Ask the Expert Tutor: 1984 by George Orwell
As part of our ‘Ask the Expert Tutor’ series, this week we will be learning more about George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four with our expert IB English tutor, Laura.
Orwell’s 1984 is a somewhat short text but rich with socio-political and historical subtext, and continues to be a popular choice for IB English courses. Reading the novel can be an unsettling and surreal experience, as Orwell writes of a horrific and dystopian world in an eerily accessible way. Much of the novel’s invented language has entered our language today, such as ‘doublethink’, ‘Big Brother’, and ‘Thought Police’. 1984 is widely known for its prophetic and critical qualities, as it speaks to themes of political oppression, totalitarianism, and the stifling of individual liberties that unfortunately remain relevant today.
1984 is usually set for IB English Language & Literature, and generally taught in relation to comparative writing (Paper 2, and the Interactive Oral component). What I find fascinating in helping my IB Lang/Lit students approach 1984 are the different central points that each student identifies: some stress the theme of mass technological surveillance, others see an overtly political critique, and some see a project exposing the destruction of individuality in a totalitarian state. Of course, all these interpretations are valid; the challenge is to articulate them. Therefore, in my lessons, my goal is to guide my IB students on how to express their opinions in a formal and assessment-oriented way, while demonstrating that element of originality that IB English demands.
Let’s look at a past IB English exam question, as well as a relatively weaker sample response. This past paper question is comparative, but here we will look at it in relation to 1984 only:
‘Discuss how moral and/or ethical issues are explored in two literary works you have studied.’
The ethical issue of taking away freedoms is likewise explored in 1984. The author is very very harsh on Big Brother and how his regime destroys people’s freedom to think and talk, like when Winston agonizes over how he cannot write his real thoughts in his diary in fear of getting arrested by the Thought Police. This is in Chapter 1, when the author talks about how opressive the Big Brother reigime is. This incident explores the ethical issue of taking away freedoms, because it shows how destructive the regime is for the individual person.
The student’s response is weak for the following reasons:
Basic spelling mistake: ‘opressive’
Informal expression: the student’s use of phrases such as ‘taking away freedoms’, ‘very very harsh on Big Brother’, ‘people’s’, ‘like when’, and ‘talks about’ are quite colloquial, and not at the standard of analytical expression required for an appropriate commentary.
Vague use of evidence: the student gestures towards relevant evidence (e.g. Winston’s fear of truthful expression) in Chapter 1, but does not actually paraphrase or quote from the text. It would be very hard for the examiner to reward this as it shows weak evidence for argumentation.
Undeveloped analysis: the student’s analytical points are repetitive, and do not sufficiently explain and answer the question.
An improved response on 1984 would look like this:
‘Discuss how moral and/or ethical issues are explored in two literary works you have studied.’
However, in 1984, Orwell explores the ethical issue of the destruction of individual liberties in totalitarian regimes through the motif of the diary. The diary is first introduced in Chapter 1, which shows Winston feeling a “twinge of panic” and “hysteria” when writing the phrase “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” repeatedly. Orwell’s use of diction, along with the simile of Winston’s “heart thumping like a drum”, conveys the profound fear felt by Winston of possibly committing a “thoughtcrime”. Orwell’s use of ‘panic’, ‘hysteria’, and ‘thumping like a drum’ has connotations of intense anxiety which hyperbolize Winston’s emotional response, especially in contrast with the harmlessness of his act of writing, and illustrates the suppression of free thought under Big Brother’s totalitarian rule. Through the use of hyperbolic diction and simile, Orwell therefore expresses the unethical eradication of basic freedoms such as freedom of thought and expression in a totalitarian society.
This type of analytical response is better for the following reasons:
Clear argumentative structure: the student follows a standard Point-Evidence-Analysis-Link model to present the argument, which helps with clarity
Formal expression: the student uses technical and formal language throughout, such as ‘use of diction … conveys’, ‘connotations’, and ‘hyperbolize’
Specific use of evidence: this response shows a strong selection of quotations in reference to the Point sentence and question
Strong analytical points: the student discusses the connotations and implications of words and imagery used, and how this contributes to the relevant themes.
I hope this was useful as an example of how I aim to teach and as a way of thinking about 1984 academically! If you think you would benefit from extra support with IB English, feel free to reach out today by phone (2882 1017) or email (enquiries@bartyed.com).