Warning: You are now entering 1984!

1984, a satirical novel written by George Orwell in 1948, features a dystopian world filled with telescreens, Thought Police, and totalitarianism.

Winston Smith, the protagonist, lives in constant fear of being detected by the dreaded Big Brother for his curiosity about the "Brotherhood" as well as his Thought crimes.

Students will reflect on the freedoms they are currently entitled to in contrast to the 1984 environment depicted in the novel.

Map of 1984's Political Landscape

George Orwell Biography and 1984 Book Summary

Book Summary: A Teacher's Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of George Orwell's 1984 from Penguin Books


George Orwell Biography from The Orwell Prize

• See also George Orwell (1903-1950) for a short biography from the BBC.

• For more background, see George Orwell page on Facebook

For a definition of dystopian, see The Dystopian Novel from H2G2.com, the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

 Film Resources

• 1984 Movie Trailer from YouTube

• Go here for a link to 1956 movie based on the novel directed by Michael Anderson and starring Edmond O'Brien, Donald Pleasence, Jan Sterling and Michael Redgrave on YouTube

• Go here for a link to the 1984 movie based on the book starring John Hurt and Richard Burton

George Orwell's 1944 letter on why he wrote '1984' from George Orwell: A Life in Letters reprinted by The Daily Beast

Learning Plans for Teaching 1984

For teaching ideas, see Teaching Orwell and 1984 with the Times from the New York Times.

Actors from 1953 CBS TV production of 1984

• This includes a link to the famous Macintosh Computer commercial that aired during the Super Bowl in 1984.

• Here is a link to dialogue in the 1984 Macintosh commercial as well as Apple ads and Saturday Night Live parodies

Big Brother vs. Little Brother: Updating Orwell's '1984' also from the New York Times

I Always Feel Like, Somebody Watching Me . . .Teaching 1984 and the Power of Government. University of Georgia English Education website

 Excellent in-class group assignment. Students will analyze and answer the question "Are we living out George Orwell's prophesy today?"

DoubleSpeak, Persuasion, Propaganda and Political Language

Doublespeak: A Language Power Technique, University of Arizona

Go here for the text of George Orwell's famous essay, Politics and the English Language (1946)

The Impacts of YouTube

• People watch billion hours of video on YouTube every day

• YouTube has algorithms designed to recommend videos it thinks you will enjoy

• Recommendations tend to push to the extremes of the political spectrum.
• A Donald Trump rally video will generate recommendation for white supremacist conspiracy videos
• Extremists rely on the recommendation engine to draw more viewers to their materials