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Lesson 3

We will analyze Orwell’s use of the flashback technique in Chapters 6 and 7.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I attend to details in 1984 to make inferences about the novel?

  • Can I analyze and explain the impact of the author’s use of flashback to develop the central ideas and Winston’s character of 1984?

Texts

Core

  • Tradebook
    • 1984, George Orwell, Signet Classics, 1949

Materials

Tools

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Read – Discuss – Write

In small groups, we will discuss chapters 6–7 and use our homework guiding questions to shape the discussion.

In a small group, discuss questions below. Use your homework annotations to help guide your discussion.

  1. What might be the symbolic significance of the song "Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree" (p. 77)? How might the song relate to the experiences of Jones, Aaronson, and Rutherford?

  2. What is the significance of this entry from Winston’s diary: "Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows" (p. 81)? What evidence from the text supports your claim?

Use the discussion to revise your notes, as needed.

Activity 2: Read – Discuss – Write

We will analyze Orwell’s use of a periodic sentence.

Reread the first sentence of Chapter 7:

If there is hope, it lies in the proles. (p. 69)

This sentence is an example of a period sentence. In a periodic sentence, the main clause is at the end. This sentence structure is often used for emphasis. It can also create suspense.

Now examine a different version of the sentence: “Hope lies in the proles.”

Discuss with your groups, the following questions:

  1. What idea is Orwell trying to communicate?

  2. Why is the original version more effective than this second version in communicating that idea?

Orwell has Winston write in periodic sentences throughout Chapter 7.

Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious. (p. 70)

Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. (p. 81)

With a partner, craft two sentences:

  • a sentence that uses periodic structure

  • a version of the sentence that does not use a periodic structure

Switch sentences with another partner group. As you examine the other pair’s sentence, ask yourself what effect the different structures have on the meaning of the sentence. Write your response on the other pair’s paper and return it to them.

Now, examine your paired group’s feedback and ask yourself the following question:

  1. Is that the effect I intended?

If not, revise the sentence to make your intended idea clearer to the reader.

Activity 3: Read – Discuss – Write

We will analyze Orwell’s use of the flashback when creating a narrative.

In Chapter 7, Orwell includes two separate flashbacks. A flashback is a scene or event that takes place earlier than the events of the story.

The second flashback begins about halfway through Chapter 7 with the paragraph that starts, "Some time after their release Winston had actually seen all three of them."

Carefully reread and annotate the flashback. Use the following questions to guide your annotations:

  1. What do you learn about Jones, Aaronson, and Rutherford in this flashback that was not reported in the news?

  2. How does the flashback deepen your understanding of the society of Oceania?

  3. Why do you think this memory made such an impression on Winston? What evidence from the text supports your claim?

Now, reread the passage through the eyes of an author. Use the following questions to guide your thinking:

  1. How does the flashback use vivid details to help the reader gain a more nuanced understanding of the central ideas of the novel?

  2. How does the flashback use reflection to help the reader gain a more nuanced understanding of Winston's character?

Write down your answers in your Learning Log.

Activity 4: Read – Write

For homework, we will read chapter 8 of 1984 and answer a set of guiding questions.

For homework, read and annotate Chapter 8 of 1984. Use the following questions to guide your annotations:

  1. What risk does Winston take in this chapter? Why?

  2. What is frustrating about Winston’s encounter with the old man at the bar? How does this frustration reinforce a central idea of the novel?

  3. What is a "steamer"? How does Winston react to it? What does this reveal about the society of Oceania?

  4. Whom does Winston encounter during his adventure? What effect does it create for the reader?

Choose the most interesting sentence from Chapter 8 and write it down in your Mentor Sentence Journal. Be prepared to discuss the following questions with your group in the next lesson:

  1. What does your sentence reveal about the society of Oceania?

  2. What about the sentence makes it interesting for you, the reader?

Write new or interesting words you encounter in your Vocabulary Journal.