Nineteen Eighty-Four: Exploring the Text

In class we identified features of the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four that might help us to develop a clear understanding of the genre: “Dystopian Literary Fiction”

From this we will now expand our study by investigating:

1. Evidence in the text that supports our impressions recorded above – particularly those in relation to the setting, style, language and structure of the novel.
   • Select 5 aspects of the novel from the list above (or add your own) and write a supporting analysis that contains at least two quotations each. Use this model to support the construction of these analytical pieces
2. The historical context of George Orwell’s authorship of the novel
   • Gather significant facts about Orwell’s personal history that are understood to have influenced his politics and his writing.
   • Read one of Orwell’s essays:
     • Politics and the English Language
     • Why I Write
3. The actual realities of world politics in 1950 and 1984
   • Explore specific socio-political elements of the time: Technology, Political Systems, The Cold War, The USSR, Post-WWII Europe, Mutually Assured Destruction.
4. The allegorical basis for the text – Stalin’s Russia
   • Pay particular attention to facets of Stalinist Russia that may have influenced Orwell’s construction of his own Totalitarian Party. Also, have a re-read of this article about the post-fact world
5. Other texts that fit the dystopia genre (read, view and summarise)
   • FILMS: V for Vendetta, Children of Men, Gattaca, Minority Report, Elysium, ExistenZ, Mad Max: Fury Road, In Time
6. Marxism as a literary theory.
7. Resonance in our society now – to what extent was George Orwell’s vision of the future prophetic?
   • Draw distinct parallels between features in Orwell’s vision of the future and that which we find to be true of our world today – match the present day truths with specific quotes from the text. Consider: Politics, Political Corruption, Technology, Privacy, Class, Sex, State Control over the Individual, Inequality, Media manipulation, Totalitarianism.

Posted by Christopher Waugh

“Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinions of others, for those voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth.” (Katherine Mansfield)

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