Lesson video

Hello and welcome to lesson five of Animal Farm.

In the previous four lessons we have looked at the writer, George Orwell, as well as the allegory of Animal Farm which represents the Russian Revolution and the characters and events that took place during that time.

In today's lesson, we are doing the very exciting task of starting to read the story.

So we will begin by having a look at the narrator of Animal Farm, and discussing why that is effective and why Orwell has chosen to narrate it in the way that he has.

So when you are ready, please make sure you've got a quiet space to concentrate and something to write with, something to write on, and then we can get started.

Excellent.

So you should now be ready with your pen or pencil and your paper or exercise book as well as a quiet space you can concentrate.

If you're not quite ready, please press pause and get yourself ready, and then press play when you are.

But if you are prepared, then we can get started with lesson five.

So we will begin with a recap of previous learning today before moving onto introducing Animal Farm itself, and then looking at some new vocabulary that's going to be really important for us to understand.

And then reading extract, finally.

So we're actually getting to read some of the story.

And then we'll finish as always with the exit quiz.

So let's have a look at the recap of previous learnings.

What did Orwell want to draw attention to with his writing? So there are two correct answers here and we're thinking about all of the things that Orwell wanted readers to take away from his writing.

So what was he trying to draw attention to? Option one, Orwell wanted to draw attention to inequality in society.

Option two, Orwell wanted to draw attention to the abuse of power by leaders.

Option three, Orwell wanted to draw attention to homeless people.

And option four, Orwell wanted to draw attention to colonisation.

So take your time with this, press pause.

Have a look through all four options and select the two correct answers before pressing play to find out if you are right or not.

Good luck.

Okay, how did you do? Option one and option two are the correct answers.

So Orwell wanted to draw attention to inequality in society and he also wanted to draw attention to the abuse of power by leaders.

They are the two things that we've spoken about in the previous four lessons.

So if you managed to get those both correct, that's incredible.

Well done.

If you opted for option three, I can completely understand why you chose that because you've chosen the homeless people option and we've spoken about Orwell living amongst the homeless people.

And he also wrote Down and Out in London and Paris which was written to draw attention to that.

However, I think his writing was a lot more broad than that and it wasn't just focused on homelessness.

And option four, you may remember that we spoke about colonisation because often with colonisation it means there is inequality and there is some kind of abuse of power.

However, again, that's a little bit too specific when actually Orwell wanted to draw attention to things much bigger.

So things like inequality and the abuse of power.

So again, a huge well done if you chose the two correct answers.

Now, before we start reading, it is very important that we know who is who in Animal Farm.

So we're going to have a look at some of the major characters that we need to know about.

We have Old Major, Farmer Jones and the farm animals.

Old Major was an important pig who starts the idea of the rebellion.

So Old Major is the first animal to start talking about a rebellion, what that means, what the animals should do.

And Old Major actually dies after telling the animals about his vision for the future.

So he talks to the animals, he tells them what he thinks the future should look like and a few days later unfortunately he dies.

So although he dies right at the beginning of the story, he's very, very important because he is the guy who starts the entire idea that drives the rest of the story forward.

Farmer Jones, we know a little bit about him based on the plot that we spoke about last lesson.

So Farmer Jones is the drunk farmer who often forgets to feed the animals.

And he actually represents Tsar Nicholas II in the Russian Revolution.

So if you remember, we spoke about in the Russian Revolution there was Tsar Nicholas II, who is similar to the king, who had all of the power before the revolution happened.

And that's who Farmer Jones represents.

And finally, we have the farm animals.

Now there are lots of animals we will meet throughout the story.

So we have dogs, we have pigs, we have horses, there are chickens, a blackbird, a cat.

There are loads and loads of animals we're going to meet but the most important thing we need to know at this point is that it's the pigs that take over the farm, okay? So loads of animals in the story but it's the pigs that take over the farm.

So, let's see how much you remember.

There are three boxes on the screen and in each box you can see that there are blank spaces.

You need to complete each box, filling in the blank spaces based on what I have just told you.

If you need to rewind to think about what I said and to remind yourselves, that is absolutely fine.

But if you want to challenge yourself, definitely have a go first before you decide to do that.

So take your time, think carefully, pause the video and then when you've filled in all of the gaps, press play to get some feedback.

Okay.

So number one, Old Major, an important pig who starts the idea of the rebellion.

So they are the two blank spaces that you should have filled in.

Old Major is an important pig who starts the idea of the rebellion.

And then just the extra bit that he dies after telling the animals about his vision.

Farmer Jones was the drunk farmer.

Some of you might have put lazy there, if you remembered a few things from our previous lesson and that is great as well.

So drunk or lazy farmer who often forgets to feed the animals.

And he represents Tsar Nicholas II in the Russian Revolution.

If you put king there, you have the idea right but try your best to remember that in Russia it's a Tsar, okay? And finally the farm animals.

Lots of animals we'll meet throughout the story, but it is the pigs that take over the farm.

So you should have all written the pigs take over the farm.

Well done for having a go at that.

An even bigger well done if you managed to get them all correct.

So now we know the important characters for the whole story but especially for the beginning of the story.

