"All animals are equal but some animals
are more equal than others."
I am seeing this as something that can be used for ESL as introducing to the students some classic English literature and for Social Studies students where we have been discussing how social change happens. I will use this either for this summer's 2 week session or to break up the monotony. Unfortunately, because of their English level and lack of time, we aren't reading the novelia. They will read the plot summary and watch the 1954 cartoon version with Chinese subs.
Teaching
Goals:
1.
Teach the difference between a
metaphor and allegory.
2.
Help students see how they might participate
in sabotaging their own freedom and equality in their everyday lives, as well
as in government issues.
3.
Help students apply the allegory of
the story to Taiwanese history, Chiang Kai-Shek蔣中正, 228 二二八事件, The
White Terror Years 白色恐怖 and the
transition to democracy.
4.
Help students know the difference
between what propaganda is and what is fact.
5.
Teach them how to write a powerful
analytical argument on the abuse of power;
6.
Hold up a mirror for them so they
can see who they are as opposed to who they want to be.
"Time Magazine chose the book as one of the 100 best
English-language novels (1923 to 2005), and at number 31 on the Modern Library
List of Best 20th-Century Novels . It won a Retrospective Hugo Award in 1996
and is also included in the Great Books of the Western World ."
I.
Introduction:
A. Allegories are similar to metaphors: in both the author
uses one subject to represent another, seemingly unrelated, subject. However,
unlike metaphors, which are generally short and contained within a few lines,
an allegory extends its representation over the course of an entire story,
novel, or poem.
·
What are allegories and how are they used in
literature?
·
What makes an allegory effective?
B.
Historical Background
At the time when Animal Farm was published in the 1940s the rule of Stalin
and events in Eastern Europe would have been familiar to the average reader. Many
of the events at Manor Farm are closely linked to political events in Russia during the first half of the
twentieth century. The rebellion by the working animals of the farm against the
oppressive human farmer who lives off the fruits of their labor is directly related
to the Russian Revolution of 1917 (1917年俄國革命). Workers and peasants revolted against a
feudal system in which feudal lords lived luxuriously from the hard work of the
peasants who farmed on their lands.
C.
George Orwell喬治·歐威爾: He was born in British India and had
experience of working class England and the Spanish Civil War. He was concerned
about tyranny. He was as much
concerned with the repression of rights and the injustice of the economic
system in his own England as he was about Stalinist Russia. He is famous
for his political books and the word “Orwellian歐威爾主義” was coined from his writing successes.
D.
Vocabulary
1.
Beginner/ Intermediate/ Advanced/ According to Book Chapters
E. What is propaganda? 宣傳；鼓吹
At school we were fed communist/right-wing propaganda.在學校時我們被灌輸了右翼思想。
 |
| 1954 Movie Here |
II.
The Story
A.
Animal Farm and Allegory寓言, 諷喻
George Orwell’s 1945 novella, Animal Farm, is the story of an animal revolution革命. The animals of Manor Farm, encouraged by the dream of
the pig, Old Major, decide to change their miserable, short lives. They overthrow推翻Mr. Jones, their owner, and take over the farm. Does it
work out for them?
Allegory vs. Metaphor: Metaphor deals with only a singular idea
or symbol, and typically consists of a single phrase or sentence, while an
allegory tells a complete story that consists of different symbols related to
one another.
Metaphor EX: the world is
compared to a stage in which all men and women are mere actors. Other examples
include frozen with fear, killing him with kindness, my stomach was a bottom less pit.
Allegory EX: The story of the “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” is about a boy who claims to see a wolf when he does not. When he actually sees a wolf, no one believes him. The underlying story is that it doesn’t take much for a liar to lose the trust of others, which can hurt him in a time of need.
B.
What's
in a Name?
1. The
Characters人物: What importance and
symbolism is contained in Orwell’s choice of names? (Especially Napoleon and
Boxer)
a.
Old Major (pig) Lenin/Marx卡爾·馬克思
b.
Mr. Jones (drunk farmer) Tsar Nicolas尼古拉二世
c.
Napoleon (pig) Stalin, 1st antagonist
d.
Boxer
(workhorse) working class
e.
Benjamin
(donkey) Jews, intellectuals
f.
Snowball
(pig) Leon Trotsky列夫·達維多維奇·托洛斯基
g.
Squealer
(pig) 2nd antagonist
·
What is the metaphor隱喻, 暗喻 at the heart of Orwell’s allegorical
tale?
·
How do the characters support the
larger allegory of the story?
·
How is Orwell’s choice of animal and
name for each character important in contributing to the larger story?
 |
| 1999 Film Here |
C. Plot 情節
Manor Farm is a
formerly prosperous farm that has fallen on hard times, and
suffers under the poor leadership of its drunken and
mean owner, Mr. Jones.
One night, Old Major,
the prize boar and the second-oldest on the farm,
calls the animals on the farm for a meeting. He compares the humans to
parasites and encourages the animals to break free from their tyrant. He teaches
the animals a revolutionary song before collapsing dead mid-song to the
animals' horror.
The next morning, Jones neglects to
feed the animals for breakfast, so they decide to break into the storehouse to
help themselves. When Jones wakes up tries to scare them with his whip, the
animals revolt and drive Mr. Jones away from the farm, renaming it "Animal
Farm". They destroy every trace of the farmer's influence, mainly the
weapons used against them. The people of the nearby area rally against them,
but are beaten back. One of the head pigs, named Napoleon,
takes interest in the abandoned house, and even more so in a litter of puppies left motherless.
