Animal Farm - Sample exam question

In your exam, you may be asked a question about the whole text or about an
extract from the text as well as the whole text. Either way, these are the
analysis skills you will need to use.

The question
Starting with this extract, how does Orwell use the character of Old Major
to highlight ideas about inequality in Animal Farm?
Write about:
• how Orwell presents Old Major in this extract

• how Orwell uses the character of Old Major to present ideas about inequality in
the novel as whole

The extract
"Comrades, you have heard already about the strange dream that I had last
night. But I will come to the dream later. I have something else to say first. I
do not think, comrades, that I shall be with you for many months longer, and
before I die, I feel it my duty to pass on to you such wisdom as I have
acquired. I have had a long life, I have had much time for thought as I lay
alone in my stall, and I think I may say that I understand the nature of life on
this earth as well as any animal now living. It is about this that I wish to speak
to you.
Now, comrades, what is the nature of this life of ours? Let us face it: our lives
are miserable, laborious, and short. We are born, we are given just so much
food as will keep the breath in our bodies, and those of us who are capable of
it are forced to work to the last atom of our strength; and the very instant that
our usefulness has come to an end we are slaughtered with hideous cruelty.
No animal in England knows the meaning of happiness or leisure after he is a
year old. No animal in England is free. The life of an animal is misery and
slavery: that is the plain truth.
But is this simply part of the order of nature? Is it because this land of ours is
so poor that it cannot afford a decent life to those who dwell upon it? No,
comrades, a thousand times no!"
Old Major, chapter one
Before you go onto the next page, make some notes about what you could
talk about.
Hints
• Think about the key words in the essay question (Old Major, ideas, inequality).

• Think about the extract - what ideas about inequality are presented here?
Highlight some key points.

• Think about the rest of the novel.

Animal Farm - Analysing the extract
The question
How does Orwell use the character of Old Major to highlight ideas about
inequality in Animal Farm?

As part of your answer, you will need to analyse how Old Major’s speech
highlights ideas about inequality on the farm.

Look again at the extract below with some highlighted points that you could
write about in your answer. Think about what points Orwell is trying to make in
this section about inequality.

"(1) Comrades, you have heard already about the strange dream that I had
last night. But I will come to the dream later. I have something else to say first.
I do not think, comrades, that I shall be with you for many months longer, and
before I die, I feel it my duty to pass on to you such wisdom as I have
acquired. (2) I have had a long life, I have had much time for thought as I lay
alone in my stall, and I think I may say that I understand the nature of life on
this earth as well as any animal now living. It is about this that I wish to speak
to you.

Now, comrades, (3) what is the nature of this life of ours?Let us face it: our
lives are (4) miserable, laborious, and short. We are born, (5) we are given
just so much food as will keep the breath in our bodies, and those of us who
are capable of it are (6) forced to work to the last atom of our
strength; and (7) the very instant that our usefulness has come to an
end we are slaughtered with (8) hideous cruelty. No animal in England
knows the meaning of happiness or leisure after he is a year old. (9) No
animal in England is free. The life of an animal is misery and slavery: that is
the plain truth.

(10) But is this simply part of the order of nature? Is it because this land of
ours is so poor that it cannot afford a decent life to those who dwell upon it?
No, comrades, a thousand times no!"

