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Lesson 5

We will discuss Chapter 3 from Part 2 of 1984 with our literature circle and examine Orwell’s use of suspense. We will continue working on the components of our Section 3 Diagnostics.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I participate effectively in a literature circle, building on others’ ideas and expressing my own clearly and persuasively?

  • Can I come to discussions prepared, having read the assigned chapters of 1984, and explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from the novel to stimulate a thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange of ideas?

  • Can I analyze and explain the impact of the author’s use of word choice and sentence structure to create suspense in Chapter 3 of 1984?

Texts

Core

  • Tradebook
    • 1984, George Orwell, Signet Classics, 1949
  • Digital Access
    • “Research Tips for Fiction Writers: Where to Find Information and How to Use It Effectively,” Sherryl Clark, The Startup, 2019

Materials

Tools

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Read – Discuss – Write

We will meet with our literature circles to discuss chapter 3 from part 2 of 1984.

Meet with your literature circle to discuss Chapter 2 from Part 2 of 1984. Begin the discussion by responding to the following questions:

  1. What is the relationship between Julia’s attitude toward the Party and her sense of happiness?

  2. How does Winston’s attitude toward the Party affect his sense of happiness?

Use your annotations, open-ended questions, and literary analysis to guide the literature discussion circle. Take notes on the interesting ideas of others.

Activity 2: Read – Discuss – Write

We will examine Orwell’s use of suspense in a paragraph from chapter 3, part 2 of 1984.

Read this series of sentences from Chapter 3, Part 2 of 1984:

They were passing in silence down a side street (Julia would never speak when they were away from the main streets) when there was a deafening roar, the earth heaved and the air darkened, and Winston found himself lying on his side, bruised and terrified.

A rocket bomb must have dropped quite near at hand.

Suddenly he became aware of Julia’s face a few centimeters from his own, deathly white, as white as chalk.

Even her lips were white.

She was dead!

He clasped her against him, and found that he was kissing a live warm face. (p. 128)

Discuss the following questions with your literature circle:

  1. Considering the sentences you just read, how does Orwell use the techniques below to create suspense?

    1. imagery

    2. personification

    3. mystery

    4. sentence length

    5. punctuation

  2. How does Orwell use tiny details to show, not tell, the reader this moment in the story?

Now, think about a suspenseful moment you might include in your narrative. Use Orwell’s model to jot down notes in your Learning Log on what techniques you could use to create suspense in your narrative story.

Activity 3: Read – Discuss – Write

We will examine Orwell’s use of the em dash in two sentences from part 2, chapter 3.

Read these excerpts from Part 2, Chapter 3:

“She was—do you know the Newspeak word goodthinkful?” (p. 132)

“She used to call it—but you will never guess.”

"Our duty to the Party," said Julia promptly. (p. 132)

“We’re not dead yet," said Julia prosaically.

"Not physically. Six months, a year—five years, conceivably. I am afraid of death." (p. 136)

What do the excerpts have in common? They all use an em dash. An em dash is a dash that is longer than a hyphen and en dash. Em dashes make writing interesting because they create dramatic pauses or shocks in writing.

Review the Em Dash Handout. Discuss the following questions as a class:

  1. Why did George Orwell use an em dash in the first example sentence? What effect did he want to create?

  2. Why did George Orwell use an em dash in the second example sentence? What effect did he want to create?

  3. Why did George Orwell use an em dash in the third example sentence? What effect did he want to create?

Now think about your narrative story. Where might you want to include a dramatic pause or shock? Write down one or both of these examples in your Mentor Sentence Journal as a reminder to use an em dash in that instance.

Activity 4: Read – Discuss – Write

We will read and annotate Chapter 4 from part 2 of 1984 and prepare for the next lesson’s literature circle.

Step 1

Read and annotate Chapter 4 from Part 2 of 1984. Use the following questions to guide your annotations:

  1. Why did Orwell introduce the reader to Mr. Charrington in Part 1? What role does he play in Part 2 of the novel?

  2. How might the popular tune that "had been haunting London for weeks" be foreshadowing?

  3. What phobia does the reader learn that Winston has? Is that surprising? Why or why not?

Select one passage from the chapter that you found significant. Focus on selecting a passage as a mentor text for one of your selected narrative techniques.

Draft a brief literary analysis of the passage. Be sure to use textual evidence to support your analysis. Be prepared to share your analysis with your literature circle in the next lesson.

Step 2

Write two open-ended, thought-provoking questions to drive discussion during the literature circle.

Refer to the Literature Circle Protocol Handout for more information on how to write a brief literary analysis and open-ended, thought-provoking questions.

Activity 5: Read – Write

We will conduct research to make our vignette more plausible and vivid for the reader.

For the Section 3 Diagnostic, you will need to submit an annotated bibliography with at least six sources. In your annotations, you will make explicit connections to how you plan to use the information in the source in your narrative story. You can do the following:

  • build upon the sources you researched for the Section 2 Diagnostic

  • build upon the sources your peers researched for the Section 2 Diagnostic

  • start fresh and research all new sources

You must finalize your research in Section 3 because you are going to write about the same topic for your vignette and the Culminating Task.

Use this time to conduct research for your vignette.

Refer to your notes on the text "Research Tips for Fiction Writers: Where to Find Information and How to Use It Effectively" and the 1984 Research Guide for additional guidance.

Activity 6: Write

We will work on drafting a short vignette of our narrative story.

A vignette is a short scene or episode that captures a single moment or a defining detail about an element of the story. Vignettes are mostly descriptive and not plot-focused.

For your vignette, choose one to two aspects from your narrative story outline to focus on. Possible ideas include the following:

  • using imagery to introduce the setting

  • using mystery to create suspense

  • introducing the main character through

    • description of the character’s external appearance or actions

    • description of the character’s internal thoughts, feelings, or motivations

    • interactions or dialogue with other characters

    • the character’s expressed thoughts, self-description, comments, or views

    • other characters’ views or descriptions of the character

  • describing the moment the main character discovers something surprising or makes a difficult decision

  • describing a flashback that reveals important background information for the reader

Remember, your goal as a narrative writer is to "show, don’t tell."

Begin drafting your vignette.