And we're now going to learn some new vocabulary.

So we have a new word and the new word is omniscient.

I'll say that a few more times.

Omniscient.

Repeat it after me, omniscient.

Okay.

A little bit louder, I think.

Omniscient.

Okay, good.

If you need to keep repeating that a few times just to get used to the sound of it, that's fine.

Omniscient.

Now this word comes from Latin and you can see on the screen that I've divided the word to show you how it comes from Latin.

So the work omni means all in Latin.

So you've got all and then Sciere is to know.

So you can that that's changed slightly from Latin but it's still got that same root, that Sciere, and we see that in science as well, okay? So Sciere, scient, to know.

All to know.

So omniscient means knowing everything.

If you are omniscient, it means you know everything, okay? So let's look at some examples.

Christians believe God is omniscient.

So Christians believe God is all-knowing, that he knows everything.

If it were possible to be omniscient, exams would be much easier.

So if it were possible to know everything, then exams would be a lot easier.

And finally, many writers choose to use an omniscient narrator.

So this is going to be very important for us in today's lesson.

An omniscient narrator, a narrator who knows everything.

Many writers choose to use one of those.

So, let's have a go and see if you guys fully understand what I mean by the word omniscient.

Which of the following is the correct definition? We have option one, omniscient means thinking you know everything.

Option two, omniscient means being able to predict the future.

And option three, omniscient means you are all-knowing.

Or option four, omniscient means being intelligent.

Take your time, read through them by yourselves.

Press pause and select the correct answer and then press play when you're ready to check if it's right.

How did you do? Option three, omniscient means you are all-knowing.

Now if you remember the last thing that we've just spoken about, you will definitely have got that right.

Option one, if you chose that one, the key difference there is the thinking you know everything.

Being omniscient is truly knowing everything, not just thinking it.

Option two is predicting the future.

So it's not quite the same.

Predicting the future does not necessarily mean you know absolutely everything.

And option four, you can be very, very intelligent and still not know everything, okay? So omniscient does not necessarily mean that you are intelligent, okay? They are different things.

So option three, omniscient, all-knowing.

Now, with that in our heads, okay? So we're remembering omniscient, we're remembering omniscient narrator.

So the narrator, someone who tells the story, who is omniscient.

Who is all-knowing, they know everything.

And with that in mind, we are going to start reading, finally, the beginning of Animal Farm.

So Animal Farm has an omniscient narrator.

It means that the narrator knows everything that happens.

And what this means is that we can see inside the thoughts and feelings of all of the characters, okay? So as readers, if you are reading something with an omniscient narrator, it's great for us because we get to see inside the thoughts and feelings of every single character.

We get to see the big picture, so it's really helpful.

So here is the first part of Animal Farm.

I'll read it out once for you and then we will have a look at the bits that are highlighted in blue.

The reason they are highlighted in blue is because they are good examples of the story having an omniscient narrator.

So just bear that in mind while you're listening.

Mr Jones, of the Manor Farm, had locked the hen-houses for the night, but was too drunk to remember to shut the pop-holes.

With the ring of light from his lantern dancing from side to side, he lurched across the yard, kicked off his boots at the back door, drew himself a last glass of beer from the barrel in the scullery, and made his way up to bed, where Mrs Jones was already snoring.

As soon as the light in the bedroom went out there was a stirring and a fluttering all through the farm buildings.

Word had gone round during the day that Old Major, the prize Middle White boar, had had a strange dream on the previous night and wished to communicate it to the other animals.

So that's how we begin Animal Farm.

Now, you'll notice that the bits highlighted in blue all give us information about what different characters are doing.

So we see that Mr Jones was too drunk to remember to shut the pop-holes.

So we are getting an insight into Mr Jones' head, yeah? He's too drunk to remember to do something.

And we also see his actions.

We find out that he kicks off his boots at the back door and that he draws himself a glass of beer.

We then very quickly move on to finding out that Mrs Jones is asleep.

So in that first paragraph we already know what Mr Jones, what's going on in here for Mr Jones but also what he's doing.

And we find out that Mrs Jones is snoring.

In the second paragraph we find out that Old Major has had a strange dream.

So already we've now seen into three different characters and seen what they're thinking or feeling or what they're doing.

We know that Old Major has had a strange dream and we also know that he wanted to communicate it to other animals.

So we know his thoughts and his feelings as well as Mr Jones' thoughts and feelings.

And that is the benefit of having an omniscient narrator.

Here is the next extract, so listen carefully.

It had been agreed that they should all meet in the big barn as soon as Mr Jones was safely out of the way.

Old Major, so he was always called, though the name under which he had been exhibited was Willingdon Beauty, was so highly regarded on the farm that everyone was quite ready to lose an hour's sleep in order to hear what he had to say.

First came the three dogs, Bluebell, Jessie and Pincher, and then the pigs, who settled down in the straw immediately in front of the platform.

The hens perched themselves on the window-sills, the pigeons fluttered up to the rafters, the sheep and cows lay down behind the pigs and began to chew the cud.

So what I'd like you to do now is pause the video and then try and pick out the key parts of this extract that give away why an omniscient narrator is important.

