Animal Farm Reading Schedule

ANIMAL FARM OVERVIEW

Humanities 9

EQ: What messages is George Orwell sending to readers through his book, Animal Farm?

Animal Farm is an allegory, in which animals are the main characters, but they symbolically represent real people and events, and help to send a message. We are reading this book at a fast pace, with lots of fun assignments. Please be serious in keeping up with the reading, and be sure to come to office hours if any assignment is unclear or confusing!

A. CHAPTER WORK

      Post-It Notes: As you read, you should keep track of the months and seasons. Each time you see mention of a particular month or season (such as “three months later…”), put a post-it note in the spot and write the month or season on the post-it note. This will help you with your final project later! We will periodically check your post-it notes for 20 points. 

      Summary and Analysis: Each night, you will be responsible for making a t-chart and writing about the chapter you read. On the left side of the t-chart, you will write a 4-6 sentence summary (no shorter, no longer!). On the right side of the t-chart, you will reflect on what you read in the chapter, by answering one of the questions below. You MUST include at least one quote from the nightly reading.

Reflection questions:

1.    What are the dangers of illiteracy?

2.    How does power corrupt people?

3.    Why is a utopia so difficult to achieve?

B. QUIZZES:

YOU WILL HAVE A QUIZ ON EACH CHAPTER!  These are worth 10 points. If we read a chapter in class and then you read a chapter for homework, both chapters will appear on the next day’s quiz. Do your reading!

C. READING SCHEDULE:

Chapters must be read and the work completed before the beginning of class the day they are due. Therefore, do NOT try to do your homework during SSR! 

                                                                       

Chapter	Reading & Chapter work DUE:
2	Wednesday, 1/25
3	In class Wednesday 1/25
4	Thursday 1/26
5	Friday 1/27
6	Monday 1/30
7	In class Monday 1/30
8	Tuesday 1/31
9	Wednesday 2/1
10	Tuesday 2/2

Example T-Chart for the Nightly Homework

Summary of Ch. 1

Reflection Question: Why is a utopia so difficult to achieve?

While their human masters, the drunk Mr. Jones and his wife, sleep one night, the animals of Manor Farm gather in the in the barn to hear Old Major, a respected prize-winning pig, share a recent dream he had revealing that the root of all their problems was humanity and that a world without people would be a paradise for all animal-kind. The animals are quickly inspired by his dream, since they all recognize that they do all the work, are barely fed, and all die young, all while their human masters profit from the farm, get drunk and fat, and treat them cruelly. They decide that all animals—whether from the farm or countryside—are comrades who must unite and rebel against all humans. Old Major then teaches them a song from his dream that tells all about the evils of man, which they end up singing together so loudly that they wake Mr. Jones. The drunk, groggy farmer reacts by firing a gunshot at the barn in an attempt to scare away what he thinks are invading foxes, causing the animals to run scared, quiet down, and fall asleep for the night.

Even though it is clear that the animals live on the farm under a sort of cold, oppressive system represented by the drunk farmer, their common hatred for humans is not enough to unite the animals completely. In the farm, utopia is hard to achieve because, even though they all agree that humans are a problem, it does not necessarily mean that all animals will instantly get along and stay committed to working together to build a perfect system in the long run. The different animals in the meeting seem to represent different types of people—Old Major is wise and respected, Boxer is strong but unintelligent, Clover is loving and understanding, Benjamin is cynical ("hater"), and Mollie is selfish and self-centered. Sometimes these personality differences can clash and can get in the way of a group’s unity. There are also old prejudices that don’t truly disappear overnight. The relationship between the rats and the dogs/cats represents two different oppressed groups who have spent years hating each other because they are different. When the animals decide "All Animals Are Equal" Orwell is saying that all oppressed groups should stop fighting each other, realize their common human enemy, and should work together to make all their lives better. Even though the meeting has them singing songs about loving each other, it is doubtful that these old rivalries between farm animals and wild animals will not come up again to make this utopia challenging to build.