Weaving context into 'Animal Farm' essays
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can understand what context is and how to weave it into my responses.
Key learning points
- Context refers to historical, social, literary and biographical information.
- Context should not be presented as isolated facts.
- Context should be relevant to the analysis and woven in the response.
- Context should develop your ideas and give an insight into the writer’s purpose and intention.
Keywords
Liberalism - A political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, democracy and free enterprise.
Ideology - A system of ideas, values or beliefs.
Socialism - Socialism is a political ideology that believes in equality and shared ownership of resources and production.
Satire - The use of humour or irony to criticise or reveal faults.
Weave - In relation to context, when you embed it into paragraphs rather than including it as a series of isolated facts.
Common misconception
Context must be included in every paragraph.
Context must be included in essays, but where it is relevant and develops your analysis - not as a tick box exercise for each paragraph.
Teacher tip
A range of Orwell's essays and other non-fiction works could be used for Task A instead of the notes in the additional materials.
Equipment
You will need access to a copy of 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of peer pressure or bullying
Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.In 'Animal Farm', Orwell primarily criticises which totalitarian leader?
Q2.Which of the following genres does 'Animal Farm' not fit?
Q3.In what armed conflict did George Orwell participate voluntarily?
Q4.Orwell's other extremely successful novel is called what?
Q5.In 'Animal Farm', which class of creatures stages its own small-scale, unsuccessful rebellion against the pigs?
Q6.Match the character from 'Animal Farm' to the historical figure or idea they represent.
The secret police
Alexei Stakhanov
Tsar Nicholas II
Lean Trotsky
Molotov
Karl Marx
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.In every 'Animal Farm' essay, you should include context. Match the type of context to its definition.
What was happening when the text was written.
What influenced the text's style or genre.
What were the shared values and ideas of the time period.
What are the life experiences of the author.
Q2.Orwell was influenced by his time fighting against fascism in the Spanish Civil War. What type of context is this?
Q3.In his 1946 essay 'Why I write' what does Orwell say all his writing has been "directly or indirectly against"?
Q4.Which of these does Squealer represent in 'Animal Farm'?
Q5.Which historical figure said "religion is the opium of the people"?
Q6.Which character in 'Animal Farm' could be an allegory for the famous Russian coal miner Alexei Stakhanov?
To help you plan your 11 English lesson on: Weaving context into 'Animal Farm' essays, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 11 English lesson on: Weaving context into 'Animal Farm' essays, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 English lessons from the Animal Farm: lies and deception unit, dive into the full secondary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.