Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

It's lovely to see you here today.

My name's Dr.

Clayton and I'm in to guide you through your learning journey today.

So today's lesson's called the connection between a lack of voice and oppression in Orwell's "Animal Farm." We're going to be thinking about how a lack of voice affects the animals, but also how the pig's manipulation of language might be responsible for the animals' lack of voice.

So if you're ready, grab your pen, laptop, whatever you use with this lesson and let's get started.

So by the end of the lesson, you'll be able to explore the connection between a lack of voice and oppression in Orwell's "Animal Farm." So we have four words today we're going to be using as our keywords.

They'll be identified in bold throughout the learning material, and I try to point them out to you as well so you can see them being used in context.

So first key word is voice.

And to have a voice means to have an active role in making a decision by influencing something.

We're going to be looking at the lack of voice the animals have and how it affects them.

Our second key word is disenfranchised, which means not having the right to vote or a similar right or having that right taken away.

We're going to be thinking about how the animals lack of voice contributes to their disenfranchisement.

Our third keyword is suppression, which means the act of preventing something from being expressed or known.

We're going to be thinking about how we might see the pig's actions as suppressing the animals' ability to use language in "Animal Farm." Our final keyword is subjugation, which means the action of bringing someone or something under domination or control.

We're going to be thinking about how the animals' lack of voice contributes to them being under the control of the pigs.

So I'll just give you a moment to write down those key words and the definitions.

So pause the video, write them down now.

Fantastic.

Let's go start with the lesson.

So we have two learning cycles in our lesson today.

For our first learning cycle, we're going to be thinking about what it means for the animals to have a lack of voice and that represents their disenfranchisement and what Orwell might have been suggesting about ordinary people and political power through the animals' lack of voice.

For our second learning cycle, we're going to be thinking about how we might see the pig's manipulation of language as resulting in the suppression of the animals' language and how that means they can't express themselves or protest against the pigs.

So let's start thinking more generally about the concept of voice before we think about the animals specifically.

So when we talk of someone having a voice, we mainly have individual agency and a way to express their beliefs because to have a voice to have an active role in making a decision or influencing something.

So what I'd like you to think about is what then might it mean to not have a voice? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back everyone, some great ideas there.

Let's talk through some of the things you might have said.

So you might have thought a lack of voice means someone's unable to express their beliefs.

They're unable to express their thoughts about a situation or communicate their ideas.

You also might have thought it means they have no influence over decision making.

If having a voice means you're able to have an active role in decision making, then not having a voice means you have a passive role or no role in that decision making.

You also might have thought it means you have a lack of individual agency.

You can't make decisions for yourself.

Finally, you also might have thought means you have no power both over your own life but also what's happening around you.

So now for a quick check for understanding.

So what I'd like you to do is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So is it true or false? A lack of voice is connected to a lack of power.

Pause the video.

Take a few moments to think about it.

Now the correct answer is true.

Now I'd like to tell me why it's true.

So pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

You might have said the not having a voice means you can't communicate your own beliefs, you can't influence decisions.

So very well done if you've got those right.

So now let's think about animal farm and the animals' lack of voice within the text.

So what I'd like you to do is think about the following quotation from chapter three.

So at the meetings the pigs put forward the resolutions.

The other animals understood how to vote but can never think of any resolutions of their own.

So what I'd like to think about is how's the animals' lack of voice linked to a lack of power here? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back everyone, some great ideas there.

You might have said, the pig's the ones who are putting forward the resolutions.

Therefore, they're the ones influencing the direction of Animalism.

They're directing what's going to happen to the farm and to the animals.

You also might have thought the fact the animals could never think of their own resolutions means the animals cannot express their own opinions.

Now, in chapter five, Squealer announces the meetings will no longer take place.

He says, "all questions related to the working of the farm will be settled by special committee of the pigs, presided over by himself." So what I'd like you to think about is how do the animals have less of a voice here than they did before? How does that link to ideas of power? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back everyone, some great ideas there.

