Hello and welcome to the lesson.

Thank you so much for joining me.

I'm really excited about the lesson today because we are focusing on chapter seven of "Animal Farm" and we really see the pigs starting to up their reign of terror, their fear and their violence towards the other animals.

So let's have a look at this chapter.

So by the end of the lesson, you will be able to explain the events of Chapter seven in "Animal Farm." So before we begin to look at this chapter, there are a few keywords to be aware of to help our understanding of the lesson and the reading.

These are culture of fear, totalitarianism, publicised, consolidate, and predetermined.

So this is the outline of the lesson.

We're going to begin by reading chapter seven, and then we'll move on to explore this culture of fear and terror that the pigs are really using to maintain their power and control on the farm.

So let's start by reading chapter seven.

So before we do any close reading, let's just read the first part of chapter seven together.

You may want to think about the conditions that the animals are working in and how the animals are starting to feel.

"It was a bitter winter.

The stormy weather was followed by sleet and snow, and then by a hard frost which did not break till well into February.

The animals carried on as best they could with the rebuilding of the windmill, well, knowing that the outside world was watching them and that the envious human beings would rejoice and triumph if the mill were not finished on time.

Out of spite, the human beings pretended not to believe that it was Snowball who had destroyed the windmill, they said it had fallen down because the walls were too thin.

The animals knew this was not the case.

Still, it had been decided to build the walls three feet thick this time instead of 18 inches as before, which meant collecting much larger quantities of stone.

For a long time, the quarry was full of snowdrifts and nothing could be done.

Some progress was made in the dry, frosty weather that followed, but it was cruel work and the animals could not feel so hopeful about it as they had felt before.

They were always cold and usually hungry as well.

Only Boxer and Clover never lost heart.

Squealer made excellent speeches on the joy of service and the dignity of labour.

But the other animals found more inspiration in Boxer's strength and his never failing cry of I will work harder.

In January, food fell short.

The corn ration was drastically reduced and it was announced that an extra potato ration would be issued to make up for it.

Then it was discovered that the greater part of the potato crop had been frosted in the clamps, which had not been covered thickly enough.

The potatoes had become soft and discoloured and only a few were edible.

For days at a time, the animals had nothing to eat, but chaff and mangels.

Starvation seemed to stir them in the face." True or false time.

So the humans blame Snowball for the collapsing of the windmill.

That's false.

Well, done everyone.

Now let's think about justifying our answers.

Absolutely.

Well done to everyone that said A.

It is the pigs who use Snowball as a scapegoat and blame him for the collapsing windmill.

So now let's look at this.

The start of this chapter in a little bit more detail.

So I want us to focus on the very start and what this tells us about life on the farm.

What is it like and how does this compare to previous chapters.

So it's obvious, there's bitter winter, the stormy weather, it is incredibly hard now on the farm and it's marked by increasing control and harsh conditions.

And this contrast with previous chapters when there was hope, optimism, and a belief in the animalism's ideals of freedom and equality.

There's no denying that initially when this rebellion happened, the animals were so optimistic and hopeful.

And Orwell cleverly uses structure to show this decline in the animals' lives, their feelings and that gain of power by the pigs.

The other interesting thing here is the weather.

And the weather serves as a backdrop to their labour and it mirrors the animal situation.

And again, this happens throughout the novel.

The weather is really clever at mirroring exactly what is going on in the farm.

And here we can see it's bitter, it's cold, it's difficult.

So let's think now about who or what was responsible for the collapsing of the windmill.

Now the humans maintain it was because the walls weren't thick enough, but the pigs continued to state that it was Snowball.

So who is right here? Is it the animals or the humans? So what's happening here is that Orwell is highlighting the level of deception happening on the farm.

So the pigs keep saying that it's Snowball, and they're using him as a scapegoat because really the pigs like the humans, they know that the walls were too thin, which is why they rebuilt them much thicker.

But they don't want the animals to know that.

They want the animals to continue to believe it was Snowball because this serves the pigs much better.

So in this highlighted section here, we get this description of Boxer and Clover.

What does this tell us about their role on the farm? So we see how incredibly dedicated to the cause they are and they serve as these unwavering inspirations to the other animals.

They motivate, they encourage, the animals really look up to them.

And this means that actually they have a lot of influence and they have a lot of power, but they are completely unaware of this, which is an interesting position for them to be in.

Something to think about as you read the novella is how the animals are responsible for this revolution.

For the pigs taking power.

So arguably Boxer and Clover have a lot of power and a lot of influence, but they don't use it or they can't use it.

