Activator 5/6 Orwell’s main goals in 1984 are to depict the frightening techniques a totalitarian government (in which a single ruling class possesses absolute power) might use to control its subjects, and to illustrate the extent of the control that government is able to exert. In what ways might a government control its people?

Discussion Questions- Part One 1.What does the opening sentence suggest about the book? (“...the clocks were striking thirteen”) 2. The name “Winston” means “from a friendly country.” “Smith” is a common last name. From these names, can you suggest a possible irony? What else do we know about Winston concerning his age, abilities, and occupation?

Discussion Questions- Part One 3.What are the Party mottos? What is unusual about them? 4.What is Newspeak? What is its purpose? (A look at the Appendix might be helpful here.) Why is it essential for the Party to rid the language of synonyms and antonyms? 5.Who is Big Brother and what is the significance of his name?

Discussion Questions- Part One 6.What is facecrime? Why is it so easy to commit? 7.How does the Party control history? Why? 8.Who is Emmanuel Goldstein and how is he presented to the people of Oceania? What is the probable significance of using the obviously Jewish name?

Activator 12/10 The daily Two Minutes Hate exercise is designed to direct citizen frustration away from the Party. After watching it, what is your reaction? Do you think it helps the citizens to release their anger in such a way? What outlets do we have to vent our frustrations in society today?

Main Characters Describe the following characters with whom Winston Smith is interested: “The girl with dark hair”: O’ Brien:

Activator 5/07 Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes. Example of a Motif: Doublethink The idea of “doublethink” emerges as an important consequence of the Party’s massive campaign of large-scale psychological manipulation. Simply put, doublethink is the ability to hold two contradictory ideas in one’s mind at the same time.

Example of Doublethink As the Party’s mind-control techniques break down an individual’s capacity for independent thought, it becomes possible for that individual to believe anything that the Party tells them, even while possessing information that runs counter to what they are being told. For instance, people are able to accept the Party ministries’ names, though they contradict their functions: the Ministry of Plenty oversees economic shortages, the Ministry of Peace wages war, the Ministry of Truth conducts propaganda and historical revisionism, and the Ministry of Love is the center of the Party’s operations of torture and punishment.

Activator 5/8 Re-creating Comrade Ogilvy Your task is to imitate Winston’s portrait of the fictional Comrade Ogilvy by creating a portrait of the “perfect” Brunswick High School student—a portrait that might appear in our school’s newsletter. 1.Create a name for this fictional and perfect student 2.Trace the history of his/her accomplishments chronologically as Orwell does 3.Include a testimonial, as Orwell does, that consists of a direct or indirect quotation by an important Brunswick figure (like, Principal Gilbert, for example) 4.For your “perfect” student’s activities, look at the last 2 sentences of Orwell’s description p. 47 and devise a list of personal habits and beliefs that such a nonexistent but perfect student might possess 5.Compare your “perfect” student to Orwell’s “perfect” comrade- how do the societies differ?

Allusion to 1984 in the news 1.Why does this article allude to 1984? 2.How is the State of Colorado keeping track of sales of Marijuana? 3.What was Cullen’s first job before he opened CHC? 4.What are dispensary employee’s pay and benefits? 5.What is the typical recreational marijuana user in Colorado?

Discussion Questions- Part Two 1.In what ways are Julia and Winston alike? In what ways are they different? 2.Why does the party permit couples to marry but discourage love? 3.O’Brien asks Winston and Julia what they are willing to do for the Brotherhood. What are they willing to do? What is the one thing they are unwilling to do? What types of things does O’Brien tell them they might have to face as members of the Brotherhood?

Discussion Questions- Part Two 4. Julia tells Winston that even though the Party can torture a person and make him say anything, they cannot make him believe it. How do you feel about this statement? How easy is it to brainwash a person? Do you think governments actually use brainwashing? 5. Why are the three superpowers always at war according to the Brotherhood’s handbook? 6. How are Winston and Julia betrayed?