1984

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 5

Setting

Dystopia

London, 1984

3 superpowers in the world:

Oceania

Eastasia

Eurasia

Plot

Dystopian novel set in a totalitarian state named Oceania.

The Party

Lead by "Big Brother"

Watches everyone with a telescreen (no privacy)

Thought Police

Slogans:

-War is Peace

-Freedom is Slavery

-Ignorance is Strength

Ministries

Ministry of Love (=torture)

Ministry of Peace (=war)

Ministry of Truth (=lies)

Newspeak (=new language)

Doublethink(=accept 2 opposite beliefs)

Characters

Winston (works for Ministry of Truth)

Julia (falls in love with Winston)

The Parsons (Winston's neigbors)

Ampleforth (Winston's colleague)

Mr Charrington (bookshop owner, rends room to W+J, member of Thought Police)

O'Brien (personification of the Party, agent of BB)

Themes

-Abuse of power

-The importance of memory and truth

-The abolishment of individuality

-Psychological manipulation

-Physical control

-Control of information and history

-Language as mind control

-The danger(s) of totalitarianism

Totalitarianism

-Opposite of democracy

-Prohibits all opposition parties 

-Exercises extreme control over public + personal life

-State controlled mass media

Room 101

Torture room. It represents the power of the Party and is the room where Winston's spirit is crushed.

Winston's diary

-symbol of hate for the Party

-symbolizes his desire to speak his mind freely

Big Brother is watching you.

Starter

1. Have you heard of the phrase 'Big Brother is watching you'? Where is it from? 
2. What is totalitarianism? Can you think of examples?

Why does it matter who has control over language and information?

00:48

Define 'authoritarian'

02:10

What is doublespeak?
Give an example from the clip.

02:29

What is one of the effects of introducing "Newspeak"?

04:36

What is meant by Orwellian?

1. deceptive and manipulative use of language
2. mass surveillance and intrusive government

moellerlit.weebly.com

Newspeak?

• language used by the people and enforced by the government in 1984. 
• based on English but has a greatly reduced and simplified vocabulary and grammar. 
• make any alternative thinking—thoughtcrime, or crimethink in the newest edition of Newspeak—impossible
• removing any words or possible constructs which describe the ideas of freedom, rebellion and so on.

Creating Newspeak Words Using Prefixes

• Really Good would be turned into Plusgood by adding the prefix plus the base word good.
  
• Incredibly good could be turned into doubleplusgood by adding the prefix double to plusgood.
• Boring or not fun could be turned into unfun by adding the prefix un to the base word fun.

Newspeak vocabulary

• joycamp: forced labor camp.
• oldspeak: English; perhaps any language that is not Newspeak.
  
• prolefeed: the steady stream of mindless entertainment to distract and occupy the masses.
  
• ownlife: individualism and eccentricity. A desire to do something for your own benefit and is frowned upon by the government.
  
• goodsex: intercourse for the purpose of creating children for the party.

Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it.

• Big Brother
• Room 101 
• doublethink
• thoughtcrime
• Newspeak
• memory hole
• Ministry of Truth (minitrue)
• Orwellian

Apply Quotes from “1984” to the news today

1. Big Brother is watching you.
2. Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.
3. Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.
4. The choice for mankind lies between freedom and happiness and for the great bulk of mankind, happiness is better.
5. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — for ever.

Word of the year 2022:

Gaslighting

• the process of making somebody believe untrue things in order to control them, especially that they have imagined or been wrong about what has really happened