ANGLO-CHINESE SCHOOL (INDEPENDENT)
English Language and Literature Department (Integrated Programme)
Year 1 Language Arts
Year 1 Integrated Programme
Language Arts 2022
Animal Farm E-Booklet
Name: Vijayant Kumawat
Class: 1.10
Teacher: Mr Eugene Lim H.P.
2
ANGLO-CHINESE SCHOOL (INDEPENDENT)
English Language and Literature Department (Integrated Programme)
Year 1 Language Arts
About the Author
George Orwell (1903-1950) was an English novelist, journalist and a sharp critic who wrote
essays and critically acclaimed satirical and political works such as Animal Farm and 1984. He
held strong opinions and addressed many of the major political movements and issues of his
time, such as imperialism, fascism and communism.
Born Eric Arthur Blair in Motihari, Bengal, India, he was the middle son of a British civil servant.
He spent his days in India, where his father was stationed until his mother brought him and his
older sister to England. He was not close to his father as his father rarely visited them. He was
a sickly child and remained so throughout his adult life. He was reported to have composed his
first poem at the age of four; he wrote later, “I had the lonely child’s habit of making up stories
and holding conversations with imaginary persons, and I think from the very start, my literary
ambitions were mixed up with the feeling of being isolated and undervalued.”
His stint in the boarding school, St. Cyprian’s, exposed him to the unfair world of England’s
class system; the rich were treated better than the poorer students. Despite stellar results and
his scholarships to Wellington and Eton College, his family had no money to send him to
university and he joined the India Imperial Police Force in 1922 and was stationed in Burma for
five years. He resigned from his post and returned to England, determined to be a writer.
His first work, Down and Out in Paris and London, in 1933 gave us a glimpse of his difficult life
in the two cities and exposed the terrible lives of the working poor. He used the pseudonym
George Orwell as he did not want to embarrass his family. In 1934, he wrote Burmese Days,
which explored the grim realities of British colonialism – the policy of acquiring full or partial
political control over another country and exploiting it economically – in Burma.
[Link] [Link]
[Link] [Link]
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By the 1930s, he began to see himself as a socialist (someone who advocates social ownership
and democratic control over production, distribution and exchange by the community as a
whole) and he was especially moved by the plight of the poor. Throughout his life, Orwell valued
honesty, individuality and welfare of the society.
In 1936, he travelled to Spain to fight for the Spanish Civil War, fighting for the Republicans
against the Nationalists. In Homage to Catalonia, he wrote of his admiration for the absence of a
class structure in the revolutionary areas of Spain he visited. He was forced to flee for his life
from the Soviet-backed communists who were suppressing revolutionary socialist dissenters.
This turned him into a life-long hater of the Soviet Union and their then-leader, Joseph Stalin.
Orwell took on writing assignments – writing essays and reviews – to support himself and his
family. He became well known for his well-crafted criticism. In 1941, he worked in BBC as a
producer and when World War II hit, he was forced to be a propagandist – a person who used
biased and misleading information to further a political point of view – and he hated this aspect
of his job. He resigned in 1943.
For years, Orwell was sickly, and he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, an incurable disease then
– in 1938. On the evening of 20 January 1950, he was already too weak to receive many of his
literary guests who had come to visit him and on the morning of 21 January, an artery burst in
Orwell’s lungs and he passed away at the age of 46.
[Link]
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About Animal Farm
Orwell was a prolific English novelist, essayist, journalist and critic. His works showed much
clarity in language and thought, an awareness of social injustice and an opposition to
totalitarianism (where the government sees no limit on its authority and seeks to control every
aspect of society).
He is best known for two novels – Animal Farm (1945) and 1984 (1949). 1984 presented a
bleak vision of the world divided into three oppressive nations where the government was able
to control every single aspect of a person’s life, including his views, feelings and thoughts.
Animal Farm as an Allegorical Satire
Animal Farm can be read on many levels. On one hand, it is an anti-Soviet satire in a pastoral
setting featuring two pigs as its main protagonists. It was a critical success and provided him
both fame and some fortune. The book is an allegorical satire. An allegory is a story or literary
work that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden commentary on something moral or political. A
satire is the use of humour, irony, ridicule or exaggeration to expose and criticise a serious issue
or people’s stupidity and/or vices.
Animal Farm is an allegory on the Russian Revolution and allows readers to draw parallels
between the actual events and people, and the incidents and characters in the novel. The
Russian Revolution saw Tsar Nicholas II, the last Russian emperor, being overthrown by the
communist Bolshevik Party led by Vladimir Lenin. During Nicholas’ reign, the Russian people
suffered extreme poverty, hardship and upheaval. The promise of a better life based on Karl
Marx’s theory of communism – where a communal way of life and social ownership will allow all
people in the community to lead lies of economic equality – seemed plausible when Lenin
seized control and overthrew Nicholas in the 1917 Russian Revolution.
