How does this even relate to history class??

[simba928]

i had to read Animal Farm twice - for 7th grade English and 9th grade world history. I loved it. I also liked 1984 but the hysteria attached to it lost it's meaning for me since I read in around 1989/1990.
TNT did a pretty good movie adaption of Animal Farm a few years ago.
I should probably dig the book out of my attic and read it again.

Funny you should say that. When everyone was saying that they don't get the book, he told us to watch the movie. There is a kid in our class that is from Germany. He was saying that he couldn't read/understand the book since his english isn't great. My teacher said "well, you can watch the movie. It's pretty close to the book." I have never had a teacher tell us to watch the movie instead of reading the book. I have had some tell us that the movie is very good and even a couple that had us watch the movie in class after reading the book (To Kill a Mockingbird and Romeo and Juliet-we watched both the movie Romeo and Juliet as well as West Side Story). But never have I had one tell us that we could watch the movie instead of reading. Again, clueless I tell you, clueless. Yesterday, we were playing hangman in class. The answer was "Steelers going to the super bowl. Beat the Colts." We had the first part figure out, but could not figure out the second part. We knew it was "something the Colts." He had H-E-_-_ written on the board. The bell rang and he looked at the board. He goes oops, thats why you guys couldn't figure it out, the "H" is supposed to be a "B". Duh *whacks hand against head* He actually told us that he "doesn't know anything." Me and SnowAngel looked at eachother and were like . LOL.

 

[OhMari]

I didn't understand why I had to learn HALF the crap they taught me in school! Really, I am 38 years old, and I don't use it.... yeah, I graduated, but I really don't get why they teach some of the stuff they do!

I always heard if we don't understand our past history mistakes, our society would keep on making the same mistakes.

Schools actually hire people to form a cirriculum committee to decide what gets taught in the class room, what books to buy etc. So you might have someone that is very passionate about an era in history that they felt is important to be taught to the students.

Remember Krista McCullough-the teacher that went on the space shuttle. She taught her Jr. High students history. Everyone loved her class because she taught how women changed our history and how important they were.

 

[MrsPete]

It's allegory about communism
Animal Farm is a satirical novel (which can also be understood as a modern fable or allegory) by George Orwell, ostensibly about a group of animals who oust the humans from the farm they live on and run it themselves, only to have it corrupted into a brutal tyranny on its own. It was written during World War II and published in 1945, although it was not widely successful until the late 1950s.

Animal Farm is a thinly veiled critique and satire of Soviet totalitarianism. Many events in the book are based on ones from the Soviet Union during the Stalin era. (For example, the character Snowball, who is expelled from the Farm by Napoleon, is clearly modeled on Trotsky.) George Orwell, though a leftist – he was for many years a member of the Independent Labour Party – was a critic of Stalin, and suspicious of Moscow-directed communism after his experiences in the Spanish Civil War.

I'm an English teacher, and this is exactly what I was going to answer. I personally hate the book, but there's a strong tie-in to history class.

Also, I'd emphasize that if you don't "get it", ASK YOUR TEACHER.

 

[MrsPete]

What's great about novels is that they get you emotionally invested in a concept or way of thinking that you might not have embraced before. While discussing civil liberties vs. security in the Political Science class that I teach, many students don't see the problem with the government taking away civil liberties. However, those students that have read "1984" usually have a strong reaction to such a thing. They experienced it emotionally in the novel.

Exactly. Since the topic is Orwell novels, here are two examples:

A textbook will tell you how the communist party lived "high on the hog" while the workers were barely eeking out a living -- you'll say, "Okay, nice info." But when you read about Boxer, the hard working, loyal horse in Animal Farm being sold to the glue factory after he's injured . . . well, it hurts.

You can read in a textbook about the communist party kidnapping dissidents and taking them to brainwashing facilities, but when you read the 1984 scene in which Winston Smith is being tortured with hungry rats jumping up and down inches in front of his face, waiting to devour his eyeballs . . . well, I don't know about you, but I couldn't sit still -- I had to get up and walk around. It's very emotional, and it gives you an inkling of what it'd be like to live in such a world.

 

[Puffy2]

Jenny is correct about the relationship to Stalin's Russia - the link to spark notes on the first page will give you everything that you will need to know as far as how it relates to history.

And if you put on your thinking cap, you'll also realize how it relates to some things happening right here in the United States today - the use of repetive speech to manipulate the masses (Four Legs Good, Two Legs Bad....Weapons of Mass Destruction, Weapons of Mass Destruction...etc... etc... - take the time to watch a speech by George W. Bush and note how many times he uses key words and phrases - then take the time to watch FOX News to see how many times those same phrases are used over and over again and you will begin to realize that we too are being manipulated. )

A political system is only as good as the people running it - as seen by Snowball (the good guy who is concerned with the well being of the other Animals) and Napolian (who is only concerned with manipulating the others for his own gain) .

It is an excellent book and has a lot to offer. You will benefit more if you take the time to learn about it. Start with Spark Notes.