• (1) 'Comrades' - Old Major calls the other animals 'comrades'. This suggests that
there is an ‘us and them’ situation between the animals and humans, they are not
equal.
• (2) 'I have had a long life, I have had much time for thought as I lay alone in my
stall' - as we read on, we realise that there is an element of hypocrisy and
inequality, even in what Old Major says.
• (3) 'what is the nature of this life of ours?' - Old Major gets the others to
question the quality of their lives.
• (4) 'miserable, laborious, and short' - Old Major uses a rhetorical device, a
triple, to emphasise how dreadful the animals' lives are. The language used is
very emotive.
• (5) 'we are given just so much food as will keep the breath in our bodies' - this
emphasises how little Mr Jones gives the animals.
• (6) 'forced to work to the last atom of our strength' - this is an effective image, it
again emphasises how hard the animals work in comparison to the humans.
• (7) 'the very instant that our usefulness has come to an end' - using the word
'usefulness' makes the animals sound like they are merely products to be
exploited.
• (8) 'hideous cruelty' - this is effective rhetoric - emotive language used to shock
the audience, to emphasise the 'cruelty' of Mr Jones’ treatment of the animals.
• (9) 'No animal in England is free. The life of an animal is misery and slavery:
that is the plain truth.' - here Old Major uses a combination of rhetorical devices,
emotive language and short sentences for impact and opinion presented as fact.
All work to emphasise his point about inequality.
• (10) 'But is this simply part of the order of nature?' - here Old Major asks
whether this inequality is a ‘natural’ part of things, by this point the animals know
the answer.
Animal Farm - Preparing your answer
Before writing your answer, it is important that you plan it carefully. You must
ensure that all the points you make are relevant to the question and that you
are hitting the Assessment Objectives.
In your plan indicate how you are going to support your idea, what textual
references you are going to use - preferably direct quotations.
Below is a structure you could use for your answer:
1. Introduction - show you know where in the text the extract comes from.

2. Who is Old Major?

3. The inequality of the animals’ current situation.

4. The hypocrisy of Old Major.

5. How inequality returns after the rebellion.

6. Conclusion - sum up your main ideas.

Sample answers
If we take the second point in detail - the inequality of the animals’ current
situation - we should be able to find some answers.

Sample answer 1
In his speech, Old Major makes the animals question their lives, he says 'what is the
nature of this life of ours?'. This makes the animals think about their position on
the farm and wonder whether they are equal to the humans, I think it is clear that
they are not happy with their lives. This is like Russia in the 1900s when Lenin
inspired the peasant people to rise up against the Tsar because their living
conditions were not equal. Old Major then mentions that 'we are given just so much
food as will keep the breath in our bodies'. This makes the animals think about how
they are not given enough food, again this is similar to the peasants in Russia who
had very little food compared to the ruling classes. I think that the animals are
resentful that the humans get more food than they do.

Feedback - good but could be improved.

• The candidate has clearly understood the text and the character of Old Major.
They have engaged with the theme of inequality. They have responded
personally to the text - ‘I think’- and they use evidence from the text to support
their answer.

• Unfortunately, their analysis of the language is minimal, they need to consider the
impact of individual words - how do they affect the reader? How does the
language highlight the theme in question? There is also a lack of comment on
structure and form.
 • The candidate mentions the historical context of the novel; their comments are
relevant to the question. However, they are not always linked to the topic of the
question.

• Their expression is clear and spelling, punctuation and grammar is good.

Sample answer 2
Old Major’s speech in the opening of the novel helps to highlight a number of
aspects of the theme of inequality, an important part of Orwell’s satire. He discusses
how the animals are 'forced to work to the last atom of our strength'. From this it is
clear to see that the animals are unhappy about the inequality that exists between
their workload and that of the humans. The image of their 'last atom' of strength
emphasises just how little is left of them once the humans have exploited them for
labour. This was much the same in Russia during the early 1900s when peasant
workers were taken advantage of by the Tsar of the time. Old Major then goes on to
say that 'The life of an animal is misery and slavery: that is the plain truth'. The
mention of 'slavery' especially highlights the inequality the animals experience,
they are not merely workers, but slaves. This again highlights how many of the
peasant workers felt in Russia before the revolution of 1917. Animal Farm is also a
fable with a moral or lesson, Orwell wants the reader to learn from the speech of
Old Major and question whether they are a victim of inequality.

Feedback - much better!

• The candidate clearly understands not just this extract and the character but also
the main themes of the novel. They are thoroughly engaged with the text.

• They have a clear focus on the language - exploring the images and the impact
of single words, considering how they relate to the question.

• Historical context is mentioned and importantly is linked to the question. They

understand that the novel reflects the inequality in Russia during the early 1900s.

• The candidate has also reflected on the structure of the novel, mentioning that
the speech is at the opening of the novel - they could say how this speech then
forces the animals to rebel against inequality and starts the events of the novel in
motion.

• The answer is clear and well written. Spelling, punctuation and grammar are
accurate.

Using the skills you’ve learnt and revised in this section, have a go at writing
the Animal Farm essay. Time yourself and make sure you’re meeting the
examiner’s Assessment Objectives.