Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 English Lesson Plan
In celebration of World Book Day we’re supporting English Teachers with a free lesson plan for one of the twentieth century’s seminal political novels 1984.
Starter Activity – ‘Big Brother is Watching You’
- Work with your table and create a spider diagram about what this phrase means to you.
- Going further: Does being monitored protect us, or put our freedom in danger?
Lesson Objective
To analyse an extract from 1984 and discuss the mood created by George Orwell’s introduction
Introduction
Who was George Orwell?
An English novelist, born in 1903. He lived an immensely interesting life, a true political activist at a time of world wide conflict. From rallying against the British Empire to fighting fascists in the Spanish civil war, Orwell lived his beliefs and wrote profusely, as a journalist, essayist and novelist. His major works – 1984, Road to Wigan Pier, and Animal Farm remain relevant even now.
What is his legacy?
Like Shakespeare, Orwell added many words and ideas to the British language – can you guess what these could mean?
Cold war, Big Brother, Thought Police, Room 101, Doublethink and Thoughtcrime
Extract From Chapter 1
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him.
The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats. At one end of it a coloured poster, too large for indoor display, had been tacked to the wall. It depicted simply an enormous face, more than a metre wide: the face of a man of about forty-five, with a heavy black moustache and ruggedly handsome features. Winston made for the stairs. It was no use trying the lift. Even at the best of times it was seldom working, and at present the electric current was cut off during daylight hours. It was part of the economy drive in preparation for Hate Week. The flat was seven flights up, and Winston, who was thirty-nine and had a varicose ulcer above his right ankle, went slowly, resting several times on the way. On each landing, opposite the lift-shaft, the poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. It was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption beneath it ran.
Inside the flat a fruity voice was reading out a list of figures which had something to do with the production of pig-iron. The voice came from an oblong metal plaque like a dulled mirror which formed part of the surface of the right-hand wall. Winston turned a switch and the voice sank somewhat, though the words were still distinguishable. The instrument (the telescreen, it was called) could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely. He moved over to the window: a smallish, frail figure, the meagreness of his body merely emphasized by the blue overalls which were the uniform of the party. His hair was very fair, his face naturally sanguine, his skin roughened by coarse soap and blunt razor blades and the cold of the winter that had just ended.
Key Questions
- How does Orwell invoke the five senses in the introduction? What effect does this have on the reader?
- What do we know about Winston Smith? What can we imply?
- Highlight three sentences that create a sense of unease in the reader. Analyse how this unease is created.
You can find other free lessons ideas and resources from Prospero Teaching here.
We’ve also got ideas for easy World Book Day costumes you might find useful as well as the opportunity for you to win £100 of book vouchers for your school in our World Book Day competition.
Did you find this resource useful? Are there are free teaching resources you’d like us to provide? Do please tell us 🙂
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