolism ranges from the obvious to the more cryptic. Compare Napoleon with the historical Frenchman and Moses with the figure from the Bible. Take Snowball as representative of something that grows larger and more forceful. Squealer has something to do with the spoken word. Boxer suggests strength. Make sure to consider each character at various stages of the story and to use specific examples from the text.

What does the narrator do, or fail to do, that makes the story's message possible?

Answer: The narrator lets the story tell itself to a large degree by relating what is said and done without moralization and reflection. The narrator speaks from the perspective of the animals other than the pigs, a kind of observer who can point out the significant details without interfering. The reader then can draw his own conclusions about the symbolism, concordance with historical events, and the awfulness of the events themselves.

What does the windmill represent?

Answer: The windmill's symbolic meaning changes during the course of the novel and means different things to different characters. It is to be for electricity but ends up being for economic production. As it is built, it is a locus of work without benefit and a medium of the pigs' power. For the humans, it is a dangerous symbol of the growing power of the farm. Consider also the relationship between the windmill and the biblical Tower of Babel.

What role does the written word play in Animal Farm ?

Answer: Literacy is a source of power and a vehicle for propaganda. Some examples to consider are the Seven Commandments, "Beasts of England," the child's book, the manuals, the magazines, and the horse-slaughterer's van.

Examine the Seven Commandments and the way they change during the course of the novel from Old Major's death to the banquet Napoleon holds with the farmers.

Answer: The commandments begin as democratic ideals of equality and fraternity in a common animal identity, but they end in inequality when some animals are "more equal" than others. As the pigs take more control and assume their own liberties, they unilaterally change the commandments to fit their own desires. Consider especially the interactions between Clover, Muriel, and Squealer surrounding the Seven Commandments, determining how easy it is to change the fundamental rules of society on the farm, where most of the animals can do no better than to remember that four legs are good and two legs are bad.

Would Animal Farm be more effective as a nonfiction political treatise about the same subject?

Answer: Given the success of the novel, it is hard to see why Orwell might have chosen a different genre for his message. A nonfiction account would have had to work more accurately with the history, while Orwell's fiction has the benefit of ordering and shaping events in order to make the points as clear as possible from a theoretical and symbolic point of view. A political treatise could be more effective in treating the details and theoretical understandings at greater length and with more nuances, but the readership and audience for such a work would therefore become quite different as well, so the general population would be less likely to hear Orwell's warnings.

Can we perceive much of Orwell himself in the novel?

Answer: Orwell seems to be most like the narrator, who tells the story from the perspective of experience with the events related. We know from Orwell's history that he was a champion of the working class and did not much like the idea of being in a role where he had to exercise power to control people under him. Orwell seems to be a realist about the prospects for the socialist ideals he otherwise would promote.

Compare Animal Farm with Orwell's other famous novel, 1984 .

Answer: Consider the ways in which both novels are allegories with a political message against the evils of state control and totalitarianism. How does totalitarian control affect the illiterate versus those who are educated and wish to exercise their human rights? Compare the political regimes in the two novels. Does the relative anonymity of the leaders affect the reactions of the people?

Pick a classic fairy tale or fable and examine it in comparison with Animal Farm .

Answer: A good way to answer such a question is to consider the function of animals as characters. For instance, each of the Three Little Pigs expresses a different approach to planning for the future and managing risk, which can lead to an analysis of how each character represents a moral or physical quality. In terms of narration, note the degree to which the narrator lets the characters speak in their own voices and lets the plot play out without editorializing. In terms of structure, consider how critical events shatter the calm (such as getting lost in the woods or encountering an enemy) and lead to a moral once some kind of order (for better or for worse) is restored.

Animal Farm Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Animal Farm is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Animal Farm contains mainly extremely effective scenes. Some are humorous or witty, others bitterly ironic or pessimistic . Which scene did you find most effective and memorable? why?

A seen that sticks with me is a terrifying one: I suppose that is why it has stayed with me for so long. The scene is when Boxer the horse. One afternoon, a van comes to take Boxer away. It has “lettering on its side and a sly-looking man in...

What is the relationship between Snowball and Napoleon?

Both Snowball and Napoleon are leaders. They see leadership in each other. Napoleon sees Snowball's loyalty to the animals as a threat to his dictatorship. While Snowball works for the good of the farm, Napoleon works only for his own interests.

