Summary from chapters 1 to 12
1984
Mainly everything that happens in the story passes during the war between the superpowers of Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia. Oceania is controlled under the totalitarian regime led by Big Brother, who not only makes people do what the party has stipulated like not not falling in love, not having friends, etc., but who also watches the citizens constantly though the telescreens, which are everywhere: listening everything, capturing images, and at the same time sounding.
In total there are four ministries, the one of the truth, that takes care of news, modified the information, the history and whatever is necessary for the evidence to agree with what the party needs, depending on the situation, the one of peace is in charge of the conflicting issues, namely the war, the one of love is responsible for making people obey the stipulated law and the one of plenty is in charge of economic affairs.
This story is centralized in Winston, who works in the ministry of truth, modifying the information for the party. Everything started during the two minutes hate when Winston intertwined his gaze with O’Brien, at that moment he feels that O’Brien could be part of the revolutionary group against the party, taking into account that he seemed not entirely agreed with it, but it turns out to be the opposite, since he pretends to be part of the brotherhood when he invites Winston to his apartment, giving him the book that wrote Goldstein, but in the end he ends up being the torture supervisor when Winston was punished for not complying the laws of the party by falling in love with Julia, who works in the ministry of truth, but in another department .
At the end, after so much mistreatment, the police take Winston into room 101 where they put rats on him, being this his worst fear and taking away his humanity, he said to put them on Julia, for that reason they let him go since it's clear that he is not going to disobey the orders of the party as they took away the last thing he had.
Questions :
Why did Winston buy a diary knowing that he could be punished for not complying the laws of the party ?
Who seemed to be Mr Charrington and who turned out to be at the end of the story ?
Why did O'Brien mistreat Winston when he was caught by the thought police ?
Which part of the whole book do you consider was the most suspenseful ?
Why were Julia and Winston punished ?
1984
While reading Introduction
Talk about this question with another student and write down your ideas. Newspeak wants to destroy language in order to control people. But, is language necessary for thought? For example, could we imagine love if there was not a word for love?
Chapters 1–2
Write the correct words in the spaces.
It was a bright, (a) …cold…… day in (b) …april…… and the (c) clocks… were striking (d) …thirteen…… . (e) …Winston…… Smith hurried home to (f ) …Victory……Mansions with his (g) ..head… down to escape
the terrible (h) …wind…… .
What do the words in italics mean?
(page 3) ‘It burned him inside, but he felt more cheerful after.’ This is how he felt when he poured himself a cup of oily gin and drank it down like medicine.
(page 3) ‘It was the only way of getting razor blades.’ It means that the only way to get a razor blade was going into an ordinary shop.
(page 3) ‘This was not illegal.’ Means that opening the diary was not illegal
(page 10) ‘This happened every month or two and was a popular evening’s entertainment.’
This was referring to the hanging of prisoners
(page 10) ‘About twenty or thirty of
them were falling on London each week.’
This refers to the bombs that were falling when Winston when he had finished fixing the dishwater.
With another student discuss the physical and mental differences between Winston Smith, Big Brother, and Tom Parsons. What are the adjectives that you would use to describe each person? Write three lists. Characteristics of Winston: In his physical characteristics he was thin, had fair hair, had a bad leg, always was dressed with his overall of the party and he had 39 years old. The mental characteristics are that he was always analyzing everything, realizing that the party always wanted to control the citizens also he was clever and crafty.
Characteristics of big brother: He is physically described as handsome, with dark eyes, a mustache, and in his mid-forties. In his mental characteristics, had a fondness for having power.
Characteristics of Parsons: In his physical characteristics he was fat, always was sweating so he smelled bad and looked older. In his mental characteristics he wasn’t that smart and he agreed with the ideology of the party.
Chapters 3 –4
Match the Newspeak words (a–h) with the definitions (1– 8).
speakwrite …3..
vaporized …7..
unperson …2..
prole …5..
thoughtcrime …8..
ungood …1..
face crime …6..
ownlife …4..
bad
someone who doesn’t exist
a machine
separation from other people
poor people who work
showing what one thinks
killed
thinking freely
Answer these questions.
Who lives in the area where Winston goes after writing in his diary? In the area that lived Mr. Charrington exactly in proles.
Why is walking alone not a good idea? Because doing something that the government does not say is a crime.
Winston wears blue overalls. What does that mean? That he is a member of the party.
Who does the man in the shop look like? He looked like a writer.
What surprises Winston about the room that the man shows him? That the room doesn’t have a telescreen.
Chapters 5–6
Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)? a The dark, pretty girl had hurt her leg when Winston saw her four days later.
Winston and the girl agreed to meet in Victory Square.
The girl’s eyes are a beautiful green colour.
d Winston is thirty-nine years old.
e Julia likes Winston because he has a
handsome face.
f Julia says that it is safe to meet anywhere
three times.
In the directions that Julia gives to Winston the underlined words aren’t right. Write the correct answer in the spaces.
After a half-hour car (a) …railway …… journey, turn left inside (b) …outside…… the station. and walk two kilometres along the river (c) … road …… Then
climb over a door (d) … gate …… and take a path across a bridge (e) …field…… .
Discuss this question with another student. Julia thinks that ‘life was quite simple. You wanted a good time; they (meaning the Party) wanted to stop you having it, so you broke the rules’. Do you break the rules in your own life? No, we think that breaking rules is not a good thing and in consequence it could be punished.
Chapters 7– 8
Put these events in the right order to make a story, using numbers 1–5.
Winston and Julia visit O’Brien.
A few careless people talked about his
absence.
One morning he did not come to work.
d Syme was vaporized.
e Nobody talked about his existence.
1984
Match a–e with 1–5.
Who had never existed? …5..
Who was helping to organize Hate Week?
…3..
Who had stopped drinking gin at all hours?
…2..
Who could turn the telescreen off? …1..
Who thought that everybody secretly hated the Party? …4..
O’Brien
Winston
Parsons
Julia
Syme
Answer these questions about Goldstein’s book.
How many groups does Goldstein’s book say that there are in society?
Three classes High, Middle and Low.
Which group sometimes has no aim?
Low group.
Which group wants equality?
The low class.
How many great countries exist in 1984?
Three countries Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia.
What are 85% of the population called?
Are called the Proles they receive little education, work at manual labor, and live in poverty.
Correct the mistakes in these sentences about Goldstein’s ideas.
a The aims of the three groups are similar. Different.
b The Middle want to stay where they are. High.
c The Low want to change places with the
High. Middle.
Sometimes the High have no aims at all. Low.
The Middle want to live in a world where all people are equal. Low.
The High are made up of scientists, teachers, and journalists. Middle
Chapters 9–10
Who is speaking? Match a–f with 1– 6.
‘We were working on a poem and I didn’t change the word “God”.’ …5..
‘Of course I’m guilty!’ …3..
‘No faces covered in the cells.’ …2..
‘Haven’t I told you everything already?’ …1..
