Themes, symbols, and motifs are valuable aspects of any literary work, and they add richness to stories. Part of the Common Core ELA standards is to introduce and explain these complex concepts. However, abstract ideas are often difficult for students to analyze without assistance. Using a storyboard, students can visually demonstrate their understanding of these concepts, and master analysis of literary elements. For best practices, see our supplementary article with specific lesson plan steps on setting up your classroom and activities to teach themes, symbols, and motifs.
In the classroom, students can track the rich themes that George Orwell uses throughout Animal Farm. They will analyze the instances of themes, symbols, and motifs as they appear in the novel either while they read or after they've finished.
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Student Instructions
Create a storyboard that identifies recurring themes, motifs, and imagery in Animal Farm. Illustrate instances of each theme and write a short description below each cell.
Begin by explaining the meaning of the phrase “Abuse of Language” and tell the students that it means deceiving and manipulating others by using the language for your own means. Take an example from the story, such as the pigs “readjusting” the amendments and adding “Some animals are more equal than others”.
Guide a discussion on how using different words and structuring different phrases in different ways can result in different meanings. For instance, some bad things can be said politely to simply convey the meaning without the other person being offended. Ask the students if they have ever changed a situation by changing how they speak or the vocabulary they use.
Explain to the students just how the pigs who wanted to abuse their power on the farm started manipulating the rest of the animals, human beings also do similar things. Ask the students to find any such real-life scenarios that apply to this situation such as the Russian Revolution or any other revolutions where people made more use of words and language.
Give the students an assignment where they have to convey the same meaning to readers as the original text but they have to change the mood or tone of that text in a specific way. For instance, give them an aggressively written letter to fire an employee and they have to make it sound more professional yet polite.
The leaders of "Animal Farm" progressively renounce Animalism and put their personal interests first, which leads to their corruption. Napoleon in particular has a despotic attitude and relies on coercion and intimidation to stay in power. The quote “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than the others” is a perfect depiction of how gradually after gaining power the pigs also started to act like the humans they once wanted freedom from.
The first uprising stands for the animals' demand for equality and liberation from human tyranny. On the other hand, as a governing elite, the pigs gradually restore class divisions and hierarchy on the farm. The only difference was that after succeeding in getting freedom from humans, the other animals became trapped by the leaders such as “Napoleon” and were now ruled by someone else.