1. Name: JussaraMadelaine Ramirez Hilario
Course: English 5
Teacher: Dean Lenton
Date: 27/08/2012
Signature____________________________
2. Activities
Chapters 1-3
Before you read
01. What do you know about the book 1984? Read the introduction. What kind of future
world does it describe?
By reading the introduction of this book, I can say that the world in which Winston lives in is very
hard, cruel and sad. There are two organizations that rule this world, the first one is called Big
Brother and the second one is called Thought Police. Both organizations control what people must
do and especially they control people’s minds. In this world, that is Oceania, the only thing that
the government cares about is power. They do not care about people’s feelings, happiness nor
money. They gain power by making people suffer.A new language was invented called ‘Newspeak’,
in order to convince the citizens in what things they must believe in. In Oceania, love between
individuals is punished by death. They must only love Big Brother and hate enemies. In this world,
freedom does not exist, unless you questioned the ideas and beliefs. And sadly, the people with
power have the control of everything.
02. Answer the questions. Find the words in italics in your dictionary. They are all used in
the story.
a. Is a brotherhood one person or a group of people?Is a group, association or community of
people with a common interest, religion, or trade.
b. Does freedom give you choice or no choice? Freedom gives you choice, and is the power
or right to act, speak, or think freely.
c. If people are hanged, are they hurt or killed?If people are hanged, they are killed.
d. Is knowledge the same or the opposite of ignorance?Is the opposite, knowledge is the
information and skills acquired through experience or education.
e. If you see the world Mansions in an address, do you expect a small building or a larger
one?A mansion is a large, impressive house. I would expect a larger one.
f. Are workers at a Ministry paid by businessmen or the government?Ministry workers are
paid by the government.
g. Can a razor blade cut you or poison you?A razor blade can cut you and if this is infected
by a virus or blood it can poison you.
h. Is slavery the opposite of freedom, or the same?Slavery is the state of being a slave.
Freedom is the state of being free. Therefore, both meanings are not the same.
3. i. Does a victory mean that you have won or lost?Victory is an act of defeating an enemy or
opponent in a battle, game, or other competition. It means that you have won.
03. Match the words from 1984 with the definitions below. Use your dictionary to help you:
Edition- overalls- posters- sweat- truth
a. A big sheet of paper on a wall, with a picture or writing on it: Poster.
b. The opposite of a lie: Truth.
c. Clothes that you wear for dirty work: Overalls.
d. Liquid that runs from your body when you are hot: Sweat.
e. All the copies of a book that are exactly the same and are printed at the same time: Edition.
04. The language of power in Oceania, in 1984, is called Newspeak. Some of these used today:
a. Prole: a lower-class person.
b. Telescreen: the part of a television where words or pictures appear.
c. Vaporize: to make someone disappear completely.
Which of these more common words are connected with power or politics? What do the others
words mean?
a. Canteen:A restaurant in a workplace or educational establishment.
b. Comrade: A colleague, friend or a fellow member of an organization.
c. Gin: Is a clear alcoholic spirit distilled from grain or malt and flavoured with juniper
berries.
d. League: Is a collection of people, countries, or groups that combine for mutual protection
or cooperation. This word is connected with politics.
e. Party: Is a formally constituted political group that contests elections and attempts to take
part in government. This word is connected with politics.
f. Slogan: Is a short, memorable phrase used in advertising or associated with a political
party or group. This word is connected with politics.
After you read
05. Who or what is being described? Discuss what you know about these people and
places.
a. A room with dirty dishes on the table: The Parsons’ apartment.
b. A girl with dark hair: It’s Julia, who falls in love with Winston.
4. c. A dreamy man with hairy ears: It’s Ampleforth.
d. A handsome man with a large black moustache: It’s Big Brother.
e. A place with no windows: The Ministry of Love.
f. A large city where houses are all falling down: The city of London (Oceania).
g. A man with thin, clever face: Syme.
Chapter4-6
Before you read
06. Guess the correct answer and then check as you read the next there chapters.
a. Winston’s parents live near him/were vaporized: Winston’s parents were vaporized.
b. Winston is not married/was married:He was married.
c. The party is for/against ownlife:The party is against ownlife.
d. It would be impossible/unusual to find about a room without a telescreen:It was almost
impossible, but the only room that didn’t have a telescreen was the one Winston rented to
spend time with Julia.
e. We are going to learn a lot more about Parsons and Syme/Winston and the girl with
thick, black hair:We are going to learn a lot more about Winston and the girl with thick, black
hair who is Julia.
07. Look up betray and betrayal in a dictionary. Write the correct word in this sentence:
The party wants children in the Spies to betray their own parents.
08. Oral part (roleplay).
Chapters 7-9
Before you read
9. Read again the last sentence in Chapter6: The room was a world, a past world, and they
were the last two people from it who were still living. Discuss what it means:
a. In what sense is the room “a world”?It’s a world because Winston and Julia do things that
are not allowed to do in Oceania. They can think, talk and do everything they want to
without being controlled or being watched by a telescreen.
b. In what sense is it a “past world”?It’s a past world because this place represents how the
world used to be. In that room, Winston and Julia could think, make love, spend time
5. together and talk against the government freely. It shows how the world was before Big
Brother took control of everything.
c. Inwhat sense are Winston and Julia the last two people who are still living it?They are
the last two people who are still living it because they live in the way Oceania used to live
before.
d. What do you think about the future will be like for them?The future for them is
uncertain, because people change through years. And they are breaking the rules by all
the things they are doing. So it means that maybe in the future if Winston and Julia are
caught doing the things that are prohibited by the government, their live will be very hard
and tough.