Essay question is : Power cannot be used for good.it can only be used for keeping power. Agree or disagree in relation to animal farm

Unfortunately we cannot write essays for you on this furum. Check out The Inevitability of Totalitarianism at the GradeSaver link below:

Study Guide for Animal Farm

Animal Farm study guide contains a biography of George Orwell, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Animal Farm
• Animal Farm Summary
• Animal Farm Video
• Character List

Essays for Animal Farm

Animal Farm essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Animal Farm by George Orwell.

• Bit and Spur Shall Rust Forever: Hollow Symbols in George Orwell's Animal Farm
• Consent to Destruction: the Phases of Fraternity and Separation in Animal Farm
• Character Textual Response - Benjamin
• Non vi, sed verbo (Not by force, but by the word)
• Comparison of Values: Animal Farm and V for Vendetta

Lesson Plan for Animal Farm

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Animal Farm
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Animal Farm Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for Animal Farm

• Introduction
• Plot summary
• Genre and style

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Essay planning and preparation: 'Animal Farm'

This excellent planning grid provides a useful scaffold for essay planning and time exam practice. Students look at an exam-style question, consider how to write the introduction, select key quotations, explore the command words and consider relevant contextual information. 

Includes a set of suggested answers in bullet point format to help students to develop their own responses.  

Works well if combined with Character and theme quotation revision  as an initial revision activity, reviewing key quotations in the novella. 

Exam-style question: How does Orwell use the animals to explore ideas about equality/inequality?

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GCSE: Animal Farm

• English Literature
• Prose Fiction
• George Orwell
• Animal Farm

Animal Farm.

Animal Farm Orwell's use of simple characters to express the effect of power and revolutions on normal people can be interpreted in two ways. For some readers, Animal Farm could be seen as an innocent fable or fairy story. However it hides a much more complex story a much more complex story. Its deeper meaning is that of revolutions, dictatorships and also a warning of what can happen under a totalitarian state. Orwell uses the fable as a way of putting the story across in a simple, understandable fashion. The fable style makes the story more accessible to a large audience. Animal Farm was written by Orwell to put his vies of revolution across. He questions if there is any positive outcome from rebellion or revolution and if it does actually make everyone have equal benefits from the poor to the rich and leaders. Orwell's representation of historical figures is accurate. Each character is a portrait of a person involved in the Russian Revolution and its progression to dictator-led communism. The book is written in a way so we almost instantly loathe the pigs as characters and also for what they represent. They never worked in the fields but told the other animals what to do. Napoleon is the clear leader almost from the beginning of the story. Napoleon is described by Orwell as: "not much of a talker, but with a reputation for getting his own way." Snowball seems a more

• Word count: 858
• Level: GCSE
• Subject: English

Animal Farm: About the Author; Overview; Setting; Themes and Characters; Literary Technique; Historical and Social Context; Topics for Discussion; Questions; Related Titles and Adaptations

Animal Farm Published 1945 Outline About the Author; Overview; Setting; Themes and Characters; Literary Technique; Historical and Social Context; Topics for Discussion; Questions; Related Titles and Adaptations I ABOUT THE AUTHOR Born Eric Arthur Blair in Motihari, Bengal, India, on June 25, 1903, George Orwell was the son of a British civil servant and belonged to what he considered "the lower-upper-middle class". He returned to England with his mother in 1905 and attended preparatory school before winning a scholarship to Eton College, where he first demonstrated an apparent animosity towards convention and authority. Orwell decided against continuing his studies at either Oxford or Cambridge and instead enlisted with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, a decision that would permanently affect his philosophical perspective, political consciousness, and creative legacy. Orwell returned to Britain in 1927, ostensibly on leave after serving overseas for five years. Within a month of his arrival he had resigned from his post, announcing to his parents his intention of becoming a writer. Attracted to a bohemian, artistic lifestyle, he travelled to Paris in 1928, where he lived for 18 months. He started a career in journalism in Paris, but did not fully realize his literary potential until after his return to Britain. His work began to appear in the journal Adelphi, most

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Analysis of the Christian (or another religion) teachings to the ethical debate about animal rights