So which parts of the extract show us that there is an omniscient narrator? That we get to know everything and that we get to see the thoughts and the feelings of every character.

So pause the video here and copy down the parts of the extract that you think show the omniscient narrator really, really well.

Press play when you're ready to get some feedback.

So, let's see if we've selected the same parts.

I've chosen Mr Jones in the first sentence because Mr Jones is safely out of the way.

So we know what Mr Jones is doing.

Old Major, so he was always called, though the name under which he had been exhibited was Willingdon Beauty.

So we know that Old Major is his name on the farm but because we have an omniscient narrator, we also know another name that Old Major had when he was exhibited, so when he was shown, when the farmer used to take him to shows as Willingdon Beauty.

So we know two things about Old Major.

And then we also know that Old Major was highly regarded on the farm.

So we know how all of the other animals feel about Old Major.

That they have lots of respect for him.

And we know all of this because of our omniscient narrator.

So true or false time.

An omniscient narrator is effective because it allows us to see inside the mind of multiple characters.

Is this true or is it false? Pause the video to select one, or if you think you can answer it right away, shout true or false at the screen for me now.

And let's find out if you are correct.

An omniscient narrator is effective because it allows us to see inside the mind of multiple characters, is true.

Well done.

So if you shouted true or if you wrote true down, you are 100% correct.

If you chose false, I would recommend rewinding the video and just giving yourself a reminder of why an omniscient narrator is so effective.

Now, we are going to think about why Orwell has chosen to use an omniscient narrator when writing Animal Farm.

So we know that the omniscient narrator is really useful for us to see inside the minds of multiple characters.

We know that.

What we don't know yet is why Orwell wanted to do that.

Why would Orwell want us to see inside the minds of all of the characters in his story? So to help us answer this, I've broken down our answer into two key questions.

First of all, why did Orwell write Animal Farm? So what were his reasons for writing it? And I've given you two ideas on the screen there.

So it's an allegory of the Russian Revolution and that he wanted to promote awareness of the abuse of leadership.

And then a second question to help us answer our big question at the top is, could Orwell have used first person narration instead? First person narration is using I.

So as you read the story, the narrator is using I and it's a personal story.

If you have watched Mr Johnston's incredible Jane Eyre videos on Oak National, that is first person narration.

So you'll know what I'm talking about.

So could he have used that? Why and why not? So take your time.

Try and answer the big question at the the top using those two prompt questions to help you.

Press pause to give yourself plenty of time to think before you write something down.

And then press play when you are ready to have a look at some possible answers.

Good luck.

Okay, here are some possible answers for the two little questions that I gave you.

Why did Orwell write Animal Farm? Orwell wanted to raise awareness of inequality and the abuse of power.

He wanted to show the negative impact on poor people when this happens.

So you may not have this exact answer but as long as you have something about Orwell's desire to raise awareness of leaders treating ordinary people badly or how unequal society is.

Something like that would be absolutely brilliant.

A possible answer for number two might be that if Orwell had used first person, we would only see the story from one point of view.

And that means we wouldn't be able to understand the thoughts of more than one character.

So we would only get the insight and the knowledge of one character.

And I'll talk about Mr Johnson's Jane Eyre again.

So in Jane Eyre, we find out how Jane feels and what she thinks about all of the situations, but we don't really know much about how Rochester is feeling until he talks to Jane because everything is through Jane's eyes.

So everything we find out about Rochester is only when he talks to Jane and Jane finds out at the same time as we do.

However, with omniscient narration like in Animal Farm, we don't see through the eyes of a character.

We see the story through an omniscient person.

So someone at the top who can tell us everything about everyone so we're never left wondering how one person is thinking or feeling.

So, to sum up, why did Orwell use an omniscient narrator for Animal Farm? I think we can argue that he used an omniscient narrator because he wanted all of the readers to make their own judgments on things.

He wanted us to be able to form our own opinion.

What do we think? Not through the eyes of a character like in Jane Eyre, but we are given all of the information and then we can make our own judgement.

So, you are going to have a go at writing an answer to this question.

And on the screen you will see that I have given you a sentence starter.

So George Orwell used an omniscient narrator because.

Try your best to have a go.

Pause the video to take your time to think about it and write an answer.

And then when you're ready, press play for some feedback.

Okay, so this is a model answer that you might have written.

As long as your answer is very close to this and you have all of the same ideas, you can give yourself a big tick.

George Orwell used an omniscient narrator because he wanted the reader to be able to make their own judgement about the events of the story.

So it was really important for Orwell that as readers we could see the whole picture and form our own opinion.

And that should be kind of the answer roughly that you have written down.

And that is lesson five complete.

So we've started reading the story, we have met some of the characters and we've started to think about why Orwell chose to use an omniscient narrator.

In our next lesson, we will continue reading the story and we're really going to start to get involved with the key events of what is going on on the farm.

So if you would like to, ask your parent or carer if they would like to share your work on Twitter.

And you can tag us, Oak National, and we have the hashtag LearnwithOak as well.

As always, we'd love to see your work so please feel free to ask your parent or carer if they'd like to share it.

And until lesson six, relax and have a lovely day or a lovely evening and I'll see you soon.