Using Dictator Tactics
Squealer has changed one of the commandments to read "No animal shall kill any other animal without cause" and "No animal shall drink alcohol to excess." The text reads, "A few days later Muriel, reading over the Seven Commandments to herself, noticed that there was yet another of them which the animals had remembered wrong...there were two words that they had forgotten." (63, 75)
By changing the Commandments and making the others think they were always written this way, which dictator tactic is Squealer using?
change history
"In his speeches, Squealer would talk with the tears rolling down his cheeks of Napoleon's wisdom, the goodness of his heart, and the deep love he bore to all animals everywhere." (64)
This passage shows which propaganda technique?
glittering generalities
"The wheat crop was full of weeds, and it was discovered that on one of his nocturnal visits Snowball had mixed weed seeds with seed corn." (67)
Answer ONE of these questions: How do we know that this is likely a LIE from the narrator?...OR...Why would the narrator pass along this info?
HOW we KNOW IT'S FALSE: we have no evidence for it, it's not in Snowball's character, etc.
WHY: to emphasize how much this scapegoating propaganda is passed around the farm...the narrator passing it along makes it seem like it's almost taken as common fact now
What does "dignity" mean? (6)
one's essential worth and honor
Squealer and Napoleon encourage the animals "to give Napoleon the credit for every successful achievement and every stroke of good fortune…. 'Thanks to the leadership of Comrade Napoleon, how excellent this water tastes!'" (64-65)
Which dictator tactic are Squealer and Napoleon using?
Make yourself look good!
"The wheat crop was full of weeds, and it was discovered that on one of his nocturnal visits Snowball had mixed weed seeds with seed corn." (67)
What propaganda technique is the narrator using here?
scapegoating
HOW FALSE: b/c we remember why those animals were killed, and there was no good reason (it was just a fear tactic)
WHY: to pass along to the reader just how brainwashed the animals are...and to put us in the animals' shoes.
What does "to shirk" mean? (22)
to avoid, neglect (responsibilities)
Because Frederick initially won't trade with Napoleon, Napoleon encourages the animals to think poorly of this farmer and then warns the animals that Frederick will attack them. Napoleon asks them to chant "Death to Frederick!" (67)
Which TWO dictator tactics is Napoleon using?
inspire fear, create a common enemy
After the battle of the windmill, Squealer insists that the animals "Celebrate our victory!" for driving "the enemy off our soil--the sacred soil of Animal Farm." (72-73)
This passage shows which propaganda technique? Also, explain WHY Squealer would need to describe a "victory" in this way.
glittering generalities...b/c the animals just lost a lot of friends and might not feel very victorious
"It did seem to [the animals] after all that they had won a great victory." (73)
The narrator makes this statement after Boxer and other animals point out that there wasn't, really, any "victory" at all. So why would the narrator write this lie?
the narrator has become the voice of S and N...and wants the animals to believe all is well...even though the windmill is in ruins and they've lost many of their fellow animals
What does "blithely" mean? (33)
casually, indifferently
Supposedly, Napoleon and Squealer execute three hens who have "confessed that, inspired by Snowball, they had entered into a plot to murder Napoleon." (66)
Which TWO dictator tactics are Napoleon and Squealer using?
inspire fear, create a common enemy
Squealer and Napoleon encourage the animals "to give Napoleon the credit for every successful achievement and every stroke of good fortune…. 'Thanks to the leadership of Comrade Napoleon, how excellent this water tastes!'" (64-65)
This passage shows which TWO propaganda techniques?
glittering generalities, transfer (and maybe logical fallacies, too)
What does "ignominious" mean? (30)
causing public shame, humiliating