Lesson 2

Lesson Goals

Texts

Core

• • Afterword to Animal Farm from Signet Classics 75th Anniversary Edition, Russell Baker, Signet Classics, 1954
  • “What Is Totalitarianism? Definition and Examples,” Robert Longley, ThoughtCo, 2022

• • Animal Farm, George Orwell, Signet Classics, 2004

• • “Joseph Stalin Explained in 25 Minutes — Best Stalin Documentary,” The Life Guide, YouTube, 2021
  • “Joseph Stalin — Dictator,” Biography, YouTube, 2012
  • “The Revolution That Shaped Russia — National Geographic,” National Geographic, YouTube, 2017

Materials

Tools

• Animal Farm: 20th Century Europe K-W-L Chart

• Animal Farm: Historical Timeline Worksheet

• Animal Farm: Reading Schedule

• Animal Farm: Totalitarianism K-W-L Chart

Question Sets

• Animal Farm: Section 2 Question Set

Editable Google Docs

• Animal Farm: Section 2 Question Set

Activity 1: Discuss

We will share and discuss what we learned about totalitarianism and 20th-century european history, drawing on our k-w-l charts.

Step 1

With a discussion partner, review what you learned through further reading on the ThoughtCo article “What is Totalitarianism?”

Using notes from your Totalitarianism K-W-L Chart, review the new information you learned about each of the following characteristics of totalitarian governments:

• Mandatory devotion to a state ideology

• State control of media

• State control of the economy

• A system of terror and constant war

For each of these subtopics, discuss what you have learned in terms of these questions:

1. What new information have you gained about these common characteristics of totalitarian governments?

2. How does each of these characteristics relate to what happens in Animal Farm?

3. In what ways is the narrative’s allegory commenting on these characteristics and on totalitarianism in general?

Step 2

Using the same subtopics and questions, share and discuss what you have learned and concluded with the rest of the class.

Activity 2: View – Discuss – Write

We will watch a short video about the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia that set the stage for the rise of totalitarianism in the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin.

Step 1

Access and watch the short National Geographic video "The Revolution That Shaped Russia,” about the Bolshevik Revolution.

As you watch, note key information and details in response to these questions:

1. What things happened in 1917 in Russia that led to civil war and eventually the rise of Communism?

2. What was life like in Russia prior to 1917? How was the country governed?

3. What factors led to widespread protests and eventually the toppling of the czarist monarchy?

4. What kind of government at first replaced the monarchy?

5. How did the Bolshevik party and Vladimir Lenin come to power?

6. How did the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution lead to the Communist Soviet Union?

7. What parallels can you draw between the Bolshevik Revolution and subsequent rise of the Soviet Union and the Rebellion through which the animals take over the Manor Farm?

Step 2

After watching, use your notes to discuss what you learn from the video.

Set up a class comparison chart and develop some class observations in response to the last question:

8. What parallels can you draw between the Bolshevik Revolution and subsequent rise of the Soviet Union and the Rebellion through which the animals take over the Manor Farm?

In your 20th Century Europe K-W-L Chart, write several sentences that explain what you have learned about the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and the rise of the Soviet Union. Discuss how those historical events relate to what Orwell has depicted in Animal Farm.

Activity 3: View – Discuss – Write

We will view another historical video about the rise of Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union and its transformation into a totalitarian state during and after World War II.

Step 1

Prepare to take notes for a video you will watch about the rise of Joseph Stalin as the leader of the communist state in the Soviet Union and its transformation into a totalitarian dictatorship under his control.

As you watch the video, as introduced by your teacher, consider these two questions:

1. What do you learn about who Joseph Stalin was, how he rose to power, and how he transformed the Soviet Union into a totalitarian state?

2. What are the parallels between Stalin’s rise to totalitarian power and the events and characters that Orwell depicts in Animal Farm?

Step 2

As directed by your teacher, watch and discuss the first introductory segment of the video.

Take notes while you watch the remainder of the video. As you do, think about the parallels between Stalin’s reign in the Soviet Union and the story of Animal Farm.

