Chapter 1
1. The clock strikes ‘thirteen’. This refers to the 24 hour notation method of telling time.
What time is it in 12 hour notation?
2. Winston Smith is 39 years old. He arrives home. What is the name of the apartment block where he lives?
3. There is a Big Brother poster on every level in the apartment block. How do you think Winston would feel seeing the same poster everywhere he turns?
4. There is a telescreen in every room. ‘There was no way of shutting it off completely’ (4).
Why were there so many telescreens?
5. Winston is described as having fair hair and he wears blue overalls which are the Party uniform. He comments that ‘the world looked cold’ and ‘Only the Thought Police mattered’. He also observes: ‘every sound you made was overheard … every movement scrutinized’. What kind of emotions is Winston experiencing?
6. Winston works at the Ministry of Truth which is in London / Airstrip One. What does the Ministry look like?
7. Complete this sentence; The three slogans of the Party are War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery and …
8. The Ministry of Truth is concerned with news, entertainment, education and fine arts. The Ministry of Peace is concerned with War. The Ministry of Plenty is responsible for economic affairs.
What is the Ministry of Love concerned with?
9. Winston begins to keep a diary. He says if this is detected he will be ‘punished by death’ (8).
Why is keeping a diary an offence?
10. Winston writes in his diary; April 4th, 1984. The entry is about film night. The film showed refugees being killed at sea. This included women and children. Party members in the audience clapped. A Prole woman made a scene. Why was the woman upset?
11. ‘He disliked nearly all women, and especially the young and pretty ones’ (12). Why?
12. Winston remembers seeing a ‘dark haired girl’ and an Inner Party member named O’Brien that morning at the Two Minutes Hate. What is the Two Minutes hate?
13. Winston says he felt ‘deeply drawn’ to O’Brien ‘because of a secretly held belief … a hope – that O’Brien’s political orthodoxy was not perfect’ (13). What did this mean?
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The unit of work continues by analyzing each chapter through the use of questions,
similar to those in the sample.
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