Lesson video

Hello, and this is lesson 19 of Animal Farm, and you will have seen from the title that this lesson is called The Executions.

So far we have seen Napoleon chase Snowball off the farm and then proceed to start to become a true tyrant, by abusing his power and showing how corrupt he is.

However, in this lesson things take a dark turn and we really begin to see Napoleon as a truly evil tyrant.

And we really get to understand what he is capable of.

So when you're ready, please make sure you found somewhere quiet, somewhere you can focus, grab yourself a pen, a piece of paper or notebook and then let's get ready to find out more about Napoleon.

Okay, brilliant, so, you should now have everything you need, if not, please press pause here and make sure you're settled and ready to learn.

But if you're ready straight away, then we can get started.

So, we'll begin the lesson with a recap of what we already know before moving on to another piece of new vocabulary and then looking at an extract all together before you answer some true or false questions.

And then we complete the exit quiz to reflect on how much we've learned.

So, we spoke about the Great Purge a couple of lessons ago but I'm going to try and get you to drag it from the back of your memory and pop it into the front of your memory.

So what was the Great Purge in the Russian Revolution? There's more than one correct answer.

Was it option one, when Trotsky organised the Communist Party? Was it option two, when the Red Army and the White Army fought? Was it option three, when Stalin got rid of anyone who disagreed with him? Or was it option four, when Stalin got rid of anyone who was a threat to his power? So as I said, you have two correct answers here, take your time, pause the video and then press play when you're ready.

And the two correct options are number three and four.

The Great Purge was all to do with Joseph Stalin and Staling got rid of anyone who disagreed with him or anyone who threatened him having power.

So option three and option four are a really nice summary of what the Great Purge was in the Russian Revolution.

So, our new vocabulary that we need to know for today is execution.

As we've said before with new vocabulary, you may have had this word around or seen it written down but now we're going to learn exactly what it means.

An execution is killing someone for political reasons.

So it's not as simple as murdering someone, it's murdering or killing someone for political reasons.

There's a definite reason behind it.

The execution of an Anne Boleyn happened at the Tower of London.

So Anne Boleyn was one of Henry VIII wives.

She was executed at the Tower of London.

Numerous people in history have been executed for disagreeing with a tyrant.

So this is a real big cause of executions.

If there are people out there who are disagreeing with someone in power, a tyrant in power, they are likely to be executed because that tyrant does not want anyone opposing them.

And that's what we saw with Stalin.

An execution takes place when someone has dissented.

So I've thrown in a couple of new vocabulary there for you, an execution takes place when someone has dissented.

Dissented meaning they have disagreed or shared a different opinion to what the government or the political party or whoever is in charge thinks.

So whoever the person in power is, the person being executed disagrees with them in some way and so they are executed.

So which of the following do you think is a correct definition of execution? Is it when someone is murdered? When someone is killed for political reasons.

When someone is sent away from where they live.

Or when someone is killed by accident.

Take your time, think carefully about how we've described this and the examples we've used and then press play when you are ready to check your answer.

And option two is the correct answer.

Execution is when someone is killed for political reasons.

So that's the really key part, that they are killed for political reasons.

So now we're going to have a look at what's going on on the farm before we dive straight into the extract.

The animals have started trading with humans.

So Napoleon has set this up, that they need to start trading with humans to get more money, to get more things for the farm.

And as a result of that, they need eggs from the hens, the local farmers and the people that Napoleon is trading with would like eggs.

So Napoleon says to the hens, we need your eggs to trade.

When the hens heard this, they started something similar to a rebellion.

They refused to give up their eggs.

So they didn't just roll over and say, okay Napoleon, here you go, here are all of our eggs.

Instead, they said no, we're not giving them to you.

Now let's have a look at the extracts.

"Led by three young Black Minorca pullets, "the hens made a determined effort "to thwart Napoleon's wishes.

"Their method was to fly up to the rafters "and that lay their eggs, "which smashed to pieces on the floor.

"Napoleon acted swiftly and ruthlessly.

"He ordered the hens rations to be stopped "and decreed that any animal giving so much "as a grain of corn to a hen should be punished by death.

"The dog saw to it that these orders were carried out.

"For five days the hands held out.

"Then they capitulated and went back to their nesting boxes.

"Nine hens had died in the meantime.

"Their bodies were buried in the orchard "and it was given out that they had died of coccidiosis." I'm going to pause here to just explain a few pieces of vocabulary.

As there are a few bits in there that might be difficult.

So the first bold word thwart, if you thwart someone, you stop them from achieving something.

