Lesson 8: Animal Farm, Chapter IV

Students discuss how Orwell describes the Battle of the Cowshed.

Retell & Paraphrase Partner Check

Have students take out their copies of Animal Farm and their homework from the previous lesson.

• Lesson 7 Homework: Students were instructed to read Chapter IV of Animal Farm and respond to the following question in their Journal:

  • Ask: How is the Battle of Cowshed described in this chapter?

Say these Directions: Work with a partner to retell what happens at the battle, and then check each other’s retelling against the text to see if you are accurate.

• The farmers from around the surrounding areas, led by Jones, decide to attack Animal Farm. However, the animals are prepared and have a strategic plan to “retreat” into the yard (p. 41) and “ambush” the humans (p. 41). Snowball “dashed straight for Jones, even though he had a gun, showing how the animals methodically attack the men. Boxer ends up hurting a “stable-lad,” and the animals take their “vengeance” on the humans by violently going after them (p. 42). And the men end up in “ignominious retreat” while the animals celebrate their victory (p. 42).

Connection to Today’s Learning

• Say: In previous lessons, you looked at how propaganda plays a role in shaping the animals’ beliefs and actions. Today, you’ll analyze how the battle you read about in Chapter IV is turned into a symbolic story for the animals that builds heroes, creates meaning, and influences the animals beliefs and actions.

Introduce New Words Using Morphology

Target Words: posthumously, skirmishing

Introduce the Word: Present the word posthumously and pronounce it.

• Ask: Have you seen the word posthumously before? Where?

Identify the Root: Underline the root post in posthumously. Explain that this part of the word comes from the Lati posterus, meaning “coming after.”

• Ask: Do you know any other words with the root post?

Language Connection: Connect to posterior and posterity (both refer to things that are after or behind).

Identify Word Parts: Circle post and explain that it means “after.” Circle -ly in posthumously and explain that it turns an adjective into an adverb.

• Say: The word posthumous was originally used in Latin as postumus, meaning “last.” Later, the Latin word humare, meaning “to bury,” was added to the word to change the meaning.

• Say: The suffix -ly changes the adjective posthumous to the adverb posthumously.

Language Connection: Other languages that derive from Latin have similar words to posthumous, like póstuma/o in Spanish and posthume in French.

Determine Meaning:

• Ask: Using what we know about post, humare, and -ly, what do you think posthumously means?

  • after that person’s death

Build Word Relationships: Display retrospectively next to posthumously.

• Ask: What does the word retrospectively mean?

  • looking back at – retro = backward; spec = to look; ive = relating to

• Say: What is similar about retrospectively and posthumously?

  • Both refer to something that happens after.

• Say: What feels different about when we use the word retrospectively instead of posthumously?

  • Posthumously specifically indicates that someone has died and that the action has been taken later.

Repeat the routine with skirmishing:

Introduce the Word: Present the word skirmishing and pronounce it.

• Ask: Have you seen the word skirmishing before? Where?

Identify the Root: Underline the base word skirm in skirmished. Explain that skirm is related to the Old French eskermir, meaning “to fight with a sword,” and Old High German skirmen, meaning “to protect.” Many Indo-European languages use the root skir or kir, meaning “to cut.”

• Ask: What are some words you know that connect to skir?

  • scrimmage, scuffle

Language Connection: Connect to cognates in other Latin-based languages (Spanish: escaramuza; French: escarmouche; Italian: scaramuccia).

Identify Affixes: Circle -ish and -ing in skirmishing. Explain that -ish was often added to words to make them diminutive, or smaller, and -ing changes a verb into a continuous action.

Language Connection: Connect to other words with the suffix -ish, like reddish, tallish, or warmish, to show how words can be altered to signify that they hold only a small amount of the quality of the root word.

Determine Meaning:

• Ask: Using what we know about skirm-, -ish, and -ing, what do you think skirmishing means?

  • participating in a small battle

Build Word Relationships: Display scrimmaging next to skirmishing.

• Ask: What does the word scrimmaging mean?

  • engaging in an informal or practice contest

    • Ask: What is the relationship between scrimmaging and skirmishing?

  • They are both referencing a small event where people are opposing each other. A scrimmage is a game, and a skirmish is a battle.

Tell students that this vocabulary will be further analyzed in this lesson’s text analysis work.

• Say: Explain to a partner how understanding the root word helped you to understand the word.

Connection to Today’s Learning

• Say: Understanding the meanings of these words will help us understand the events of the story and how the characters’ actions are portrayed.

Part A: Analyzing Point of View (RL.8.6) (10 minutes)

Students analyze the human and animal points of view of the Battle of the Cowshed. Place students in pairs for discussion.

Turn and Talk

Say: In this lesson, you will be analyzing Chapter IV and the different characters’ points of view.

Say these Directions: Turn and talk to discuss the following questions with your partner:

• How does the human point of view about the Animal Farm rebellion compare to the point of view of the farm animals around the “county” (p. 37)?

  • Jones’s fellow farmers sympathize with, or feel bad for, Jones but also are “thoroughly frightened” by the rebellion (p. 38). They do not want their farm animals to learn about the rebellion and spread misinformation, like that the “Manor Farm” animals are torturing each other (p. 38). However, the other farm animals hear of a “wonderful farm” and start trying out their own “wave of rebelliousness” by turning against their human owners in small ways, like cows kicking the “pail over” and singing “Beasts of England” all the time (p. 39).