And we have this declarative sentence here, "in January food fell short," which is a really interesting sentence to use.

What does it tell us about the leadership of the farm? So absolutely, it suggests that the leadership of the farm is struggling or failing as the shortage of food indicates a lack of effective management and planning in providing for the animals.

It really emphasises the decline of the revolution in its ideals.

If we think back, initially, the animals were excited to have much more food, less work, everything was going to be equal, but this doesn't appear to be happening on the farm.

So what was the primary cause of the food shortage in January? Well done.

It was those frost damaged potato crops.

So initially the animals were promised more potatoes to replace other food shortages, but unfortunately these were damaged in the frost and the animals are close to starving.

So now it's time for our first practise task, and this is for you to do some reading.

So I would like you please to read from, "it was vitally necessary.

." To the end of the chapter "Beasts of England." As you were reading, pause and discuss the following questions.

Why did the animals need to conceal their lack of food? How did Napoleon trick Mr. Whymper into believing the animals had an abundance of food? Why did the hens raise a terrible outcry? What punishment does Napoleon issue for the hens? How are the events from the battle of the cow shed altered? What is Napoleon's new title? Who tries to harm Boxer and why? What happens to them? And finally, what is abolished at the end of the chapter? Pause the video, read the chapter, and I look forward to hearing the answers to these questions.

Well done.

Excellent reading everybody.

So now let's just share the answers to those questions.

So this first question, why did the animals need to conceal their lack of food? Well, the animals do this because they don't want the human beings, especially Mr. Jones and the neighbouring farms to know about their difficulties as they would use it against them.

Animal farm, they want to show that they're successful and that this rebellion and the revolution has been a massive success.

They don't want other humans or other animals to know the reality.

How did Napoleon trick Mr. Whymper into believing that the animals had an abundance of food? So what he does is he get.

He orders the grain bins to be filled nearly to the top with sand, and then it's covered with grain and meal.

So it looks like they've got lots of food.

Why did the hens raise a terrible outcry? So the hens are asked to surrender their eggs and they believed it contradicted the original commandment about not engaging in trade, which is absolutely right.

They are also getting ready to nest, so they really don't want their eggs taken away from them.

What punishment does Napoleon issue for the hens? So he punishes them by cutting their Russians and ordering their eggs to be sold without their consent resulting in some of them starving to death.

So we can see how Napoleon is using food as a punishment and to maintain his control over the animals.

How are the events from the battle of the cow shed altered? So Napoleon now claims that Snowball was on the side of the humans during the battle to discredit him.

So again, Napoleon is really using Snowball to elevate his own status.

What is Napoleon's new title? Our leader, Comrade Napoleon.

Who tries to harm Boxer and why? What happens to them? So the dogs try to attack Boxer as they see him as a threat to the pigs' authority.

So Boxer begins to ask challenging questions because for him, he seems to remember that actually Snowball was a hero which contradicts the message that Napoleon has put across.

And what is abolished at the end of the chapter? So Squealer delivers the message that the singing of "Beasts of England" is now forbidden.

So this again demonstrates how those original ideas of the revolution are being corrupted and forgotten.

And if we think about the initial reaction to "Beasts of England," it really inspired the animals and made them really excited.

But by getting rid of it, it's less likely to cause that excitement.

They're able to be maintained and controlled.

So we're moving on to the second part of the lesson and we're focusing in more depth about this culture of fear and terror that is being cultivated on the farm by the pigs.

So what I would like you to do is to read the following contextual information.

So let's read this together.

"The 1930s were a dark chapter in Joseph Stalin's rule and known as the Great Terror.

He took extreme measures to consolidate power and eliminated perceived threats to his regime.

The Great Purge, Stalin aimed to eradicate anyone he saw as an enemy, which included political rivals, intellectuals, military officials, and even ordinary citizens.

Many were arrested, imprisoned, or executed.

Show Trials, Stalin accused his political opponents of various crimes often including espionage, sabotage, and conspiracy.

These trials were highly publicised, but essentially show pieces with predetermined guilty verdicts.

The accused were coerced or tortured into making false confessions.

So now I would like you to discuss how did these ideas link to Napoleon and his rise to power? Are you able to offer specific examples? You may wish to pause the video so you have time to to think about and discuss your ideas.

Excellent discussions, everyone.

I had some really interesting points being raised.

So now let's just share some of the ideas we have come up with.

So Napoleon, like Stalin, through the Great Terror, creates a culture of fear where citizens are too terrified to dissent.

