Nineteen-Eighty Four: Historical Context

A PowerPoint presentation designed for use in a Grade 12 English class.

It includes:
• Instructions for reading activities including what important information to record about the characters,
• Historical context for Nineteen Eighty Four (when it was written, what the world was like post WW2 (during the Cold War), Orwell’s inspirations)
• Key political terms – communism, fascism, totalitarianism, dictatorship etc.,
• Historical figures – Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Leon Trotsky
• Examples of propaganda and rewriting history used by Stalin
• Examples of propaganda and censorship in Nineteen Eighty Four
• Orwell’s reasons for writing the text – i.e. showcasing his concerns for the future

Resources designed for the new senior General English syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). The syllabus objectives would also be useful more broadly for English students in other states and countries with an interest in this text.