Themes and Author's Message
The novel suggests that revolutions fail primarily because of this flaw
Give one example from the text to support your answer
What is human Greed/Corruption?
Animal Farm is an allegory for this real historical event.
Make one specific connection between the two
What is the Russian Revolution?
This character genuinely believes the pigs are always acting in the animals’ best interests.
Give an example that supports this.
Who is Boxer?
He believed he was going to the veterinarian, not a knacker (slaughterhouse).
“I will work harder”
Who is Boxer?
This animal represents the working-class peasants who are loyal, exploited, and ultimately powerless despite their strength.
Provide an example to support your answer
Who is Boxer?
Orwell argues that ignorance allows tyranny to flourish. This theme is most clearly shown through which group of animals?
What evidence best supports this claim?
Who are the sheep?
“Four legs good, two legs bad” (55)
Snowball represents this historical figure.
Give one piece of evidence to support this correlation.
Who is Leon Trotsky?
They both were expelled from their homes due to political rivalry.
Squealer’s main function on the farm is to control animals through this method.
Give an example of when Squealer used this method.
What is the manipulation of language/propaganda?
Example: Changing the language in laws
What is the phrase “All animals are equal” associated with?
The Seven Commandments
The dogs represent this specific group within Stalin’s Soviet Union.
Provide evidence to support your answer.
Who is the secret police/KGB
According to Animal Farm, why does tyranny survive?
Name a time tyranny goes unchecked.
What is ignorance?
Examples of ignorance:
Boxer’s mottos (“I will work harder,” “Napoleon is always right”)
Sheep repeating slogans
Fear of Jones or Punishment
Napoleon represents this dictator.
Give one piece of evidence to support this correlation.
Who is Joseph Stalin?
Napoleon rules the farm after the revolution; Joseph Stalin leads Soviet Russia after the Russian Revolution.
Napoleon’s decision to sell Boxer reveals this core trait.
When else does this core trait appear?
What is total moral corruption?
Example: The execution of animals
“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing.”
Who is Old Major?
Mollie’s disappearance symbolizes the loss of which group after the Russian Revolution?
Provide evidence to support your answer.
Who is the upper class/aristocracy?
According to Animal Farm, what collapses when language is corrupted?
Provide evidence to support your answer
What is truth?
The Battle of the Cowshed represents this real-world conflict.
Draw a comparison between the two.
What is the Russian Civil War?
Snowball leads the charge just as Leon Trotsky organized the Red Army in the Russian Revolution
What is Clover’s biggest weakness?
Give an example of this weakness.
What is lack of education/historical awareness?
Clover is unable to read the seven commandments.
What literary device does this quote contain? “Napoleon is always right.”
What is Dramatic Irony?
The pigs’ exclusive access to education symbolizes how power is preserved through this inequality.
Provide evidence to support your answer.
What is control of knowledge?
The ultimate message of Animal Farm warns readers about this danger in any society.
What is unchecked authority/power combined with ignorance?
The transformation of animalism reflects how revolutionary ideology becomes this under totalitarian regimes.
Give an example of this shift.
What is a tool of power rather than a belief system?
Example: Any way animalism was used as a tool for manipulating others.
Benjamin’s silence throughout most of the novel suggests Orwell’s criticism on this type of person.
What is the intellectual who refuses to act?
This quote marks the moment when propaganda fully replaces the animals original ideology.
What is “Four legs good, two legs better.”
The pigs’ gradual physical resemblance to humans symbolizes the completion of this transformation.
What is oppressors becoming indistinguishable from those they overthrew?