So three young hens thwarted Napoleon's wishes, they stopped Napoleon's achievement of getting their eggs.

By doing that, they flew up into the rafters and they lay their eggs from the rafters, which meant that every time they laid an egg, it just smashed.

That was their way of thwarting Napoleon's wishes.

Napoleon acted swiftly and ruthlessly.

So he decided, okay, if the hens aren't going to give me anything, then I decree, and a decree is when someone sets a law.

So Napoleon decreed, he set a law that any animal who gave anything at all to a hen, any kind of food would be punished by death.

So not only was he punishing the hens, but he was punishing any other animal who were going to help the hens.

The hens carried on for five days, then they capitulated.

So that means they gave in, they stopped rebelling and they said, okay, fine.

And they went back to their nesting boxes.

But in the meantime, in those five days, nine hens had died.

Now, Napoleon had the hens bodies buried.

However, he told the animals they had died of a disease.

So coccidiosis is a disease that birds get.

So Napoleon told all of the animals that they'd died more naturally but we can probably work out what had actually happened.

So, now we've read the extract together.

I would like you to have a go at answering these three questions.

How does Napoleon react to the hens' rebellion? Who carries out Napoleon's orders? So who is it that goes around and make sure that the animals who help the hens are killed? And number three, what reason was given for the death of so many hens? We've spoken about this and you have the extract to help you.

So please pause the video here, write down some answers.

If you have the extract printed out, it would be a really good idea to highlight the parts of the extract that give you the answer.

And we'll use that on our next activity.

So press pause here and then press play when you're ready.

Okay, we are going to take each question one by one.

So first of all, how does Napoleon react to the hens rebellion? Well, I've taken this quotation from the extract.

Napoleon acted swiftly and ruthlessly.

Now these two adverbs, swiftly, ruthlessly tell us a lot about Napoleon's reaction.

Swiftly means he acted very quickly.

It was a, we call them knee jerk reactions.

Yeah, so a reaction that's really, really quick that you don't think about.

He acted swiftly, very quickly.

And he acted ruthlessly.

If you are ruthless, you do not have any compassion or any kindness or any care.

From this quotation then we can see that Napoleon acted very quickly and without any compassion or care or any thought of the hens well-being, he just reacted quickly and ruthlessly.

Please add that to your notes if you don't already have it, if you do already have it, then we will move straight on to the next one.

Another quotation to answer the same question.

How does Napoleon react to the hens' rebellion? The extract told us that Napoleon ordered the hens' rations to be stopped.

He stopped feeding them.

This is an excellent way of controlling someone.

Food is something we all need.

So if your food is stopped and you're told you can't have any food, it's very, very difficult to continue living like that.

And the hens managed for five days but they then realised that they needed food to survive.

By stopping feeding the hens, Napoleon was controlling them.

He was forcing them to stop their rebellion.

Another way he reacted was by telling all of the other animals that if they wanted to help the hens, that they would be punished by death.

This has two achievements for Napoleon.

First of all, it sets the hens up as an example, it stays to the other animals, if you're going to do what the hands are doing and you're going to take their side, you will die.

So it's a very straightforward outcome for them, they know the consequences.

It's also a warning to them of what will happen if they rebel.

Not only is it that they cannot help the hens, but it's also that Napoleon will see that help as the animal rebelling as well.

And if they start rebelling, they're going to be killed by death.

And if they start rebelling, they're going to be punished by death, not just their rations being stopped, but they will be killed for helping the hens and for rebelling themselves.

Napoleon's reaction is very quick but it's also very extreme.

So please make sure you have these notes added on to the things you've already got written down.

The next question was who carries out Napoleon's orders? And the quotation that I've decided to use is the dogs saw to it that these orders work carried out.

The extract tells us the answer.

The dogs saw to it that these orders were carried out.

And finally, for the last question, what reason was given for the death of so many hens? And I've taken the last line of the extract, the animals were told the hens had died of disease.

The reason Napoleon has told the animals this is because he still wants to like a good leader even though everyone will know the truth, Napoleon needs to portray himself or present himself as a leader who cares about his people.

He can't be so obviously a tyrant.

He has to at least pretend to care.

And that's why he tells everyone that they've died of a disease instead of having been killed or died of starvation.

If you got all three of those questions correct, that's absolutely brilliant, really, really good work and you should be really proud of yourselves.

If there might've been one or two that you didn't quite get or you need to add bits to, take your time to do that now, pause the video or rewind it, just make sure that you've got those answers before you move on to the next part of the lesson.

