Introduction
The novel Animal Farm is an allegory for the Russian Revolution.
This means that the characters and events symbolize actual people and events in history.
The task of this web quest is to research who and what happened so that you can understand the “story underneath the story.”
Task
Your task is simple: visit the websites or watch the videos throughout the web quest, and fill in the answers on your handout. You can download the worksheet below and complete it digitally or print it and complete it by hand.
Answer questions in complete sentences and be sure to paraphrase your answers based on the information you find on the Internet.
https://docs.google.com/a/mtplcsd.org/forms/d/1RPjyIV3iYv1DX4pa8GlGmMdWmzyO8b10SgQmdAzNnWs/edit
Process
Please use the suggested links to find answers to each of the questions below. Be sure to paraphrase your answers based on the information you find on the Internet.
George Orwell
http://www.biographyonline.net/socialism-george-orwell/
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/01/27/honest-decent-wrong
1. What were George Orwell's political views?
2. What year was Animal Farm published and what was happening in Europe at the time?
Communism and Socialism
http://www.ushistory.org/gov/13b.asp
3. Who was Karl Marx and what were his beliefs?
4. What is communism?
5. What is socialism?
6. What are the common goals and failures of socialism and communism? (hint: utopia means “an ideally perfect place, especially in its social, political, and moral aspects”)
The Russian Revolution
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/peoplescentury/episodes/redflag/description.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmKPLvctdaA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22nzopiyWx0
7. Who was the Czar (or Tsar) of Russia before the Russian Revolution (and during World War I)?
8. What became of this Czar and his family?
9. What happened during the March Revolution of 1917 (first phase of the Russian Revolution)?
10. What happened during the November Revolution of 1917 (second phase of the Russian Revolution)?
11. Who led the October Revolution?
12. Who were the Bolsheviks?
Napoleon Bonaparte
http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/95aug/napoleon.htm
13. Who was Napoleon Bonaparte, and what was his basic personality?
Stalin and The Great Purge
http://www.britannica.com/event/purge-trials
http://www.bbc.co.uk/timelines/z8nbcdm
14. Who was Josef Stalin, and what kind of ruler was he?
15. What was the Great Purge characterized by? Who was punished and how? How many were killed?
Propaganda
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~heale20k/Propaganda/Soviet_Propaganda_Posters.html
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~heale20k/Propaganda/Soviet_Propaganda_Posters.html
16. What is propaganda? (Use an online dictionary)
17. Why did Stalin use propaganda?
18. Choose a propaganda poster and analyze its meaning. What message does it give?
Evaluation
33-36 pts: Responses are original, stylistically sophisticated and reveal an insightful understanding of question and content. Sentences are clear, precise, and essentially error free.
29-32 pts: Responses are mostly original and well written and reveal a very good understanding of question and content. Sentences are mostly clear, precise, and error free.
25-28 pts: Responses are weakly paraphrased but reveal a commendable although incomplete understanding of question and/or content. Sentences have errors in conventions, punctuation, and usage but they do not hinder comprehension. (Some questions may be left blank or are copied from the links)
-24: Responses are copied from links and/or reveal an incomplete understanding of question and/or content. Sentences are replete with errors in conventions, punctuation, and usage and often hinder comprehension. (Some questions may be left blank)