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Animal Farm
 
 

 

 

 
Animal Farm was the first book in which I tried, with full consciousness of what I was doing, to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole."

"Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism as I understand it."

 -- George Orwell, "Why I Write"

 

 

 

 




Animal Farm (1954) by Joy Batchelor and John Halas is Britain's first animated feature film.
 
In 1999, the book by George Orwell was again filmed, this time for television. Thanks to modern techniques it was possible to make a movie with real people and animals. An educational website, by Ted Turner Network Television (TNT), the broadcaster of the television movie, is available: The Educators Guide to Animal Farm.

To be honest, I prefer the 1954 movie.

Below is a number of assignments relating to Animal Farm, tot the book as well as to the movie.

Assignment 1

The Ten Commandments

Below are the ten commandments given by the pigs.

Explain (shortly) the purpose of any commandment.

1. No animal is ever to live in a house.

2. No animal is ever to sleep in a bed.

3. No animal is ever to wear clothes.

4. No animal is ever to drink alcohol.

5. No animal is ever to smoke tobacco.

6. No animal is ever to touch money.

7. No animal is ever to engage in trade.

8. No animal is ever to tyrannize his own kind.

9. No animal must ever kill any other animal.

10. All animals are equal.


Assignment 2

The names of the animals

The names of the animals were choosen very consciously. Provide an explanation or clarification on any of the following names:

  1. Mr. Jones
  2. Napoleon
  3. Snowball
  4. Squealer
  5. Moses, the crow
  6. Boxer


Assignment 3

At some point in the film  the animals admit that they are guilty of treason. Why do they declare themselves guilty of treason?


Assignment 4

You may summarize Orwell's criticism of communism in the most famous phrase from the book:

“ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.”

Explain this  phrase.


Assignment 5

Book/movie and historical reality

The main characters in books and film are animals, with names like Napoleon and Snowball. All these animals have a counterpart in reality. You can compare them, to greater or lesser degree,  with persons from the early period of the history of the Soviet Union or in a single case with someone from the nineteenth century.
Write down as much as possible historical counterparts on animals from books and/ or film.

 



Assignment 6

causes and consequences

If you look into causes and consequences of a specific event, you always have to ask certain questions. Those questions are listed below. Look at the film 'Animal Farm'. Write a brief report on the causes and consequences of this event. Use, to the extent possible, the following questions:

 

 


Causes

  1. Only rarely there will be one cause. So, look always for more then obe cause. 
  2. Not all causes are probably equally important. So be aware of questions like: what causes are important and what causes are less less important or what causes are of paramount importance and which of secondary importance?
  3. What causes are long-term causes, and what causes are short-term causes.
  4. Look for norms, values and interests of people as causes.

Consequences

  1. Some consequences of an event will be immediately visible, others reveal themselves much later. What are direct and indirect consequences?
  2. What consequences are profound and what causes are less intrusive?
  3. Can you make a difference between intended and unintended consequences?


Assignment 7

Book and movie

The movie Animal Farm is not an exact copy of the book. Compare book and movie and write down differences between movie and book.

The movie

See the complete movie on YouTube:
- Deel I
- Deel II
- Deel III
- Deel IV
- Deel V
- Deel VI
- Deel VII
- Deel VIII


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