George Orwell Flashcards
What is George Orwell’s real name?
Eric Arthur Blair (Orwell is his ‘Pen’ name).
When and where was Orwell born?
He was born June 25, 1903 in India (than a province of the commonwealth).
He was born to a lower upper middle class family.
What was his job leading up to him moving to England?
He was part of the Indian Police force (IPF). Managed 100K people in his sub-division at 21.
What’s the political party Orwell hates most?
Communism and Fascism. He likes Democratic Socialism though.
What did he do in 1936?
He enlisted on the Democratic side in the Spanish civil war. “I’ve come to fight fascism” as he proceeded to get seriously wounded and returned back to England.
What did Orwell do during WW2?
Wrote propaganda for the BBC to counter Nazi propaganda.
He eventually became disgusted by the sociopolitical maneuverings that he saw around him (working with Stalin was crazy icl).
What novel demonstrated Orwell’s disdain for Stalin?
Animal Farm (1945).
What was Nineteen Eighty-Four?
It was his novel to fight totalitarianism.
He wrote it over four years while battling TB.
He published the novel in 1949 and unfortunately passed a year later in 1950.
What is Orwell’s Six Rules for Writers?
1) Never use a metaphor, Simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print (Newspapers).
2) Never use a long word where a short one will do (avoid pretentious diction).
3) If it’s possible to cut a word out, ALWAYS cut it out.
4) Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5) Never use a foreign phrase, scientific word or jargon word if you can think of a standard English equivalent.
5) Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
