Close Reads for Orwell's 1984
Close Reads for Orwell's 1984 (provided by Mrs. Habte)
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Part 3: Chapter 1 - 6 (pages 225 - 298)
Think 1: What difference does Winston notice between Party prisoners and common prisoners? Use evidence from the text in your answer.
Think 2: What is the significance of the math problem: 2+2=5? Draw on details from the text to support your response.
Think 3: According to O'Brien, how is the Party different from other oligarchies of the past? Use evidence from the text in your answer.
Think 4: Why is Winston's betrayal of Julia significant? Draw on details from the text to support your response.
Think 5: How does the setting where Winston and Julia meet for the final time reflect what they have become? Use evidence from the text in your answer.
Discuss and Write: Often we read stories or watch movies that end "happily ever after" - at the very least, good usually triumphs over evil in literature. 1984 is not one of those novels. Why would George Orwell bother to tell Winston's tory, only to have the Party prevail in the end? What might be his purpose? Would it undermine Orwell's message if the novel had a happy ending? Why or why not? Use evidence from the text to support your claims.
Part 2: Chapters 9 – 10 Think Questions for Close Reading
Think 1: What substantial change takes place on the sixth day of Hate Week? What effect does this have on the citizens of Oceania? Use evidence form the text in your answer.
Think 2: Why is it significant that Winston is not bothered by the fact that he is writing lies for the Ministry of Truth - "that he was as anxious as anyone else in the Department that the forgery should be perfect"? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.
Think 3: According to Goldstein's book, what is the purpose of perpetual war? Draw on details from the text to support your response. ?
Think 4: How does Winston feel as he begins reading Goldstein's book? Use evidence from the text in our answer.
Think 5: What is the irony and foreshadowing of the voice coming from behind the picture of a church? Draw on details from the text to support your response.
Discuss and Write: Winston has known since he first opened the diary that he was "the dead." Why, then, does his capture still come as a shock? Did you believe that Winston could and would start a revolution? What does the setting and the plot of the novel suggest? Is there still a change Winston could help overthrow the Party or was he always doomed to fail? Would Orwell tell a story without any hope for his protagonist? Use evidence from the text to support your analysis.
Part 2: Chapters 5 – 8 Think Questions for Close Reading
Think 1: Why is Syme's disappearance significant? Use evidence from the text to support your response.
Think 2: How do Winston and Julia's views on the Party differ? Draw on details from the text in your response.
Think 3: When Winston speaks to O'Brien in the hallway, he has a sensation that he is stepping "into the dampness of a grave," and notes that "the grave was there and waiting for him." What does this tell the reader about Winston?
Think 4: How did Winston remember behaving toward his mother and sister? Draw on details from the text in your response.
Think 5: What was the outcome of Winston's visit with O'Brien? Why does he admire O'Brien so much? Use evidence from the text to support your response.
Discuss and Write: With their promise not to betray one another, Winston tells Julia, "They can't get inside you. If you can feel that staying human is worthwhile, even when it can't have any result whatever, you've beaten them." Do you agree or disagree with Winston? Do our individual relationships and feelings alone give meaning to our existence? Do those feelings make us human? Can our feelings, our relationships, our humanity, be taken away against our will? How would you suggest Winston maintain his dignity and humanity in the face of his capture? Use real-world examples and evidence from the text to support your discussion.
Part 2: Chapters 1 – 4 Think Questions for Close Reading
Think 1: In what ways is Julia different from Winston? Use details from the text to support your response.
Think 2: Why does Winston admire the singing thrush? What does it symbolize? Draw on evidence from the text in your answer.
Think 3: After meeting Julia in the park, why does Winston say: "I want everyone to be corrupt to the bones"? Use evidence from the text in your response.
Think 4: How do the lyrics sung by the prole woman mirror Winston's feelings about his relationship with Julia? Draw on evidence from the text in your answer.
Think 5: How has Winston's character changed from Part 1 to Part 2? Use details from the text to support your answer.
Discuss and Write: In Orwell's 1984, how does the Party use fear to manipulate and control individuals who do not conform? Think about the role of fear in your own life. How does it affect you and your loved ones? Do you think the media and/or the government elevate these fears? Compare your experience with the world Orwell creates in 1984 - in what ways does Orwell foreshadow life in the 21st century and in what ways does his society diverge? Use real-world examples and evidence from the text to guide your discussion.
Part 1: Chapters 4 – 8 Think Questions for Close Reading
Think 1: Explain the significance of the memory holes Winston uses for work. Reference the text in your response.
Think 2: In what ways does Winston’s work conflict with his true thoughts about the Party? Use the text to support your inference.
Think 3: Why might Winston surmise that Parsons will survive, while he and Syme will be vaporized? Use details from the text to support your response.
Think 4: What is the Party’s attitude towards sex and marriage? How do these attitudes affect Winston’s own life? Support your answer with examples from the text.
Think 5: What can be inferred about Winston when he kicks the bloody hand into the gutter? Use details from the text to support your response.
Discuss and Write: Winston and the citizens of Ocenia live in constant fear of being caught by the Thought Police. How does the lack of privacy affect Winston as he goes about his daily routine? How would you feel living under the watchful eye of Big Brother? Could you live a normal life under the Party? What level of privacy do you experience in today's digital world? Do you accept the current level of privacy or does it bother you? Use evidence from the text and real-world examples to guide your comparison of Winston's world and our own.
Part 1: Chapters 1 - 3 Think Questions for Close Reading
Think 1: How does the description of London in the opening pages set the mood for the novel? Use details from the text to support your response.
Think 2: What is ironic about the three slogans and four ministries of the party? Support your response with details from the text. .
Think 3: Why is Winston's memory of the Two Minutes Hate important for him to write down? Use details from the text to support your response.
Think 4: How does the Parson children's behavior reflect a key tactic that the Party uses to regulate citizens? Use evidence from the text in your response.
Think 5: Why is Winston's dream about his Mother significant? Support your response with details from the text.
Discuss and Write: Think about the three slogans of the Party: War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength. What do these beliefs say about the Party's values? Using details from this section, explore why individual expression threatens the government in 1984.