Lesson 5: Animal Farm, Chapter II

Students review their homework with a partner to discuss moments in the text that show the pigs are starting to take charge.

Turn and Talk

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

• Lesson 4 Homework: Students were instructed to read the second chapter (pp. 15–26) of Animal Farm and annotate moments that suggest the pigs are starting to take charge.

Say these Directions: Take out Animal Farm and your annotations. Turn and talk with a partner about the following question:

• What moments in the text suggest that the pigs are starting to take charge?

  • The pigs begin to take charge by positioning themselves as organizers and teachers. Before the rebellion, they explain Animalism to the other animals. After the humans leave, they organize the work on the farm and write the Seven Commandments, which establish the rules everyone is expected to follow.

Connection to Today’s Learning: 

• Say: Yesterday, we examined Old Major’s speech. Today, we’ll see how the ideals he shared prompted the animals to act.

Routine: Introduce New Words Using Morphology

Target Words: pre-eminent, disciples

Introduce the Words: Present the words pre-eminent and disciples and pronounce them. Have students repeat the words and learn the words’ pronunciations.

• Ask: Have you seen either word before? Where?

A Note on Language: Beneath the word pre-eminent, write its alternate spelling (preeminent) and point out that in Animal Farm, the word pre-eminent is spelled with a hyphen between its prefix and root. Explain that George Orwell was a British writer and that the novel was written and published in the mid-1940s. Remind students that language changes over time and that although we share a language (English) with Britain, there are sometimes minor differences in spelling.

Identify Roots: Beneath the two spellings of the word pre-eminent, write its Latin precedent praeēminēns, which means “to excel” or “to stand out.” Draw a line between prae and the rest of the word. Underline the root ēminēns and explain that it means “to stand out” and that it later passed into English as the word eminent, meaning “outstanding” or “respected.”

Beneath the word disciples, write the Latin word discipulus, which means “learner” or “pupil.” Explain that discipulus comes from the Latin verb discere, meaning “to learn.” Point out how this meaning connects to the idea of a disciple as someone who learns from a teacher.

Identify Affixes: Circle the Latin prefix prae- and the English prefix pre-. Tell students that both can mean “before” or “in front of” and that in some words they also suggest standing out.

Circle the Latin prefix dis-. Tell students that one meaning of the prefix is “to take.”

• Ask: How do the Latin prefix prae- and the Latin root ēminēns create the meaning of pre-eminent?

  • Combined, they form a word that means something or someone that “sticks out” as “the most outstanding or respected.”

• Ask: How do the Latin prefix dis- and the Latin root cipulus create the meaning of the word disciple?

  • Combined, they mean “one who takes knowledge.”

Language Connection: The Spanish word preeminente is similar in both spelling and meaning to pre-eminent. The Spanish word discípulos/discípulas is similar in both spelling and meaning to disciples.

Say these Directions: Read this text from p. 18 of Animal Farm:

“Their most faithful disciples were the two carthorses, Boxer and Clover. These two had great difficulty in thinking anything out for themselves, but having once accepted the pigs as their teachers, they absorbed everything that they were told, and passed it on to the other animals by simple arguments. They were unfailing in their attendance at the secret meetings in the barn, and led the singing of Beasts of England, with which the meetings always ended.”

Turn and discuss these questions with a partner:

• How is the word faithful a context clue to the meaning of the word disciples?

• How are Boxer’s and Clover’s actions context clues to what the word disciples means?

  • “Faithful” implies that Clover and Boxer listen and do what the pigs ask of them. The text tells us that they had trouble thinking for themselves, but they did what the pigs told them and passed the lessons from the pigs to the other animals.

Connection to Today’s Learning: 

• Say: Knowing vocabulary such as pre-eminent and disciples helps us understand power relationships between leaders and followers. As you close-read the text from Chapter 2, think about which animals are taking over the farm and which ones are yielding to them.

Part A: Analyze Dialogue and Incidents in a Story (RL.8.3) (15 minutes)

Students work in pairs to close-read and analyze an incident that moves the plot along in Chapter II.

Think-Pair-Share

Transition the students into groups to close-read and analyze Chapter II of Animal Farm.

Remind students of their learning from the previous lesson about how a story’s dialogue and incidents move the plot forward.

• Say: Authors use dialogue and incidents to move the action in a story forward. One thing is said or happens that results in another thing happening. As readers, your job is to analyze how incidents come together to create a plot, how they can force characters to make a decision, or how they show particular aspects of a character or characters.

Model making connections between incidents to analyze how they move the action forward and provoke a decision. Draw students’ attention to the following incident:

• “The men had milked the cows in the early morning and then had gone out rabbiting, without bothering to feed the animals. When Mr. Jones got back, he immediately went to sleep on the drawing-room sofa . . . so that when evening came, the animals remained unfed” (p. 19).

• Say: This incident is important to the plot. The animals are so hungry that they are forced to make a decision, which is to feed themselves. In turn, when they are caught, Mr. Jones responds as he normally would. What does his response, the whipping of the animals, cause to happen next?

