New
New
Year 11
Edexcel

Weaving context into 'Animal Farm' essays

I can understand what context is and how to weave it into my responses.

New
New
Year 11
Edexcel

Weaving context into 'Animal Farm' essays

I can understand what context is and how to weave it into my responses.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Context refers to historical, social, literary and biographical information.
  2. Context should not be presented as isolated facts.
  3. Context should be relevant to the analysis and woven in the response.
  4. Context should develop your ideas and give an insight into the writer’s purpose and intention.

Common misconception

Context must be included in every paragraph.

Context must be included in essays, but where it is relevant and develops your analysis - not as a tick box exercise for each paragraph.

Keywords

  • Liberalism - A political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, democracy and free enterprise.

  • Ideology - A system of ideas, values or beliefs.

  • Socialism - Socialism is a political ideology that believes in equality and shared ownership of resources and production.

  • Satire - The use of humour or irony to criticise or reveal faults.

  • Weave - In relation to context, when you embed it into paragraphs rather than including it as a series of isolated facts.

A range of Orwell's essays and other non-fiction works could be used for Task A instead of the notes in the additional materials.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You will need access to a copy of 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell.

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of peer pressure or bullying
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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6 Questions

Q1.
In 'Animal Farm', Orwell primarily criticises which totalitarian leader?
Vladimir Lenin
Correct answer: Joseph Stalin
Adolf Hitler
Leon Trotsky
Q2.
Which of the following genres does 'Animal Farm' not fit?
Fable
Satire
Fairy story
Correct answer: Farce
Allegory
Q3.
In what armed conflict did George Orwell participate voluntarily?
The Russian Revolution
World War II
Correct answer: Spanish Civil War
World War I
Q4.
Orwell's other extremely successful novel is called what?
Correct answer: 1984
Brighton Rock
Brave New World
The Master and the Margerita
Farenheit 451
Q5.
In 'Animal Farm', which class of creatures stages its own small-scale, unsuccessful rebellion against the pigs?
Correct answer: The hens
The sheeps
The dogs
The rats and rabbits
The cows
Q6.
Match the character from 'Animal Farm' to the historical figure or idea they represent.
Correct Answer:The dogs,The secret police

The secret police

Correct Answer:Boxer,Alexei Stakhanov

Alexei Stakhanov

Correct Answer:Mr. Jones,Tsar Nicholas II

Tsar Nicholas II

Correct Answer:Snowball,Lean Trotsky

Lean Trotsky

Correct Answer:Squealer ,Molotov

Molotov

Correct Answer:Old Major,Karl Marx

Karl Marx

6 Questions

Q1.
In every 'Animal Farm' essay, you should include context. Match the type of context to its definition.
Correct Answer:historical,What was happening when the text was written.

What was happening when the text was written.

Correct Answer:literary,What influenced the text's style or genre.

What influenced the text's style or genre.

Correct Answer:social ,What were the shared values and ideas of the time period.

What were the shared values and ideas of the time period.

Correct Answer:biographical,What are the life experiences of the author.

What are the life experiences of the author.

Q2.
Orwell was influenced by his time fighting against fascism in the Spanish Civil War. What type of context is this?
Literary
Correct answer: Biographical
Social
Historical
Q3.
In his 1946 essay 'Why I write' what does Orwell say all his writing has been "directly or indirectly against"?
Correct answer: Totalitarianism
Equality
Dictators
Propganda
Education
Q4.
Which of these does Squealer represent in 'Animal Farm'?
Correct answer: Pravda the communist newspaper
The communist manifesto
Correct answer: Molotov - Stalin's Minster of Foreign Affairs
Tsar Nicholas II
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs
Q5.
Which historical figure said "religion is the opium of the people"?
Joseph Stalin
Leon Trotsky
Correct answer: Karl Marx
Vladimir Lenin
Q6.
Which character in 'Animal Farm' could be an allegory for the famous Russian coal miner Alexei Stakhanov?
Clover
Snowball
Correct answer: Boxer
Napoleon
Squealer

Additional material

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