Finish 1984 (chapter 6)

Tomorrow we will discuss the ending.

I will give you a sizable quiz (60 points) on content, vocab, and rhetoric from Book 3 on Friday.  Tomorrow, I will also give you the cumulative essay options. The essay will be worth 125 points.

AP Grading Scale (1 to 9)

Out of 36 points

A: 8-9: 34
B: 6-7: 30
C: 4-5: 27


1984 by George Orwell

Book 3, Chapters 4 and 5

Wesley 4AP

November 3, 2015

Please arrange your desks in a circle

Question 1: Author’s purpose

He dreamed a great deal all through this time, and they were always happy dreams. He was in the Golden Country, or he was sitting among enormous glorious, sunlit ruins, with his mother, with Julia, with O’Brien — not doing anything, merely sitting in the sun, talking of peaceful things. Such thoughts as he had when he was awake were mostly about his dreams. He seemed to have lost the power of intellectual effort, now that the stimulus of pain had been removed. (275)

Orwell tells us that Winston’s dreams “were always happy dreams”.  They were in “the Golden Country ..or sunlit ruins” and his mother and Julia were there, but so was O’Brien, and “they were talking of peaceful things”.  O’Brien seems very out of place here.  Why would he be in Winston’s happy dreams and talking about peaceful things? What does this reveal about how Winston feels about O’Brien? Is it possible he likes O’Brien? If so, why might he like O’Brien, and what purpose might Orwell have in imbuing Winston with any feelings of warmth or admiration for such an evil antagonist? Is Orwell trying to make a particular point about human nature or the world of Oceania?

Cite textual evidence to support your response.

Question 2:  Author’s style

Interrogations in military prisons like Guantanamo Bay or the Ministry of Truth usually involve a mix of psychological and physical torture and rhetoric. What rhetorical and psychological interrogation strategies (you can use plain English and /or name rhetorical devices or strategies) does O’Brien use to peak Winston’s fear about rats, to build the tension up, and finally bring Winston to a breaking point where he is willing to betray Julia? (283-286).  In short, how does he introduce and build tension in order to get what he wants from Winston? Describe the process

Cite evidence…page and paragraph, a short quote to illustrate something O’Brien is doing or saying, and the psychological/rhetorical strategy the effect creates.

Page and Paragraph	Quote from passage	Strategy and effect

HW: Finish reading 1984