Support the development of close reading skills with this worksheet composed of challenging questions designed to help high school students analyze George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984. Featuring a brief passage from Book 2, chapter 2, which calls attention to how the author’s craft contributes to a fleeting sense of freedom in contrast to the typically brutal setting of Oceania, this resource saves teachers valuable time at home without sacrificing rigor in the classroom. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered as printable Word Documents and PDFs.
This resource may serve as the basis for small-group discussions. Through these discussions, students decode language and pose/respond to questions relating to plot, broad topics, and character development, demonstrating an ability to analyze how complex characters transform and advance the plot and themes by applying logic and citing compelling, meaningful textual evidence. They will also evaluate their peers’ reasoning and use of rhetoric to advance claims, clarifying or challenging unclear ideas. Using this resource for structured guidance, students, ultimately, will present information, conclusions, and supporting textual evidence clearly, concisely, and appropriately, thereby helping their peers comprehend their thinking.
By engaging in this exercise, students will:
- Identify what the text says both explicitly and implicitly
- Discern meaning from figurative expressions
- Use context as a clue to the meaning of words and phrases
- Analyze nuances in the meaning of words with similar denotations
- Analyze how Winston is personally affected by the singing of the thrush
- Apply knowledge of assonance and sibilance and analyze how literary devices contribute to text complexity
- Analyze textual details to discern and articulate character motivations
- Analyze the characterization of the thrush and compare its situation to that of Winston and Julia, articulating what these characters share in common
- Identify textual details that contrast the harshness and abruptness typically associated with totalitarian Oceania
- Identify textual details that suggest the idea of bounty
- Write with clarity and precision
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