Step 3

As a class, review the plot sequence and characters of Animal Farm, noting correspondences with people and events that you learned about in the Stalin video.

Discuss the questions you have used to guide your viewing of the video:

1. What have you learned about who Joseph Stalin was, how he rose to power, and how he transformed the Soviet Union into a totalitarian state?

2. What are the parallels between Stalin’s rise to totalitarian power and the events and characters that Orwell depicts in Animal Farm?

As you discuss these questions, support your responses and observations by noting specific evidence from both the book and the video you watched.

Activity 4: Discuss – Write

We will construct a timeline of 20th century european history, noting where Orwell’s experiences and writing fit into the historical context in which he wrote Animal Farm.

Step 1

Consider this question:

1. How did the writing and publication of Animal Farm fit into European and Soviet history in the 20th Century?

As directed by your teacher, access the Animal Farm: Historical Timeline Worksheet.

Review the organization of the worksheet, noting the following:

• the historical span from 1910 to 1950

• the key dates in the life and publishing history of George Orwell

• the upper rows of the timeline with key dates and events for:

  • Joseph Stalin’s rise to power

  • Soviet history

  • European history

Step 2

Using what you have learned from the two videos you have watched about the Bolshevik Revolution and Joseph Stalin, identify key events that correspond to the dates shown in the upper rows of the timeline.

Record notes about these key events in the dated boxes, starting with European history, then moving to Soviet history and Stalin’s rise to power.

Step 3

When you have recorded what you know in the Animal Farm: Historical Timeline Worksheet, discuss the question you considered earlier:

1. How did the writing and publication of Animal Farm fit into European and Soviet history in the 20th Century?

2. Why do you think Orwell might have reacted against what was happening in Stalin’s Soviet Union before western nations and leaders did?

Activity 5: Read – Discuss – Write

We will read an essay about Orwell and the writing of Animal Farm to examine what a literary critic and Historian has said about the book and its satirical attack on totalitarianism in Stalin’s Soviet Union.

Step 1

Access the essay by Russell Baker that is an afterword to the 75^th anniversary edition of Animal Farm.

Read the first five paragraphs of the essay, noting key details in response to these questions:

1. What do you learn about Orwell’s experiences and beliefs that led to his writing and publication of Animal Farm?

2. Baker claims, “Animal Farm became one of the century’s most devastating literary acts of political destruction.” In light of your understanding of totalitarianism and Stalin, how might this be true?

Step 2

With a reading partner, closely reread Paragraph 6, which begins “Orwell called the book a ‘fairy story.’”

Make a list of all the “too many other things” that Baker suggests the book is. For each of the Baker descriptions on your list, write a short explanation of how Baker’s characterization of the book connects to what happens in the story and your interpretation of it.

In a class discussion, share and compare your explanations, noting how the book fits with Baker’s characterizations of it.

Activity 6: Write

We will reconsider our interpretations of what the allegory in Animal Farm might mean after having gained background knowledge on Orwell’s purpose for writing the book. We will write a short response about whether our character is a “Deluded” victim or a “Cynical” perpetrator in the context of Animal Farm.

Step 1

Considering what you have learned about totalitarianism and the Soviet Union under Stalin’s dictatorship, reconsider your interpretations of what the allegory in Animal Farm might mean.

Begin by reviewing what you wrote in Lesson 12 and your Section 1 claim about the meaning of the allegory.

Then consider what Baker has said about Orwell’s “fairy story,” that it:

“is written out of a controlled and icy hatred for the cynicism of the Soviet system—but also out of despair for all the deluded people who served it gladly” (para. 6).

Discuss these questions:

1. Why might Orwell have had “a controlled and icy hatred for the cynicism of the Soviet system”?

2. In what events and characters in Animal Farm do you see Orwell’s “hatred” come through?

3. In what ways might the character you have been following been either a “deluded” victim or a “cynical” perpetrator of the Soviet-like system that the farm comes to be?

Step 2

In your Learning Log, write a short response to Question 3, referring to your character interpretation and evidence from the text to support your thinking.