So, the next extract is looking at Napoleon as a cruel dictator.

And the question that I'd like you to have in your head as we read the extract, is at the top of the screen.

How does Orwell show Napoleon as a cruel dictator? I'll read the extract out and then we'll have a chat about it.

And then I'm going to give you some time to have a go answering the question.

"Napoleon stood sternly surveying his audience.

"Then he uttered a high pitched whimper.

"Immediately the dogs bounded forward seized four "of the pigs by the ear and dragged them, "squealing with pain and terror to Napoleon's feet.

"To the amazement of everybody, "three of them flung themselves upon Boxer.

"Boxer saw them coming and put out his great hoof, "caught a dog in mid-air and pinned him to the ground.

"Boxer looked at Napoleon to know "whether he should crush the dog to death or let it go.

"Napoleon sharply ordered Boxer to let the dog go." So here we start to see Napoleon being very obvious in his treatment of the animals.

He calls the dogs and the dogs grabbed four of the pigs by the ear, squealing with pain and terror.

Some of the dogs try to get Boxer but Boxer manages to defend himself.

However, instead of reacting quickly and ruthlessly, instead, Boxer looks at Napoleon for orders and he waits for Napoleon to tell him what to do.

And that's really, really interesting that Napoleon is treating the animals this badly.

And yet Boxer still waits for Napoleon to tell him what to do.

So in extract, how does Orwell show Napoleon as a cruel dictator? I would like you to pause the video and choose some quotations in this extract which show Napoleon as a cruel dictator.

When you've chosen them, press play and we'll go through some of your ideas together.

Here are a couple of quotations that I have chosen.

The first one, Napoleon stood sternly surveying his audience then he uttered a high pitched whimper.

To me, this shows Napoleon as a cruel dictator because it tells us that Napoleon has trained the dogs to do cruel things.

The dogs respond to Napoleon calling them and they know exactly what to do.

And the dogs go on to grab the pigs by the ears and make them squeal with terror.

The only person who has taught the dogs anything is Napoleon.

Remember they were secluded, so they don't know anything beyond what Napoleon has taught them.

And so that tells us that Napoleon is a cruel dictator because he is the only one in charge and he has trained the dogs to act cruelly and horribly.

The second quotation that I have chosen is Boxer looked at Napoleon to know whether he should crush the dog to death or let it go.

And Napoleon sharply ordered Boxer to let the dog go.

And here why I've chosen it because it shows us that all animals, no matter how powerful they are, because don't forget Boxer is a huge cart horse, he's very powerful and he could easily have crushed and killed the dog, but he doesn't.

He looks to Napoleon and ask for permission, and these shows Napoleon as a dictator because everyone follows his rules even people or sorry, animals.

So even animals who are more powerful than him like Boxer, they still ask for permission from Napoleon.

So that's a really powerful part of the extract.

If you have extra things on yours, that's amazing.

And I'm sure they're wonderful.

Please make sure that you have these things on your extract or on your notepad as well just to make sure you have everything you need.

We're now going to talk about how this part of Animal Farm is the part of the allegory that reflects Stalin's Great Purge.

Napoleon's actions in this part of Animal Farm are directly comparable to Stalin's actions when he kills and gets rid of people in the Great Purge.

Napoleon forces more animals to confess and I've put confess in the quotation marks because Napoleon has got animals to confess to something they haven't really done.

So it's not a true confession but Napoleon wants them to say they've done this.

Three pigs come forward and confess to working with Snowball.

"When they had finished their confession, "the dogs promptly tore their throats out "and in a terrible voice, Napoleon demanded "whether any other animal had anything to confess.

"They were all slain on the spot.

"And so the tale 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." This is a really powerful extract in my opinion, there's lots of emotive language.

We have the dogs promptly tore their throats out and in a terrible voice Napoleon demanded, they were slaying on the spot.

There was a pile of corpses.

The air was heavy with blood.

It's a really powerful extract helping us to imagine what that scene must have been like.

I would like you to think about the language that I've highlighted and how the language that I've highlighted shows that Napoleon is a cruel dictator or a cruel tyrant.

So if you would like to, you can pause the video here to highlight or to write down the bits that I have written in blue.

And now we'll talk about what those bits in blue are telling us.

First of all, promptly tore their throats out is telling us that Napoleon's dogs are quick to violence.

They did it promptly.

They didn't think about it.

They didn't hesitate.

They promptly tore the pigs throats out.

And then we move on to Napoleon demanding, he demanded.

If you demand something it means you must have it.

And you must be used to getting your own way.