You might have said, the fact the matters of the farm are now settled by the pigs alone means the animals have no influence over decisions at all, and that essentially means their lives are entirely controlled by the pigs.

So now have a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So is it true or false? The animals' voice and power increases as the novel progresses.

Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Now the correct answer is false.

Now I'd like to tell me why it's false.

So pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back everyone, you might have said, by taking away the meetings and their option to vote the animals' voice and power decreases as the novel progresses.

So very well done if you got those right.

Now, arguably the animals' lack of voice is seen most clearly in the final chapter.

Here, the animals witness the pigs playing cards with the humans and they can't tell the difference between the pigs and the humans.

Now Orwell says, "the animals crept silently away." So what I'd like you to do is think about how this represents the animals' disenfranchisement.

Now, disenfranchisement means not having the right to vote on a similar right or having that right taken away.

So how does this represent the animals having their rights taken away? Think about the word silently in the quotation.

So pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some great ideas there.

Now what about Oak pupil Andeep said? I think this represents the disenfranchisement of the animals because they're shown as completely unable to protest.

The specific use of "silently" underscores the fact they have no voice and no power to alter what's happening in front of them.

So what I'd like you to think about is whether you agree with Andeep, why or why not? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, I heard a lot of people saying the word silently is key here.

And the animal silence represents their lack of voice and their lack of power.

So now for a quick check for understanding.

So which word from the animals crept silently away underscores the animals' disenfranchisement? Is it A, "crept", B, "silently" or C, "away." So pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

The correct answer is B, "silently." So very well done if you got that right.

Amazing work everyone.

And now we're at the first task of the lesson.

So what I'd like you to do is answer the following questions.

So number one, how does Orwell connect the idea of a lack of voice with subjugation in "Animal Farm?" Now, subjugation is one of our keywords.

It means the action of bringing someone or something under domination or control.

So how's the animals' lack of voice connect their lack of control.

And question two, what do you think Orwell is suggesting about ordinary people and political power through the animals' lack of voice? So pause the video, answer the questions now.

Welcome back, everyone.

Fantastic work there.

So what I'd like you to do is think about Jacob's ideas.

Do you agree? Why or why not? So question one, how does Orwell connect the idea of a lack of voice with subjugation in "Animal Farm?" And Jacob said, I think Orwell demonstrates the animals' lack of voice is linked to pigs' control over them because he shows how they're increasing lack of voice, means they have a decreasing sense of control over their lives.

While the animals did not direct the workings of the farm at the beginning of the novel, they did at least have an influence through their vote.

When that's taken away, the pigs have complete control over the farm and the animals' lives.

So pause the video, think about whether or not you agree with Jacob.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now I think we can definitely see how Orwell links the lack of voice with a lack of control in the novel.

We repeatedly hear the animals uneasy about what's happening to them, but they're unable to protest about what's going on.

So question two, what do you think Orwell is suggesting about ordinary people and political power through the animals' lack of voice? And Jacob said, I think the animals represent the ordinary people in society and that through their presentation in "Animal Farm", Orwell is arguably demonstrating how ordinary people do not have a voice in political systems. I think he's showing how power in society is reserved for a few individuals at the top of the societal hierarchy.

So again, what I'd like you to do is pause the video.

Think about whether or not you agree with Jacob's ideas.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now we always want to think about what the characters or ideas in a novel might represent in terms of wider society.

I think it's really powerful to imagine the animals represent the masses of ordinary people in society.

Amazing work, everyone.

Now for the second learning cycle, we're going to think about how we might see the pigs as suppressing the animals' language and the consequences of that.

Now arguably we might interpret the pigs' suppression of language as resulting in the animals' lack of voice.

Now, suppression is one of our keywords.

It means the act of preventing something from being expressed or known.

So the pigs might be preventing the animals from using language effectively and that results in their lack of voice.

So after learning some of the animals could not learn the Seven Commandments by heart, Snowball declares that the Seven Commandments could an effect be reduced to a single maxim, namely "Four legs good, two legs bad." Now arguably, we might see this reduction as the pigs' simplifying the language that the animals are using because they're reducing the ideas and principles down to six words that are very simple, have a very simple meaning.