Analysis of the Christian (or another religion) teachings to the ethical debate about animal rights "Animals are God's creatures, not human property, nor utilities, nor resources, nor commodities, but precious beings in God's sight. ... Christians whose eyes are fixed on the awfulness of crucifixion are in a special position to understand the awfulness of innocent suffering. The Cross of Christ is God's absolute identification with the weak, the powerless, and the vulnerable, but most of all with unprotected, undefended, innocent suffering." --Rev. Andrew Linzey1 The main purpose of this essay is to identify those religious points which could support arguments for animal rights in general, and vegetarianism in particular. I will point out a variety of areas within each faith that activists will find most useful in making a case for vegetarianism (and by extension, other animal rights issues). The traditions of each religion will find some arguments more compelling than others. Identifying the points which each particular faith will or will not be likely to support will prevent activists from wasting time on some approaches and allow them to focus on those with the most promise. Once these areas are identified, the possibility arises of establishing an ecumenical front of religious protest and boycott. While the support of one group or denomination would be a boost to

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"Animal Farm is an allegory about the disasters that arise from revolution. Do you agree?"

Shekhar Shastri Text Response "Animal Farm is an allegory about the disasters that arise from revolution. Do you agree?" George Orwell's, political satire 'Animal Farm' is undoubtedly an allegorical tale about the disasters that arise from revolution. Through the events that take place on the farm, we see the animals experience these disasters as their lives are dictated by their leader and they fall victim to the consequences of their own uprising against their abusive master, Farmer Jones. However, it is also a tale about corruption and the terrible ramifications that results from communism and a story that runs parallel to the Russian Revolution. The novel traces the revolt of the animals which is initiated by their leader, Old Major when he gives rousing a speech declaring "misery and slavery" because the animals are being exploited by their human masters. As the animal-driven farm develops, we see the establishment of a social order known as 'Animalism'. However as the story progresses the farm begins to adopt the human way of operation by a political system, run by the pigs, and their tyrannical leader Napoleon. Perhaps the greatest disaster that arises from the animal's rebellion is the fact that they end up in a worse situation, under the control of Farmer Jones than that Napoleon. After the revolution, Napoleon, the imposing dictator, controls them through fear

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"Animal Farm" By George Orwell.

"Animal Farm" By George Orwell "Animal Farm" is a famous novel written by George Orwell after the Second World War. The novel was controversial at the time it was written as characters in the book represent important figures in the Russian revolution. The story is about rebellious and ill-treated animals overthrowing Manor Farm but failing to cooperate fully and continuing to run the farm on there own. There are many events that lead the downfall of their farm and these events become more and more clear as the novel progresses. Firstly, the rebellion fails due to the lack of realism in the speech that Old Major gives the farm. He speaks of a day when there are no human beings and animals run their own farms and provide their own food. During his speech of equality and freedom a dog attempted to kill a rat and the barn was divided into separate groups, each group containing a different species of animal. Furthermore, the cat votes on both sides to decide if rats are 'Comrades'. This shows that even that early on in the rebellion animals were being selfish. His speech is to idealistic although the animals do not realise this at the time. Nevertheless the animals set to work and begin to plan a rebellion to overthrow the farm and become free of arduous labour. The education and learning techniques on the farm is also a major factor in the failure of the

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"Animal Rights, Human Wrongs" vs

"Animal Rights, Human Wrongs" vs. "The Damned Humans Race" Baraka Star Williams English 102-01 Dr. Ngwang August 1, 2005 "Animal Rights, Human Wrongs" vs. "The Damned Human Race" "Animal Rights, Human Wrongs" by Tom Regan and "The Damned Human Race" by Mark Twain are more similar than different. Both of the authors are informing the readers about the mentality of some human beings in regard to animals. One of the authors, Tom Regan provides several examples of the tactics man uses to harm animals. Mark Twain's method compares so called lower animal to the human being. In both stories, the way that man treats animals is injustice. Tom Regan tells how human beings have developed a more advance technology that will kill a whale in the matter of minutes. When the whale is captured, he fights and struggles with the crew men until his death. The whale is used for things as small as candle wax, perfume, soap, oil, pet food, margarine, and fertilizer. The rest of the remains are disregarded. An innocent animal is killed to provide man with unnecessary products. Similar to the whale, Mark Twain discovered a case when buffalos where hunted and wasted. Some hunters organized a buffalo hunt to eat and for entertainment. The hunter slaughters seventy- two buffalos; however only one buffalo was eaten, and the others were left to decay. Once again a group of animals was killed for

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"Describe the Personalities of 3 characters in animal farm and explain how Orwell uses the fictional characters to criticise different types of human beings."

