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    1984 Introduction Lesson

    Even advanced students benefit from previewing an unfamiliar text. This 1984 introduction slideshow can be opened as a PDF or as a PowerPoint (PPT). Below the preview you will see links to the slideshow files, the notetaking handout, and the pre-reading discussion activity.

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    • Overview of "1984" PowerPoint and activity for teaching dystopian fiction.
    • Futuristic city scene with advanced buildings and people exploring a utopian society.
    • Illustration of utopian worlds from speculative fiction, including nature, technology, and social ha.
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    • Preview of "1984" lesson PowerPoint and activity for classroom discussion.
    • PowerPoint slide preview for 1984 lesson with Orwell's biography and novel highlights.
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    • PowerPoint slide preview for 1984 introduction lesson and activities.
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    • Preview of PowerPoint slide for 1984 lesson on themes and setting.
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    • Preview of "1984" lesson with PowerPoint slides and classroom activity.
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    • Image of Winston Smith from 1984 with lesson points on point of view.
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    • Classroom slide showing themes from George Orwell's 1984 novel.
    • Preview of PowerPoint slide for 1984 lesson on learning goals and activities.
    • Visual preview of 1984 lesson PowerPoint and activity for teaching George Orwell's novel.
    • Classroom slide preview for 1984 lesson on propaganda and Cold War themes.
    • Preview of 1984 introduction lesson with PowerPoint and engaging activities for students.

    1984 Introduction options:

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    1984 Pre Reading Activities FEATURED

    1984 PowerPoint text:

    SECTION I: BACKGROUND

    • FACT SHEET
    • SPECULATIVE FICTION
    • GEORGE ORWELL
    • HISTORICAL CONTEXT
    • TOTALITARIANISM

    FACT SHEET:

    • Author: George Orwell
    • Year of publication: 1949
    • Country: United Kingdom
    • Genres: Speculative fiction, Dystopia fiction
    • Point of view: 3rd person, limited
    • Setting: Airstrip One (England) within the super-state of Oceania

    SPECULATIVE FICTION:

    1984 is speculative fiction. Speculative fiction asks, “What if…?”

    • What if psychokinesis was real?
    • What if one corporation ruled the world?
    • What if sharks became as intelligent as humans?
    • What if zombies were the good guys?

    SPECULATIVE FICTION: UTOPIAS

    • The term refers to a perfect human society (hypothetical)
    • Sir Thomas More’s work Utopia published in 1516
    • Utopia means “no place” (Greek)
    • More wrote about an imaginary society to explore the problems that he saw in his real society.

    SPECULATIVE FICTION: UTOPIAS

    • Moral
    • Social
    • Ecological
    • Economic
    • Religious
    • Technological
    • Feminist

    SPECULATIVE FICTION: DYSTOPIA

    Dystopia is the opposite of a utopia. Dystopian stories often imagine that good intentions led to terrible consequences. Striving for utopia might result in a horrific dystopia.

    GEORGE ORWELL

    1903: Eric Arthur Blair (George Orwell) is born in Motihari, British India. 1911: His family moves to England following the death of his father.

    1922: Orwell begins his studies at Eton College.

    1928: Orwell works as a colonial police officer in Burma (Myanmar). 1933: Orwell resigns from the colonial police and returns to England.

    1936: Orwell publishes Down and Out in Paris and London which documents his experiences of poverty and homelessness (Thorpe).

    1936-1937: Orwell fights in the Spanish Civil War.

    1939: Orwell’s novel Coming Up for Air is published.

    1945: Orwell’s novella Animal Farm is published to wide acclaim.

    1948: Orwell’s writes 1984.

    1950: George Orwell dies of tuberculosis at the age of 46.