So what I'd like you to think about is what effect do you think the simplifying of language might have on the animals? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some fantastic ideas there.

And what about Oak pupil Laura said? I think the simplifying of language might result in a reduction of the animals' ability to express themselves.

By suppressing the complexity of language, the pigs are in effect creating a ceiling for the animals' use of language.

So what I'd like you to do is think about whether or not you agree with Laura.

Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

It was great to see people thinking about this in terms of how we learn language.

When we're much younger or begin to learn language, we have a limited way of expressing ourselves.

If we stop learning language as a toddler, we'd have a limited way of expressing ourselves as an adult.

This essentially what's happened to the animals.

Their language has been reduced rather than expanded.

Therefore, they cannot express themselves properly.

So now for a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So is it true or false? We might see the pigs suppressing the animals' ability to use language.

Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Now the correct answer is true.

Now I'd like to tell me why it's true.

So pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

You might have said by simplifying the language the animals use, the pigs are arguably reducing their ability to use language and their ability to express themselves fully.

So very well done if you've got those right.

So now let's think about the consequences of that simplification of the language.

So when Squealer announces the meetings will no longer take place, Orwell says, "The animals were dismayed by this announcement.

Several of them would've protested if they could have found the right arguments." So what I'd like to think about is how this links to the idea that the suppression of language has led to the animals' lack of power and their subjugation.

How's their reduced use of language lead to their lack of control.

Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some fantastic ideas there.

Now one of our Oak pupils Izzy said, I think the suppression of language links the animals' subjugation and their lack of control because Orwell suggests the animals would've protested if they had the ability to do so.

The simplification of language has reduced their ability to fight back against the pigs.

They want to protest, but they don't have the linguistic ability to do so.

So what I'd like you to do is think about whether you agree with Izzy.

Why or why not? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

It was great to see people zooming in on the quote.

The animals would've protested if they could have found the right arguments and how they agree with Izzy's interpretation.

This shows they would've protested against the pigs if they had the language to do so.

So now for a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

Says is it true or false? Arguably, Orwell links the suppression of language with subjugation.

Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Now the correct answer is true.

Now I'd like to tell me why it's true.

So pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

You might have said, Orwell implies the animals cannot protest against the pig's oppressive actions because they don't have the linguistic ability to do so.

So very well done if you got those right.

Fantastic work, everyone.

Now the final task of the lesson.

Now a statement about "Animal Farm" might be, "Orwell shows that control over language creates oppression." To what extent do you agree with this statement? I'd like you to write a short answer.

Use evidence from the text to support your viewpoint.

So pause the video, write your answer now.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some fantastic work there.

Now what I'd like you to do is think about Sofia's answer.

Do you agree? Why or why not? So Sofia said, I completely agree with the statement.

I think Orwell creates a clear link between control over language and oppression in "Animal Farm." Snowball's simplification of the Seven Commandments to "four legs good, two legs bad" suppresses the animals' ability to express themselves clearly.

In doing so, the pigs are taking away the animals' ability to use language to protest against their oppressors.

This is most clearly seem when Orwell states that the animals would've protested if they had the linguistic ability to do so.

This underscores the point that the suppression and simplification of language contributes to oppression.

So pause the video, think about whether or not you agree with Sofia.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now I think we can see the importance of language.

It's a theme that spans all of Orwells work.

It's something we might take away and apply to our own lives.

Are we giving ourselves the opportunity to develop our use of language so we have the power to argue against things in society that are wrong or go against our morals and ethics? You all did amazingly well today, everyone.

Here's a summary of what we covered.

Many of the animals in "Animal Farm" do not have a voice within the text.

Arguably, we connect having a voice with having power.

Potentially, Orwell is representing how the masses do not have a voice in political systems. Arguably, we see the pigs' suppressing the animals' language.

Orwell implies that the animals' lack of linguistic ability contributes to their subjugation.

I really hope you enjoyed the lesson everyone.

Hope to see you for another lesson soon.

Goodbye.