Exploring the Key Themes of George Orwell's 1984

• Foundation
• Further Education (Key Stage 5)

Exploring the Key Themes of George Orwell's 1984

Learning Objective

At the end of the lesson, you will be able to understand the key themes in George Orwell's 1984 and articulate your choice for the most important theme.

What do you already know about George Orwell's novel 1984?

Introduction

George Orwell's 1984 is a dystopian novel set in a totalitarian society. It explores themes such as government control, surveillance, manipulation, and the power of language.

Theme 1: Government Control

The novel depicts a government that exerts total control over its citizens, using tactics like propaganda, censorship, and thought control.

Theme 2: Surveillance

Surveillance is a pervasive theme in 1984, with the government monitoring its citizens through technologies like telescreens and thought police.

Theme 3: Manipulation

The novel explores how the government manipulates information, history, and language to control and manipulate the thoughts and beliefs of the citizens.

Theme 4: Power of Language

Language is a powerful tool in 1984, with the government using Newspeak to limit expression and control the thoughts of the citizens.

Analyzing the Themes

Now that we have explored the key themes, let's analyze which theme you believe is the most important in the novel and why.

Choosing the Most Important Theme

Choose the theme you believe is the most important from George Orwell's 1984 and explain your choice in a paragraph.

Write down 3 things you learned in this lesson.

Have students enter three things they learned in this lesson. With this they can indicate their own learning efficiency of this lesson.

Write down 2 things you want to know more about.

Here, students enter two things they would like to know more about. This not only increases involvement, but also gives them more ownership.

Ask 1 question about something you haven't quite understood yet.

The students indicate here (in question form) with which part of the material they still have difficulty. For the teacher, this not only provides insight into the extent to which the students understand/master the material, but also a good starting point for the next lesson.