• How does the author’s choice to show the humans’ perspective before the battle create effects such as humor or suspense for the reader? What do we know, as readers, that the farmers do not know?

  • Orwell shows the humans’ perspective first to build tension and highlight how the humans underestimate the animals. Before the battle, Orwell describes what is going on with the humans in town and how they don’t believe the animals’ rebellion has any chance of succeeding. However, as readers, we know that the animals have been reading and studying in preparation for the battle. For example, Snowball “had studied an old book of Julius Caesar’s campaigns” (p. 40). This ironic situation creates humor and suspense because the humans have no idea that the animals are prepared to do an organized and strategic battle with the men.

• How do the animals react after the battle?

  • The animals react with excitement and pride, and each begins “recounting his own exploits” (p. 43). They lift a “flag” and sing “Beasts of England” many times (p. 43). Snowball gives a speech and expresses the “need for all animals to be ready to die” for the farm (p. 44). By emphasizing heroism and creating ceremonies and honors, the animals memorialize the event as proof that their rebellion is strong and successful.

After student partners have discussed the questions, lead a whole-class discussion of the questions and several responses.

Part B: Making Connections to Rhetorical Techniques (RL.8.3, SL.8.1) (20 minutes)

Students analyze the Battle of the Cowshed through the lens of propaganda and connections to central idea development.

Close Read & Annotation Protocol

• Say: Today’s lesson is more than what happened in the battle you read about in Chapter IV. It is about how the animals shape the meaning of the battle and how heroic narratives can work like propaganda. You will analyze how the animals generate and use propaganda in the aftermath of the Battle of the Cowshed through the use of rhetorical techniques.

Instruct students to turn to p. 43 and locate the last three paragraphs of Chapter 4, beginning with “The animals had now reassembled. . . .”

• Say: Remember that propaganda is often used by revolutions to ensure that everyone stays loyal to the ideals of the revolution. Propaganda uses these and other devices to build a narrative that convinces others to act in ways that will continue to benefit the ideals of the revolution.

Say these Directions: Reread the last three paragraphs of Chapter 4 and find evidence of the following four rhetorical techniques that are occurring in the aftermath of the Battle of the Cowshed:

• Emotional appeal (E)

• Fear appeal (F)

• Idealism (I)

• Symbolism (S)

Annotate where you see each of the rhetorical techniques. They may appear more than once.

Display the rhetorical techniques and the annotation codes for students to see.

Model the annotation activity by selecting one short phrase from the excerpt and labeling it with the appropriate code (E, F, I, S). Direct students’ attention to the sentence that ends the first paragraph of the excerpt: “At the graveside Snowball made a little speech, emphasising the need for all animals to be ready to die for Animal Farm if need be” (p. 44).

• Say: At the sheep’s grave, Snowball tells the others they should “be ready to die for Animal Farm” (p. 44). This is an example of idealism and fear appeal because Snowball tells others that they will have to be willing to risk their lives to ensure that animals remain in control and keep the rebellion alive. I will mark the sentence and annotate the letters “I” and “F.”

Academic Talk Moves

After students finish annotating, transition them into small groups. Instruct the students to engage in discussion in small groups to “Add On” or “Challenge” each other’s ideas about the excerpt.

Say these Directions: In your group, take turns sharing your annotations and explaining how you marked them and why. One person will share an annotation and explain the thinking behind how it was categorized—as emotional appeal, fear appeal, idealism, or symbolism. Another group member will respond by adding on to the idea or challenging what the first student said.

Provide students with sentence frames to support their Academic Talk Moves.

Add-On Sentence Frame: In addition to what ___ noted about ___, I noticed ___ about that sentence/word/phrase.

Challenge Sentence Frame: I understand what you are saying, but I disagree because ___.

If needed, model an “Add On” discussion example.

• Say: If someone noted that the gun was used as a symbol, I would add on that I noticed that they decided to shoot the gun on the anniversary of the battle and of the Rebellion. This shows that the gun is a symbol of the animals’ power and victory over the men.

Have student groups practice Academic Talk Moves as you circulate the classroom and observe the content being discussed and the use of the discussion protocol.

Turn and Talk

Instruct students to reflect on the following question and share their ideas with a partner.

Say these Directions: Identify one symbol from Chapter IV. Use one quoted word or phrase from the text to explain what it represents and how it shapes the animals’ beliefs.

• One important symbol in Chapter 4 is the gun placed by the flagstaff and fired on anniversaries. When the animals decide to fire it on “the anniversary of the Battle of the Cowshed,” the gun represents victory and power over the humans (p. 44). This symbol shapes the animals’ beliefs by reminding them that they have been heroic in battle against the men.

Instruct students to read pp. 45–52 of Chapter V of Animal Farm, ending with the sentence “But just at this moment Napoleon stood up and, casting a peculiar sidelong look at Snowball. . . .” Instruct students to take notes in their Journal on the following prompt:

• How do the events and characters’ interactions in this excerpt of Chapter V develop central ideas?