    GEORGE ORWELL

    Key influences:

    • The Colonial Police
    • Poverty and homelessness (his own)
    • The rise of dictators (Mussolini, Hitler, et al.)
    • The Spanish Civil War

    Develops a point of view critical of…

    • Imperialism
    • Capitalism
    • Fascism
    • Soviet Communism

    HISTROCIAL CONTEXT: COMMUNISM

    Communism is a political and economic system that opposes capitalism and advocates for a classless system in which the means of production are owned by everyone equally and where private wealth is nonexistent.

    Karl Marx – Co-author of The Communist Manifesto (1848)

    HISTORICAL CONTEXT: COMMUNISM

    Communism moves from theory to practice.

    1917 – Discontent with the Tsar and Russian involvement in World War I leads to mass protests and worker strikes. Tsar Nicholas II abdicates.

    1917 – The Bolshevik Party overthrows the provisional government and establishes Soviet rule under Vladimir Lenin’s leadership.

    1917-1922 – Civil War: The Bolsheviks face opposition from various anti-communist factions, known as the White Army.

    1922 – Formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) including Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and others (Klein 3).

    1924 – Lenin dies and Joseph Stalin ascends.

    HISTORICAL CONTEXT: FASCISM

    People online like to call other people fascists. What exactly does that mean?

    Fascism: An authoritarian political ideology characterized by dictatorial power, extreme nationalism, suppression of dissent, and often, the promotion of racial or ethnic superiority. It emphasizes strict control of society through single-party rule. (“Origins of Fascism”)

    HISTORICAL CONTEXT: FASCISM

    1919: Italian Fascist Party founded by Benito Mussolini .

    1922: Mussolini’s March on Rome leads to his appointment as Prime Minister.

    1924: Hitler writes Mein Kampf outlining Nazi ideology

    1920s: The Arrow Cross Party rises in Hungary (Janjua 11)

    1925: Establishment of the Austrian Nazi Party.

    1926: Military coup leads to dictatorship in Portugal, marking the beginning of the Estado Novo regime.

    1929: The Great Depression begins.

    1933: Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany following the collapse of the Weimar Republic.

    1936: Spanish Civil War begins with the Nationalist faction supported by fascist Italy and Nazi Germany.

    HISTORICAL CONTEXT: SPANISH CIVIL WAR

    Republican forces fought the Nationalist rebels from 1936-1939.

    It became a proxy war between ideologies, with the Republicans supported by leftist and democratic forces (including the USSR) and the Nationalists receiving aid from fascist Italy and Nazi Germany.

    HISTORICAL CONTEXT: SPANISH CIVIL WAR

    Orwell, a socialist, went to Spain to fight for the Republican cause, believing in its promise of democracy and social justice. He was disillusioned by the actions of the Soviet- backed Communist Party of Spain and its suppression of other leftist groups. Orwell witnessed systematic deceptions, betrayals, and the purges of Trotskyists, anarchists, and independent socialists. (“Return from Spain”)

    Orwell left the war in May of 1937 after being shot in the neck. His experiences in Spain deeply influenced his writing.

    TOTALITARIANISM:

    Totalitarianism is a political system characterized by centralized control by a government that seeks to regulate and control all aspects of public and private life. Individual freedoms are severely restricted, dissent is suppressed, and the state exercises total control over the economy, politics, culture, society, and expression.

    Orwell was concerned with totalitarianism on the left and the right.

    SECTION 2: STORY PREVIEW

    • CONTENT WARNING
    • SETTING
    • CHARACTERS
    • POINT OF VIEW
    • THEME SUBJECTS

    CONTENT WARNING!

    1984 includes:

    • Violence / torture / suffering
    • Death
    • Sexual encounters
    • Sexual assault (imagined)
    • Misogyny and sexism
    • Strong language
    • Hopelessness /despair

    Disclaimer: Exploring literature is not an endorsement of the ideas presented or the author as a person.

    The classroom is a place to offer points of view and consider the points of views of others. Discussions should be supportive, considerate, constructive, and respectful.

    SETTING:

    The main character believes it is the year 1984, but he is not sure.

    He lives in an apartment building in London, Airstrip One (what used to be called England) within Oceania, one of the three intercontinental super-states.