• It causes the animals to rebel, because it is more than they can “bear” (p. 19). The animals start defending themselves from the lashing, and Mr. Jones and his men run off because they are “frightened out of their wits” (p. 20).

Say these Directions: Incidents and dialogue can be instrumental in revealing character and moving action forward in a story. Choose one of the prompts below, closely read that paragraph and then discuss the prompt with a partner.

• Prompt 1: “The animals had their breakfast, and then Snowball and Napoleon called them together again.” (p. 23) What does this incident show about the characters? How does it move the plot forward?

  • This shows that the pigs, Snowball and Napoleon, are organizing meetings, which puts them in a leadership role. It sets up the meeting in which the “Seven Commandments” are introduced (p. 24).

• Prompt 2: “The pigs now revealed that during the past three months they had taught themselves to read and write . . .” (p. 23). Why is it important that the pigs have learned to read and write? How do they use their new skills?

  • It is important because they are able to use their new skills to help the animals claim ownership of the farm. The first thing they do is change the name from Manor Farm to “Animal Farm” (p. 24). They are also able to write the commandments for all to see, which shows they are establishing “law” of Animal Farm (p. 24).

• Prompt 3: Read the dialogue that ends Chapter 2. What decision does Napoleon make? What does it reveal about Napoleon’s character?

  • Napoleon has set himself up as the authority figure in charge. He tells the other animals what to do and what is most important by saying to the animals, “‘Never mind the milk, comrades!’” (p. 26). This dialogue and his actions reveal his intention to keep the milk for himself, as it is revealed later that night, “the milk had disappeared” (p. 26). Napoleon’s decision to take control reveals that he likes being a leader but also feels that he deserves more than the others in his lack of adherence to the Seventh Commandment when taking the milk.

Provide students with a confidence continuum (i.e., 1–5). As needed, model how to demonstrate a level of confidence using the continuum.

Part B: Analyze the Impact of Specific Word Choices (RL.8.4) (15 minutes)

Students close read a section of Chapter II and discuss how specific words impact characterization, plot, and theme.

Turn-and-Talk

Conduct a close reading of the text describing the creation of the Seven Commandments from p. 24:

• “They explained that by their studies of the past three months the pigs had succeeded in reducing the principles of Animalism to Seven Commandments. These Seven Commandments would now be inscribed on the wall; they would form an unalterable law by which all the animals on Animal Farm must live for ever after.”

Organize students into pairs or groups of three.

Say these Directions: Review pp. 23-25. Turn and talk to discuss the following questions:

• What connotation does the word studies have? How does it characterize the pigs?

It shows that the pigs are academic in nature and are very smart because they were able to teach themselves to read and write” (p. 23). The fact that they studied and turned the “principles of Animalism” into the Seven Commandments shows their aptitude and adds authority to their Commandments by making the process seem well-researched (p. 24).

• Why do you think the pigs called their directives commandments instead of rules or laws? How does the sentence that follows underscore the reason for this word choice?

The words rules and laws have weaker connotations than the word commandments. Commandments suggest that the directives come from a very high authority that must not be disobeyed. The sentence that follows explains that these commandments form “an unalterable law by which all the animals on Animal Farm must live for ever after” (p. 24), meaning that the commandments are extremely important and will endure forever.

• Who establishes these commandments? What does the description “unalterable law” reveal about the power structure on the new Animal Farm?

The pigs wrote the commandments themselves. They presented them to the animals as “unalterable”—that is, they cannot be changed, discussed, or disobeyed (p. 24). No animal questioned or commented on them, and they all “nodded in agreement” (p. 25). This careful choice of words points to the fact that the pigs have established power and plan to hold onto it.

• Why might the pigs control the reading and writing tasks?

The pigs realize that if they control the reading and writing tasks, they can control what the other animals believe and will accept. For example, no animal questions the Seven Commandments, and they all nod in “complete agreement” (p. 25).

• If literacy is a form of power, who benefits—and who is left out?

Those who can read and write benefit, and those who can’t are left out.

Quick Write

Transition students into reflecting on their learning from the lesson by completing a Quick Write response. Prompt students to revisit the text of the Seven Commandments on pp. 24 and 25 in the novel.

Say these Directions: Choose one of the Seven Commandments on pp. 24–25. In a Quick Write of one to two sentences, describe an example of an animal breaking that commandment. Use at least one piece of text evidence from pp. 15–26.

• In the act of creating and displaying the commandments, the pigs break the Seventh Commandment. They have set themselves above the other animals when they assume authority over establishing rules. For example, when the pigs explain that the Commandments they created “form an unalterable law by which all the animals on Animal Farm must live for ever after,” the pigs set themselves up as the ultimate authority (p. 24).

Introduce the homework to complete before the next lesson:

Read Chapter III (pp. 27–36) of Animal Farm and annotate places in the text that describe how the animals act after the revolution. Take notes in your Journal.