"Describe the Personalities of 3 characters in animal farm and explain how Orwell uses the fictional characters to criticise different types of human beings." Introduction In my essay I will relate to the 3 characters that I have chosen from George Orwell's Animal Farm. The 3 characters that I a have chosen are Napoleon, Squealer and Boxer. These characters are all related to the Russian generals during the communist actions. I will give details and information about the characters to identify them and explain all about them and their actions, then I will find quotations for each character to see how they relate to human beings and Russian generals to see how they relate to different types of human beings and Russian generals from the revolution of 1917. Napoleon Napoleon is a large fierce-looking Berkshire Boar, the only Berkshire on the farm. He has an ongoing reputation for getting his own way because of his fierce nature and short temper. Napoleon is very much associated with Joseph (the leader of the Soviet Union, backed by the KGB), as he becomes more and more selfish, brutal and dictatorial. Like Stalin, Napoleon is a dictator. Dictators have to start their Political careers somewhere and then they have to rise to power and stay in power, using force if necessary, without care for any individual. Napoleon begins by being a part of the Pig Elite; he then gathers a

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How does Old Major's speech create both the energy and focus for a rebellion, and the seeds of failure of the utopian dream?

Q4: How does Old Major's speech create both the energy and focus for a rebellion, and the seeds of failure of the utopian dream? Old Major was a well-respected figure in the farm before he passed away. As the father of 400 odd pigs in the farm and a prize Middle While boar boosted his reputation and won the respect from other animals. Therefore, he could drive any ideas into the animals with much ease and few obstacles, unlike Snowball and Napoleon later in the story, when the two prominent powers were in control. Also, Old Major is an eloquent speaker with mastery over various speaking tactics, for example, employing rhetorical questions to emphasize his stand; appealing to emotions by referring to how Clover's new-born babies were taken away; and inspiring fear by his mention of how man would dispose of Boxer when he no longer had any use. Of course, as the story progresses, we saw how ironic and prophetic his words were when Napoleon sent Boxer to the knackers. Besides his dazzling display of oratory, his charisma was another factor that helped him to rouse the excitement, joy, rage and hatred of the animals. The way George Orwell conveyed the event was through personification, when the animals seemed to possess human feeling to sense these emotions. His idea of "animalism" promises to break the vicious cycle of man's control and lead to a Utopian road for the animals

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(GCSE) Animal Farm -"What do you think of the pigs in the novel?"

What do you think of the pigs in the novel? Orwell makes it clear from the start that the pigs are supposed to represent something and his casual language makes the novel very clear and it is easy to understand. The novels' main focus is the pigs and how they use the death of Old Major and the Rebellion to manipulate and control Animal farm. I think Old Major gives the impression of a very important figure and respected animal at the start of the book, he represents Karl Marx who inspired the idea of the revolt in Russia. The other pigs that played a big role in the novel were similar to the people who wanted to be in the"inner circle" and would encourage Stalin's ways or use propaganda. Snowball who represents Trotsky who had good intentions for the rebellion and wanted "Permanent Revolution". Napoleon shows the character of Stalin, who used the rebellion to manipulate the people of Russia. At the time Stalin sat back and then turned the people of Russia against Trotsky which is mirrored in Animal Farm. The pigs rise to power was very quick as they jumped to the chance to control the farm and Old Major was very respected, so they took it upon themselves to enforce his rules. The pigs were very intelligent and knew they had to organize and make plans for the Rebellion to succeed. In the book it says "The work of teaching and organizing the others fell naturally upon the

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Why Did George Orwell Write Animal Farm?

Why Did George Orwell Write Animal Farm? Before I can answer the question - 'Why did George Orwell write animal farm,' I must explain some of the history from the time George Orwell lived in. The novel - 'Animal Farm' is based upon reality. Although there is no actual reference, it is easy to see that the book is based upon the Russian Revolution. The story of the Russian Revolution is told as an animal fable. There are several different reasons why George Orwell has chosen to write the book in this way. Here I will outline three of the main reasons. The first reason is to simplify human behaviour and events, which can become complicated when told as reality. The second reason is to allow us, the reader, to stand back from the story, and understand easier, the actions of the animals. The third and final reason that I am going to outline is to express that although the animal world is unlike our world, it is also very much the same. This statement may be seen as a contradiction, but if you look into the story in more depth, you can see that the behaviour of the animals, especially the pigs, is similar to that of the human race. By describing the Russian Revolution as an animal fable, George Orwell is able to demonstrate how changes that seem good at first, can also turn bad. The novel - 'Animal Farm' shows these changes, when the animals decide to dismiss their current

• Word count: 2759

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