Length: 50,000 to 75,000 words Prose: In paragraph form Fiction by Nature: Not true Uses: entertainment, propaganda, and

expression of a personal philosophy

Its a Genre: Type of Literature

Theme: the main idea of the novel, usually expressed in one sentence

Setting: the time and place of the action of the novel

Plot: the events in the novel

Point of View: Personal, Objective, Omniscient

Conflict: the struggles in a novel

Characters: the personalities in a novel Developing Character (Round): a character who changes in some way during the course of the story; usually a major character who has several sides or traits to his personality

Static Character (Flat): a character (usually a minor character) who does not change during the story; this kind off character generally has only one or two personality traits.
Protagonist: a character who is trying to achieve some goal (usually the main character) Antagonist: a character who is trying to stop the protagonist

historical sentimental, philosophical psychological teen fantasy detective romance

(1903-1950)

Real Name: Eric Blair British Political Novelist

Born: To English parents in India

After his father retired, Eric and his family moved back to England.

He was sent to boarding school at the age of eight to prepare for Eton, an exclusive prep school.

Because he had a scholarship, he was teased and humiliated frequently.

At eighteen, he passed the Empires Civil Service Exam and became a police officer in Burma.

Returned in Europe

Socialist: someone who believes that the government should own businesses so that everyone will be equal

Most fables have two levels of meaning. On the surface, the fable is about animals. But on a second level, the animals stand for types of people or ideas. The way the animals interact and the way the plot unfolds says something about the nature of people or the value of ideas. Any type of fiction that has multiple levels of meaning in this way is called an allegory.

A composition making fun of something, usually political.

Animal Farm makes fun of political society after the Bolshevik Revolution.

Russian society in the early twentieth century had two social classes: a tiny minority (bourgeoisie) controlled the countrys wealth.

The working class was called the proletariat.

Communism arose in Russia when the nations workers & peasants rebelled against and overwhelmed the wealthy and powerful class of capitalists & aristocrats.

Farmer Jones A drunk and a poor farmer, his cruelty towards the farm animals inspires their rebellion.

Snowball A clever pig with a head for ideas, he becomes one of the main leaders of Animal Farm and the author of its central commandments.

Napoleon A pig with a gift for techniques of control, he establishes most of the farms rules and eventually becomes its sole leader.

Old Major An elderly show pig whose instruction to the animals about "animalism" becomes the philosophical basis for the creation of Animal Farm.

Squealer A pig with the ability to make any idea sound reasonable, he is Napoleon's side-kick and is in charge of communicating to the animals.

Boxer A strong and hard-working carthorse, he shows tremendous faith in the rebellion and its leaders.