1984 Anticipation Guide

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Anticipation Guide for George Orwell’s 1984

Before reading: In the space to the left of each statement, place a check mark if you agree or think the statement is true. During and/or after reading: Add new check marks or cross through those about which you have changed your mind. Keep in mind that this is not like the traditional “worksheet.” This is a critical thinking exercise, so it will require some work. Use the space under each statement to note the pages where you are finding information to support your thinking. _____ 1. Our government should have a big role in our lives. _____ 2. Nazi Party members were good people before they became Nazis. _____ 3. Globalization is a good thing. _____ 4. Technological innovation is a good thing. _____ 5. Surveillance only protects people. _____ 6. Our government should help us decide our ethics. _____ 7. Sexual freedom is one freedom that allows people to be individuals. _____ 8. We need “characters” among us to enhance life. _____ 9. Children are tape recorders of their parents; they have very few thoughts of their own. _____ 10. Every person has some irrational fear. _____ 11. We really need to study history more carefully than we already are. _____ 12. Mankind is the cruelest of all beasts, because when we hurt other people, we realize they are being hurt; when cats play with and eat mice, the cat has no idea that the mouse is in pain. This makes people the least respectable of all species (concept from Mark Twain’s The Damned Human Race). _____ 13. If you take a person’s language and verbal skills away, you are also taking a person’s thoughts and ideas away.

_____ 14. That the dictionary has continued to expand is a good thing. _____ 15. We will always clash with the Middle East; Islam does not mesh with democracy. _____ 16. Our society needs as many laws as possible—or as necessary. _____ 17. We are trustworthy people in the United States. _____ 18. Searches at airports are getting ridiculously strict. _____ 19. If you are doing nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide—so any access to your personal information is fine with you. _____ 20. Elite, rich people should be in charge of our country. _____ 21. A rise like Nazism would never happen here in the States. _____ 22. Communism is inherently evil. _____ 23. Joseph Stalin was inhuman. _____ 24. Adolf Hitler was inhuman. _____ 25. Slave owners were inhuman.