EDSITEment! - Animal Farm: Allegory and the Art of Persuasion

Details

Activity Description

In this activity, students are introduced to the concept of allegory by using George Orwell’s widely read the novella, Animal Farm. This lesson consists of the following four activities: Animal Farm and Allegory, The Collective Farm and the Communist State, What’s in a Name, and Tyranny by any other Name…

Preparation

1. Make sure that the site is not blocked at your school and that the resources can be viewed.
2. Review the site and the available resources.
3. Review the detailed online lesson plans
4. Choose which of the activities you want to use in class and how you want to present them.

How-To

View Detailed Lesson Plans online.

Activity 1. Animal Farm and Allegory

1. Have students read Animal Farm by George Orwell.
2. Discuss how this story is allegorical and the meaning of the allegory.

Activity 2 The Collective Farm and the Communist State

1. Review some of the main events of Russian history from the turn of the twentieth century to the end of World War II.
2. Ask students to answer the following questions about the events that take place on the Manor Farm, and how they are an allegorical retelling of the events from the Russian Revolution to the end of World War II in Russia.

Activity 3 What’s in a Name

1. Ask students to work in pairs to fill in the chart on the characters of Animal Farm. This chart can also be completed as an online activity.
2. Ask students what importance and symbolism are contained in Orwell’s choice of names.

Activity 4 Tyranny by any other Name…

1. Ask students to contemplate the use of rhetoric in Animal Farm. Have them answer the questions, either as part of a class discussion or by completing the PDF worksheet.

Teacher Tips

Assessment: Ask students to gather together their answers to the questions posed throughout this lesson, which they should then use as the basis for writing a short essay.

More Ways

This lesson plan can be adapted to expand on history and social studies lessons which focus on this time period.

Program Areas

• ASE: High School Diploma

Documents

• Animal Farm.png - Screenshot of the Animal Farm Lesson Plan

Subjects

• English Language Arts
  • American Literature
• Social Studies
  • World History

Standards

• Reading
  • CCR Anchor 1 - Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
  • CCR Anchor 8 - Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
  • CCR Anchor 10 - Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.
• Speaking and Listening
  • CCR Anchor 1 - Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
  • CCR Anchor 2 - Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

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