10. Find these words in your dictionary. Then write a form of each word in the correct
sentence below.
Article cell individual
a. Prisoners are locked in cells.
b. Articles appear in newspapers.
c. Each person is an individual.
After you read
11. Put these events in the same order as in the story. Start with d.
a. Soldiers come into Charrington’s shop. (6)
b. The people of Oceania are told that they are at war with Eastasia. (5)
c. Winston tells Julia about O’Brien. (2)
d. Syme is vaporized. (1)
e. Julia and Winston drink to Emmanuel Goldstein. (4)
f. Julia and Winston visit O’Brien at his flat. (3)
g. Winston sees O’Brien at the Ministry of Love. (7)
12. 1984 was written in 1498-9. In your own words, what does Goldstein’s book say has
happened between 1950 and 1984?
6. During the 1950s and 1980s, the equality of classes had ended and society was distributed into
high, middle and low class. The party purchased all the properties of the city. This meant that the
party had the control of everything, so low and middle class owned almost nothing. Therefore,
middle and low class people could not have the hope of becoming richer.
Chapter 10-12
Before you read
13. Which of these things will happen in the last three chapters? As you read, see if you
were right.
a. Winston will betray Julia. (T)
b. Winston will see Julia again. (T)
c. They will shoot Winston. (F)
d. Winston will discover what is in Room 101 (T)
e. O’Brien will get inside Winston’s mind and change it (T)
f. Winston will learn to love Big Brother. (T)
14. Answer the questions. Find the words in italics in your dictionary.
a. Do you turn or press a dial? Press a dial.
b. Do you turn or pull a lever? Pull a lever.
c. Do you stamp with your arms or your feet? Stamp your feet.
After you read
15. Discuss this opinion of 1984.
a. The book is still popular because it is a great love story and a great adventure story.
In my opinion, I do not think this book is still popular because it is a great love story and a great
adventure story. It’s actually very popular because this book describes a world where everything is
controlled by the government and this situation could happen to our world in the future, is a
possibility. It shows how the world has changed since Big Brother is the one who has all the power
of the world, and it also explains that everybody’s mind is being controlled by the government. It’s
a place where you do not have freedom and love has been forgotten. Everything is upside-down,
but people are accustomed to live in that way, even if they are against it they cannot do anything
to change it because Big Brother will punished them by torture or death.
Writing part
7. 17. Write a letter, either from Winston to Julia or from Julia to Winston, just after their last
meeting in the park.
Dear Winston,
I hope you are willing to read this letter even though maybe you don’t want to know anything
about me. I really was in love with you but going after through all this suffering I realized that I
what I felt for you wasn’t love anymore. That’s why I betrayed you instead of protecting you, as I
had professed before. When you told me that you had betrayed me, I had a mixture of feelings. I
didn’t know how to feel. If I had still loved you, I would have felt very sad and disappointed.
However, I understand the reason why you decided to betray me, so I forgive you. When this entire
nightmare started, I was so scared and horrified that I told them that you should be the one
punished and not me.We have had gone through the same torture. The day we had our last
meeting in the park, I was going to apologize but I didn’t have the courage to do it. I hope that you
could forgive me and forget about our past relationship together and move on. I know that both of
us have discovered that the only one we love and support is Big Brother. By this letter, I guess this
is the end of us and we must continue with our lives. I hope you are doing great and that you are
living a happy life.I also want to thank you for being such a good person to me and for made me
experienced many things like love and happiness. I will treasure our memories till the day I die.
Yours truly,
Julia.
22. Compare 1984with another book, film or television programme which describes a world
that is not ours.
In my opinion, the book 1984 and the film “V for Vendetta” are very similar. Both of them are
examples of dystopian societies; but there are some differences between them.In 1984, the world
is described like a place where the citizens are controlled by the government. Freedom and love
does not exist here. The power tells the people what they must do and even they control citizens’
minds. One of the most terrible crimes is to think, if you do that you ended up being punished by
torture or death. On the other hand, in the movie “V for Vendetta” the government manipulates
and has the control over the media in order to convince people in what things they must believe in,
as in 1984. If you are against the government by being part of a movement, you will be kidnapped,
tortured and killed; they think that is the best solution to end some people’s ideas. In 1984, the
main character is Winston Smith, a man who hates Big Brother and The Party (government) and
wants them to disappear. At first, he is totally against by the powerful ones; however he is too
frightened to fight for his beliefs because he’s scared for what will happen to him if he rebels.Then
8. he meets Julia, and he falls in love that’s when he decides to join a movement that is against the
government. But when both of them are discovered by Big Brother, they are captured and
tortured in order to stop them to believe in what they used to. At the end, Winston and Julia
decided to love Big Brother and its government. In “V for Vendetta”, the main character is “V” a
man who fights against the government. He wants to give people mental freedom and he makes
people realized that they are the only ones that must rule the country and not the powerful ones.
He is very willing to give his live to achieve his goal, he knows that he has to make a lot of sacrifices
and one of them is to die for it. Another difference between this book and film is that in 1984;
people are not allowed to live freely like to love, to have a family, to dress in the way they want, to
eat what they want, etc. Whereas in “V for Vendetta” the citizens can eat what they want, can love,
can have family, etc. The only thing they are not allowed to do is to be against the government.