We also know that Napoleon uses force and fear to maintain control.

For example, the attack dogs who eliminate any rivals or challenges like Snowball and Boxer.

And this is really similar to Stalin who had secret police acting on his behalf.

Napoleon's public execution of the pigs and hens mirrors Stalin's show trials.

So he's doing this publicly to make a point.

Napoleon wants these executions to be public in order to cultivate this culture of fear and terror.

These parallels really emphasise how George Orwell's critique of the methods used by totalitarian leaders like Stalin during their rise to power.

So what aspect of Napoleon's leadership is most reminiscent of Joseph's Stalin's rule during the Soviet Union? Well done, everyone.

They advocated for a centralised power and limited freedoms for citizens.

And we know this is happening in "Animal Farm" as well with this culture of fear, like people are not allowed to speak out, people are not allowed to challenge and they're being severely controlled.

So we know the pigs use a culture of fear to maintain power and control.

What specific things are they using to threaten the animals? You may want to pause the video just to give yourself time to think about these ideas.

Excellent.

Now let's share some of those specific things that we have come up with.

So we know that the animals, particularly Squealer, threaten the return of Mr. Jones.

So Squealer using his rhetorical questions, "surely, comrades, you do not want Jones back?" And obviously they don't.

They use Snowball as well.

So he is used to threaten and scare the animals.

"This traitor has crept here under the cover of night." And Snowball is almost created to be this villain in the novella.

The pigs make out that he's creeping around at night doing all these awful things.

They make them scared of other farms and humans.

"Man is the only real enemy we have." They also threaten death and violence.

It's always in the air.

So we get this description of the dogs promptly tore their throats out and in a terrible voice Napoleon demanded whether any other animals had anything to confess.

So this fear is being used to really maintain power and control.

And finally, starvation.

We know that Napoleon uses food to manipulate and control the animals.

The hens after they descent are basically starved to death and the animals are terrified of this.

And also their situation means they're starving a lot of the time.

So in January, food fell short.

So it's really frightening for the animals.

And I guess it makes 'em think that if they don't work incredibly hard and serve all of the needs of the pigs, then they're going to get even more hungry.

True or false time.

The pigs use a culture of fear to maintain control over the animals.

Well done everyone that said true.

Absolutely right.

But now we need to justify our answers.

Excellent, well done.

Napoleon's reign of terror is continued by increasing the sense of threat and danger amongst the animals, which is exactly where he wants them to be.

We have reached our final practise task.

So what I would like you to do is I would like you to use the quote as a starting point.

So let's read that first.

They were all slain on the spot, and so the tail of confessions and executions went on until there was a pile of corpses lying before Napoleon's feet and the air was heavy with the smell of blood, which had been unknown there since the expulsion of Jones.

So use that quote as a starting point.

I would like you to discuss the following questions.

How does Orwell use language to present the horrific events of chapter seven? You may want to explore word types and imagery and how does Napoleon create a culture of fear in order to maintain power and control? So think back to all the specific things we identified.

So pause the video and we will come back to share some of our ideas in a moment.

Good luck.

Excellent discussions, everyone.

Gosh, you remembered a lot from the chapters and were really able to develop some of those ideas by focusing on that quote.

So well done.

So you may have discussed some of the following.

So you may have noticed this use of descriptive language to create unsettling imagery.

So that pile of corpses is really descriptive and actually quite shocking.

So we get this impact of sensory image as well.

This idea of the smell of blood, again, Orwell is really painting a descriptive.

A descriptive picture for us.

Like we can smell it, we can see it, which makes it even more shocking.

We notice that the executions and the confessions contribute to a culture of fear.

The role of propaganda and manipulation in keeping the animals in line.

The consequences for animals who question or oppose Napoleon's authority.

And the many things that animals are manipulated to see as a threat, Snowball, starvation, violence, death, and humans.

So I think most of you came up with a lot more than that.

So really well done.

Well done everyone.

We have reached the end of the lesson.

I've really enjoyed hearing all of your ideas and contributions on the events of chapter seven.

So well done.

So let's just remind ourselves of everything that we have learnt this lesson.

So we have learned that the animals are beginning to run outta food on the farm.

The hens are punished for refusing to give up their eggs.

The pigs run show trials which represent Stalin's period of Great Terror.

The show trials act as a way of cultivating a culture of fear to keep the animals under control.

And Napoleon's totalitarian regime is fully realised and the revolution is not as promised.

I've really enjoyed our lesson today and I really hope we will see you again in the future.

Thanks very much.