The Seven Commandments of Animalism
are written on a wall of the barn. The most important is the seventh, "All
animals are equal." All the animals work, but the workhorse, Boxer, his
friend Benjamin the donkey, and the film's protagonist, put in extra work. Snowball attempts to teach the animals how to read and write; food is
plentiful, and the farm runs smoothly. The pigs become the new elites, and set aside
special food items for their personal health. Napoleon takes the pups and
trains them privately.
When Snowball announces his idea for
a windmill, Napoleon opposes it. Snowball makes
a speech in favor of the windmill, then Napoleon has his dogs chase Snowball and kill him.
Afterwards, Napoleon declares himself leader with fat pig Squealer
and makes changes. Meetings will no longer be held, and instead, a committee of
pigs will run the farm. The animals eventually work harder, with the promise of
easier life, once the windmill is completed.
During this time, the pigs also
decide to start altering their own laws. "No animal shall sleep in
beds" is changed to "No animal shall sleep in beds with sheets" when the pigs
are discovered to have been sleeping in the old farmhouse. Soon, Napoleon's
greed drives him to negotiate with a local businessman named Mr. Whymper, for some
jellies and jams. The price is all of the hens' eggs.
When the hens discover this, they try to revolt by throwing their eggs at the
pigs. To instill fear, Napoleon holds a "trial", and a sheep and duck join the hens accused as traitors.
They are taken outside and murdered by the dogs, with their blood used to edit
a commandment about killing, to being legal "with cause". After their
deaths, the revolutionary song is banned because Napoleon claims the dream of
Animal Farm has been realized, and the revolution is over. He also threatens the
animals the death penalty if they sing it.
Growing jealous of Whymper's
financial success due to his trading with Animal Farm, an angry group of farmers
attack the farm, and Jones blows up the windmill, along with himself. Though
the animals win the battle, they do so at a great cost of lives, and Boxer is
wounded. Boxer works himself to death repairing the windmill. Napoleon sends
for a van to take Boxer away, which Benjamin recognizes as the "death
wagon" from Whymper's glue factory. That night, a supply of alcohol is
delivered. The next day, Squealer delivers a phony speech, claiming to have
been at Boxer's side at his deathbed, and states that his last words were to
glorify Napoleon. The upset animals see through the propaganda, and recognize how dictatorial Napoleon
has become, but are driven away by the snarling dogs before anything can be
done.
Years pass, and the pigs have now
learned to both walk upright and wear clothes. The Seven Commandments are
reduced to a single phrase: "All animals are equal, but some animals are
more equal than others." Napoleon holds a dinner party for
a group of outside pigs, who congratulate Napoleon on having the
hardest-working and lowest-consuming animals in the country. Napoleon gives a
toast to a future when pigs own and operate farms everywhere.
Benjamin, overhearing the
conversation, imagines the faces of all the pigs assuming into the likeness of
Mr. Jones, as he realizes the similarity between the two. Realizing that things
have become "worse than ever for ordinary animals", all of the
animals unite together to overthrow Napoleon. The animals march upon the
farmhouse, and with Napoleon's guard dogs drunk, the pigs are left helpless in
the face of their infuriated attackers.
Film Vs. Book (1954): The film closes with a portrait of Napoleon falling off the
wall, symbolizing his downfall, as he and his fellow pigs are trampled
underfoot, and Benjamin standing in grim triumph as he and his fellow animals
retake the farm.
III.
Post Reading/Viewing
A.
Discussion Questions
- What is Orwell trying to persuade the audience to see or understand?
- What is Orwell cautioning his audience against?
- How does the story of Boxer act as a persuasive argument against tyranny?
- What are the lessons to be learned from Napoleon’s behavior?
- What is the warning contained in the changes to the list of commandments?
- What is the lesson contained in the final, single commandment: All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others?
- What are the commandments Major gives the animals? Can you think of ways each of them could be considered a vice?
B.
Writing Activity
1.
Pick
one leader or one follower and analyze how that character destroys freedom and
equality on the farm.
2.
Writing Propaganda.
To get firsthand experience with propaganda, have students write a description of a school policy, real or imagined. First have them use an informational, objective style that would be appropriate for a newspaper. Then have them rewrite the article as propaganda, changing language, emphasis, and altering content to reflect the interests of an individual trying to manipulate student opinion. Have students present the main points of their articles in a speech.
To get firsthand experience with propaganda, have students write a description of a school policy, real or imagined. First have them use an informational, objective style that would be appropriate for a newspaper. Then have them rewrite the article as propaganda, changing language, emphasis, and altering content to reflect the interests of an individual trying to manipulate student opinion. Have students present the main points of their articles in a speech.
C. Class Social
Experiment
The
students they have rebelled against my authority in the classroom. I give them
a list of five things they have to accomplish before they can start functioning
as a literature class:
1.
Develop a motto or rallying song.
2.
Come up with a new name for the
class.
3.
Write commandments (at least four)
for this new classroom.
4.
Create a plan to maintain the
purpose of this group as that of a literature class.
5.
Begin functioning as one.
I then
walk to the back of the room, sit at my desk, take notes, and refuse to
acknowledge them when they ask me questions.
D. Extended
Lesson and More Projects
RESOURCES
Animal Farm (full text)
Penguin Teacher’s
Guide ++
Animal Farm Text of the novel in multiple formats: online,
printable, ePub, and Kindle.
Animal Farm Audio book, downloadable in MP3 and Ogg Vorbis
formats.
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