You're someone with a lot of power who knows you will get what you want.

And that shows that Napoleon must be a dictator and a cruel leader.

And then last of all, the fact that there is a pile of corpses lying before Napoleon's feet, a pile of corpses, that now tells us just how many animals have been killed.

It's not one or two, it is a pile of them.

There are lots and lots of animals that have been executed by Napoleon's dogs.

So add on those notes to the notes that you already have, pause the video if you need to.

And if not we'll keep going.

Now we're going to take a look at how the animals felt after the executions.

"When it was all over, the remaining animals, "except for the pigs and dogs, crept away in a body.

"They were shaken and miserable.

"They did not know which was more shocking, "the treachery of the animals who had leagued themselves "with Snowball, or the cruel retribution "they had just witnessed.

"In the old days there had often been scenes "of bloodshed equally terrible, but it seemed to all of them "that it was far worse "now that it was happening among themselves.

"Since Jones had left the farm, until today, "no animal had killed another animal, "not even a rat had been killed." This is quiet a sad extract I think, the animals are clearly shaken, miserable.

It was a really scary thing for them to experience.

But it's interesting that we're told that they didn't know which was more shocking, the treachery, so the betrayal of trust of the animals who had been on Snowball side or the cruel retribution, so that's talking about the executions that they'd just seen.

The animals then don't know whether to be more shocked about the animals who confessed to being on Snowball side or whether they should be more shocked at the fact that the Napoleon has killed them.

And they're confused about which one they should be upset about.

But the key thing to take away is that this is the first time on the farm since Jones has left that an animal has been killed by another animal.

It's the first time this has happened since Jones has left.

So, what I would like you to do now is have a go at completing this activity.

The animals felt, and then there are two words for you to fill in there, after the executions because, and then finish off that sentence.

So if you need to rewind the video a little bit, there's an extract here, and I have written the bits that you will need to use in blue.

So you can either use your printout of the extract or you can rewind the video to this slide and pause on there.

But you need to pause the video and complete this sentence using the question at the top of the slide.

When your finished, and you're happy with your answer, press play and we'll keep going.

Okay, let's see how you did.

This is an example that I have written.

The animals felt shocked and miserable after the executions because no animal had been killed on the farm since Jones had left.

So shocked and miserable are probably the two words that everyone has written, which is absolutely brilliant.

If you haven't written those words as long as your words are synonyms, so a word that means the same thing, then you're absolutely fine.

And then to finish the sentence, as long as you've put something about the fact that this is the first time since Jones has left that an animal has been killed by another, that's the important thing.

So something about the death of animals for the first time since Jones has left.

An addition that you could add on which is a bit more challenging, is that the animals felt betrayed by the animals who had been supporting Snowball as well as scared and shaken by Napoleon's reaction and treatment of the animals.

So you might've made your answer even longer which is brilliant.

And if it say something about that sense of betrayal, that would be really, really good because you're using more vocabulary that we've spoken about.

If you need to pause the video and add anything onto your answer, please feel free to do so.

So, quick true or false.

Orwell portrays Napoleon as a tyrant.

Do you think that's true or false? Shout your answer at the screen, nice and loud for me.

Thank you very much, that is true.

You are correct.

Orwell does indeed portray Napoleon as a tyrant.

Napoleon represents Tsar Nicholas II in the allegory of the Russian Revolution.

This one may need more thinking time.

So if you do need to pause to have a think, that's fine.

If not, I want you to shout your answer at the screen.

Napoleon represents Tsar Nicholas II in the allegory of the Russian Revolution, true or false? Nice and loud, and that is false.

That's false because Napoleon represents Stalin in the allegory of the Russian Revolution.

Stalin was the leader of the Great Purge the same as Napoleon led the executions.

So Napoleon represents Stalin.

Orwell is showing readers how terrifying Stalin's Russia was for people who lived there.

So in this extract with the executions and the animal's reaction and how they felt, do you think Orwell is using that to show readers how terrifying Stalin's Russia was for people who lived there, true or false? If you need thinking time press pause.

If not, shout your answer or write it down.

And the onset is true.

That's exactly what Orwell was doing.

He wanted to make sure the readers of Animal Farm were aware of what Stalin's Russia was actually like, and how people who live there would have felt.

And that's us done for today.

It's always nice to finish on the quick true or false questions I think.

And hopefully you all managed to get three out of three on those.

Again, you've done incredible work today, so make sure you relax now and then we can get started with the next part of Animal Farm and see what Napoleon gets up to next.

Thank you very much, have a good day.