    Oceania is controlled absolutely by “the Party” under the leadership of a figure known as Big Brother.

    The society is strictly divided into three groups: The Inner Party, the Outer Party, and the Proles.

    CHARACTERS:

    WINSTON SMITH: A middle-aged man who works at the Ministry of Truth

    JULIA: A young woman who perfectly personifies the Party ideal

    O’BRIEN: A member of the Inner Party and Winston’s boss

    BIG BROTHER: The omni-present leader of the Party and Oceania

    EMMANUAL GOLDSTEIN: The mysterious leader of the resistance movement

    POINT OF VIEW:

    • Third-person, limited point of view
    • The narrator is not present or personally involved.
    • Past tense
    • Narration is limited to knowing the thoughts and feelings of the protagonist, Winston Smith.

    PROTAGONIST: The main character with whom you are meant to connect.

    THEME  SUBJECTS:  1984 includes messages about…

    • Surveillance / privacy
    • Freedom of speech
    • Love / intimacy
    • Motherhood
    • Revolution
    • Economics
    • Power
    • Nationalism
    • Natural beauty
    • War
    • Psychological manipulation
    • Social class / hierarchy
    • History / memory / records
    • Propaganda
    • Censorship
    • Language / doublethink
    • Doctrine / ideology
    • Truth / reality
    • Totalitarianism
    • Betrayal
    • Torture / suffering
    • Intelligence
    • Appearances
    • Critical thinking
    • Resistance / compliance
    • Individuality / conformity
    • Government

    SECTION 3: LEARNING GOALS

    • Reading Schedule Literature Study Preview
    • Historical Context & Propaganda
    • Character Arc
    • Structural Devices
    • Symbolism

    READING SCHEDULE:

    Reading   Assignment      Due date:

    #1     Part 1: Chapters I-IV

    #2     Part 1: Chapters V-VIII

    #3     Part 2: Chapters I-VII

    #4     Part 2: Chapters VIII-X

    #5     Part 3: Chapters I-VI

    NOTE: A dash (-) means through, not stop.

    LIT. STUDY: PROPAGANDA

    To understand the historical context of the novel, we will study the ideological conflicts of the early Cold War.

    Propaganda from the era provides insight into the animosity developing between capitalist nations and communist nations.

    LIT. STUDY: CHARACTER ARC

    • A dynamic character changes over the course of the story.
    • The personal journey is called the character arc.

    LIT. STUDY: STRUCTURAL DEVICES

    Watch for how Orwell uses structural devices like foreshadowing, pacing, and ambiguity to create effects like suspense and surprise.

    LIT. STUDY: SYMBOLISM

    Orwell uses symbolism in 1984. This means that several elements in the novel (specific objects, locations, phrases, etc.) are imbued with added layers of meaning. Not every item in the story represents a larger idea, but some do.

    “Sometimes, an apple is just an apple.”- Evil Queen disguised as an old peddler

    1984 Introduction TAKEAWAYS:

    • 1984 is an example of speculative fiction (dystopia).
    • The historical context (Europe in 1949) informs our understanding of the novel and its themes (messages).
    • The novel is a compelling narrative, but it is also a political message about the threat of totalitarianism.
    • Everything from the character arc to the symbolism to the suspense combine to develop the theme (message).

    Thanks for visiting 1984 Introduction Lesson: Preview PowerPoint and Activity.

    This preview slideshow is only a small part of the comprehensive 1984 unit. The unit provides everything you need for an engaging and meaningful exploration of Orwell’s terrifying masterpiece.

    The lesson plans resource is the keystone for the unit and includes 26 step-by-step lessons, 22 instructional handouts, 6 slideshows, and answer key. Lessons on historical context, speculative fiction, point of view, symbolism, propaganda, language style, structural effects, theme development, and more. The lesson plans resource provides the general structure to which you may add reading quizzes, projects, writing assignments, etc.