However, that hope was compromised when Joseph Stalin(Napoleon) took over after Lenin died
from a stroke. Stalin valued power for its own sake and through acts of brutality, he terrorised
the people after he gained full control of the governing Communist Party. He used his secret
service, the KGB,(The dogs) extensively to eliminate all opposition. He also used propaganda to
present himself as the ideal leader.
Orwell was not blind to this and used Animal Farm as an allegorical satire on the situation at
hand, drawing stark parallels between Stalin and his rule and Napoleon in Manor Farm.
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Animal Farm as a Fable
On another level, the book can also be enjoyed as a fable. A fable is usually a succinct and
short story that is used to impart a moral lesson. Animal Farm cautions on the influence of peer
pressure and the corruption of the mind. It also highlights how language can control thought and
behaviour. It serves to warn readers of how easily people can be influenced and how power can
corrupt.
[Link]
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ANGLO-CHINESE SCHOOL (INDEPENDENT)
English Language and Literature Department (Integrated Programme)
Year 1 Language Arts
Plot Summary / Event Timeline in Animal Farm
Chapter Description
1
1. Old Major’s speech:
a) the evils committed by Man
b) the solution to the problem - rebellion
c) the rules and commandments
d) Old Major’s dream
2. Beasts of England
3. Introduction of characters:
a) Bluebell, Jessie and Pitcher
b) Boxer and Clover
c) Muriel and Benjamin
d) Mollie
2
1. Death of Old Major in March
2. Introduction of characters:
a) Snowball
b) Napoleon
c) Squealer
d) Moses
3. Rise of Animalism and the authority of the pigs (they have learned to read)
4. Moses and his Sugarcandy Mountain
5. The accidental Rebellion on Midsummer Day in June
6. The euphoria the morning after the rebellion
7. Mollie takes a blue ribbon from Mrs Jones’ dressing table and is rebuked
8. Manor Farm is renamed Animal Farm
9. The Seven Commandments
10. The disappearance of the milk
3
1. Bumper harvest in summer:
a) the animals toiled while the pigs directed
b) bumper harvest
c) more leisure
2. Boxer’s 1st motto – “I will work harder”
3. The power struggle and disagreement between Snowball and Napoleon
4. Every animal is literate to some degree by autumn
5. Napoleon and his belief in the education of the young – he takes away the “nine
sturdy pups” of Jessie and Bluebell
6. Mystery of the disappearance of the milk solved – mixed with the pigs’ mash
7. Squealer’s justification of why only the pigs get to enjoy the milk and apples
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Chapter Description
4
1. The story of the rebellion spreads “across half the country”
2. Introduction of Pilkington of Foxwood and Frederick of Pinchfield
3. Battle of the Cowshed on 25 October
a) Boxer’s heroic act and his guilt over stable lad’s supposed death
b) Snowball’s contribution
4. Snowball and Boxer get awarded “Animal Hero, First Class” and the dead sheep
“Animal Hero, Second Class”
5
1. Clover confronts Mollie
2. Defection of Mollie – later seen on the other side of Willingdon
3. The bitterly hard weather in January
4. Snowball’s “plans for innovations and improvements”
5. The bleating of the sheep – “four legs good, two legs bad”
6. The proposal of the building of the windmill
7. The two different approaches by Snowball and Napoleon:
a) Snowball – stir up rebellion in other farms
b) Napoleon – procure firearms and train animals to use them
8. The fall of Snowball
a) his speech on windmill
b) the expulsion of Snowball by the 9 dogs
9. The new rules and Squealer’s justification
[Link]’s 2nd motto – “Napoleon is always right”
[Link] of poet-pig Minimus
[Link] more consensus – orders are now read out by Napoleon
[Link] building of the windmill and Squealer’s justification of why it is Napoleon’s
idea all along and why it must be built.
