1984 Notes Test Flashcards
1984: War is _______
Peace
1984: Freedom is _______
Slavery
1984: Ignorance is ______
Strength
Who is the author of 1984
George Orwell
George Orwell was the pen name of
Eric Blair
Orwell was a/an ___________ born where?
Englishman, India
What year was Orwell born
1903
At what age did Orwell die
47
Orwell was educated at ______, a prestigious boarding school in _________
Eton, England
Orwell considered himself a ______________ and was critical of _________
Democratic socialist, communism
Orwell was politically and philosophically opposed to the __________
oppression of the poor
George Orwell’s ______ influenced his work
life
Orwell was an opponent of ________ in all of its forms
totalitarianism
Orwell felt that the acquisition of power only made people ___________
hungry for more
1984 is a warning about what happens when __________________
governments are given too much power!
unlike utopian novels that present society as it should be, the ______________ presents society as it should NOT be
dystopian novel
1984 and Orwell are critical of __________and contains an implicit warning about where these societies are heading.
existing societies
1984 is not considered __________ – all the technical devices the party uses in the novel existed in 1948.
science fiction
The world of 1984 is foremost a _________, not a technological, _______. (Hence it can be quite inaccurate to refer to it whenever there are concerns about new technologies.)
political, dystopia
The technological level of the society in the novel is mostly _____________ than in the real 1980s.
crude and less advanced
Apart from the ___________ and __________, 1984 society it is no more advanced than in wartime Britain.
telescreens and speech-recognizing typewriters
Living standards are _____ and ____________, with rationing and unpalatable ersatz products.
low, declining
Orwell’s vision is diametrically opposed to the technological hedonism of __________
Brave New World
1984 denotes an attitude and a brutal policy of draconian control by ______________, _____________, ____________, _____________, and _______________.
propaganda, surveillance, misinformation, denial of truth (doublethink), and manipulation of the past
1984 denotes an attitude and a brutal policy of draconian control by propaganda, surveillance, misinformation, denial of truth (doublethink), and manipulation of the past, including the “_________“—a person whose past existence is expunged from the public record and memory, practised by modern repressive governments.
unperson
a person whose past existence is expunged from the public record and memory, practised by modern repressive governments.
unperson
The word “unperson” comes directly from Orwell’s writing 1984. It carries a negative connotation and refers to anything involving ________________________.
systematic controlling/monitoring of the individual.
Story takes place in __________ (English Socialism), a superstate in constant war with two other superstates:
Oceania
What two superstates is the superstates Oceania in constant war with?
Eurasia (Neo-Bolshevism) and Eastasia (Death worship/ Obliteration of self)
Oceania is made of ________, _________, and ________.
British Empire, US, and Latin America
Eastasia is made of _________, ________, _______, and _________
Japan, India, Korea, and China
Eurasia is made of __________, and ____________.
Soviet Union, Conventional Europe
what is the “official language” of Oceania
Newspeak
What is extraordinary about Newspeak, the language?
its vocabulary decreases every year, because the state of Oceania sees no purpose in maintaining complex language
So Newspeak is a language dedicated to the “______________”
destruction of words
“Of course the great wastage is in the verbs and adjectives, but there are hundreds of nouns that can be got rid of as well… If you have a word like ‘good’, what need is there for a word like ‘bad’? ‘Ungood’ will do just as well… Or again, if you want a stronger version of ‘good’, what sense is there in having a whole string of vague useless words like ‘excellent’ and ‘splendid’ and all the rest of them? ‘Plusgood’ covers the meaning, or ‘doubleplusgood’ if you want something stronger still…. In the end the whole notion of goodness and badness will be covered by only six words; in reality, only one word.”
(Part One, Chapter Five)
who says this
character Syme
what are the thoughts of the character Syme on vocabulary?
He believes that there is no reason for advancing or increasing the use of words because the majority of them are unnecessary, according to Syme. For instance, when good is a word there is no need for bad, when you can simply use the word ungood that serves the same purpose.
What are the four ministries of Oceania?
The Ministry of Peace, The Ministry of Plenty, The Ministry of Truth, The Ministry of Love
the newspeak name for the Ministry of Peace, which concerns itself with making war
minipax
in Newspeak, it is the ministry involved in maintaining ubiquitous poverty in Oceania
miniplenty
is the propaganda arm of the Ingsoc State. They distribute the leaflets, porno, and of course the telescreens. Winston Smith spends his daytime hours “correcting” historical records in Minitrue
minitrue
is a gigantic windowless building devoted to torture and brutality. The home of the thought police, it is surrounded by a maze of barbed wire and machine gun towers.
miniluv
The ministries convey paradox: WAR IS PEACE
what question is brought about by this?
Can war lead to peace?
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
what question is brought about by this?
Can freedom be confining?
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
what question is brought about by this?
Can one know too much?
The structure of the government resembled a parody in reverse of the _________________
famous 1941 USA State of the Union speech by Franklin Delano Roosevelt
In the 1941 USA State of the Union speech by FDR before the assembled Congress, how many freedoms did the President outline?
four
What are the four freedoms that President FDR outlined in his USA State of the Union Speech 1941?
1 - freedom of speech
2 - freedom of every person to worship God in his own way
3 - freedom from want
4 - freedom from fear
The first freedom from FDR Speech
1 - freedom of speech and expression everywhere in the world
The second freedom from FDR Speech
2 - freedom of every person to worship God in his own way everywhere in the world
The third freedom from FDR Speech
3 - freedom from want - also meaning economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants - everywhere in the world
The fourth freedom from FDR Speech
4 - freedom from fear - also meaning a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor - anywhere
Proles made up what percent of the population?
85%
Inner Party made up what percent of the population?
<2%
Outer Party made up what percent of the population?
about 13%
What made up the great majority of the population?
Proles
What made up the least majority of the population?
Inner Party
What was in between on the population - not the most prevalent, but also not the least prevalent?
Outer Party
The mysterious head of government is the omniscient, omnipotent, beloved ___________.
Big Brother, or “BB.”
How is the Big Brother or “BB” described in the notes?
omniscient, omnipotent, and beloved
Big Brother is described as
“a man of about forty-five, with a heavy black moustache and ruggedly handsome features.”
Big Brother is usually displayed on what
posters
Big Brother is usually displayed on posters with the slogan:
“BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU.”
Who is the nemesis of Big Brother?
the hated Emmanuel Goldstein
Who is Emmanuel Goldstein?
the hated nemesis of Big Brother
a Party member who had been in league with Big Brother and The Party during the revolution.
Goldstein is said to be a major part of the __________.
Brotherhood
a vast underground anti-Party fellowship
the Brotherhood
_________ is said to be a major part of the Brotherhood, a vast underground anti-Party fellowship.
Goldstein
U ARE DONE!
YAY!