6
1. The animals “worked like slaves” throughout spring and summer.
2. The hardship in building the windmill
3. The strength and dedication of Boxer
4. Animal Farm is to engage in trade with the humans
5. Introduction of Mr Whymper
6. Changes in the farm
a) pigs move into the farmhouse
b) they take their meals in the kitchen
c) the drawing room has become their recreation room
d) they sleep on beds
e) the pigs get up 1 hour later than the rest
7. “No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets”
8. Squealer’s justification
9. The destruction of the windmill in November by a gale
[Link] becomes responsible for the loss of the windmill
[Link] re-building of the windmill becomes an excuse for the animals to work “all
through the winter, rain or shine”
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Chapter Description
7
1. “it was a bitter winter” and the animals were “cold, and usually hungry as well”. “In
January, food fell short”
2. The pigs hoodwink Mr Whymper into thinking Animal Farm is still thriving
3. Hens to produce 400 eggs a week
4. Mutiny of the hens
a) rations are stopped
b) death to those who support the hens
c) death of 9 hens after 5 days
5. Criminalisation of Snowball – the creation of fear, mistrust and tension
6. Boxer speaks out for Snowball
7. Napoleon wears “Animal Hero, First Class’’ and “Second Class”
8. Punishment of traitors:
a) 4 pigs – “the dogs promptly tore their throats out”
b) 3 hens – “slaughtered”
c) 1 goose
d) 3 sheep – “all slain on the spot”
9. The bewilderment and fear of the animals
[Link] abolition of the singing of Beasts of England
[Link] introduction of the new Animal Farm song
8
1. “No animal shall kill any other animal without cause”
2. Napoleon’s new lifestyle and titles:
a) inhabits separate apartment from the others
b) takes meals alone with his dogs to wait upon him
c) guns will be fired every year on his birthday
d) “our Leader, Comrade Napoleon”
e) “Father of all animals, Terror of Mankind, Protector of the Sheepfold,
Ducklings’ Friend”, etc.
f) It is usual to give “Napoleon credit for every successful achievement”
3. Comrade Napoleon poem by Minimus
4. The completion of the windmill – named Napoleon Mill
5. Sale of timber to Frederick and the treachery/trickery of Frederick
6. Battle of the Windmill:
a) Destruction of Napoleon Mill
b) Death toll – 1 cow, 3 sheep, 2 geese
c) “Nearly everyone was wounded”
d) “they had won but they were weary and bleeding”
e) The cowardice of Squealer
f) New title for Napoleon – the Order of the Green Banner
7. The intoxication of the pigs and their introduction to beer
8. The pigs’ foray into brewing beer for themselves
9. “No animal shall drink alcohol to excess”
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Chapter Description
9
1. Retirement age of the animals which is never to be
2. The hard life of the animals – winter, food shortage (“readjustment”), rations
reduced for all except for pigs and dogs
3. 31 young pigs sired by Napoleon
a) a school room to be built for them
b) they are not encouraged to play with the others
c) other animals must step aside when they cross paths
4. All pigs get to wear green ribbons on their tails on Sunday
5. Funds needed for the pigs and dogs
a) school room
b) machines for the windmill
c) lamp oil and candles for the farmhouse
d) sugar for Napoleon’s table
e) dog biscuits
6. The other animals
a) egg production to increase from 400 to 600
b) food rations reduced in Dec, and again in Feb
c) no lanterns in stalls
d) barley reserved for pigs – 1 pint of beer for pigs, ½ gallon for Napoleon
7. The Spontaneous Demonstration – demonstrates the stupidity and ignorance of
the animals
8. Animal Farm turns into a Republic and Napoleon becomes President
9. Reappearance of Moses
[Link] death of Boxer:
a) Boxer collapses at work
b) The friendship between Boxer and Clover, and Boxer and Benjamin
c) Boxer is sent to the knacker’s
d) Clover and Benjamin tried to save Boxer but failed
[Link]’s lies about Boxer’s death
[Link]’s pretence at Boxer’s death:
a) wreath
b) memorial banquet for the pigs in honour of Boxer and the pigs buy
themselves another case of whisky
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Chapter Description
10
1. Years passed and the Rebellion is a distant vague memory for most animals;
Clover is 2 years past her retirement but is still working
2. Napoleon and Squealer have grown fat and stout
3. Farm is more prosperous:
a) added two more fields
b) windmill – used for milling corn to get money
c) another windmill being built
d) threshing machine
e) hay elevator
4. All the other animals are not richer, fuller or better except the pigs and the dogs
who have all but overrun the entire farm – “neither pigs nor dogs produced any
food by their own labour”
5. The other animals:
a) generally hungry
b) slept on straw
c) drank from the pool
d) laboured in the fields
e) troubled by the cold in winter, the flies in summer
6. The re-training of the sheep – “Four legs good, two legs better”
7. The pigs start to walk on their hind legs
8. No more Seven Commandments, there is only one – ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL
BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS
9. Pigs behave like humans and surround themselves with material comforts of the
humans – whips, telephones, magazines, newspapers, pipe, clothes
10. Business, feasting and gambling between the pigs and humans
11. The animals can no longer differentiate pigs from humans
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