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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who/what is Tillotson?

2. What is Winston's apartment called?

3. What was Rutherford's previous job?

4. What is everyone in Oceania supposed to call each other?

5. When the Thought Police secretly arrest and execute someone, most people would say that person has been _______.

Short Essay Questions

1. Look up the word "proletariat" in the dictionary. What does it mean? Why does the Party ignore the proles? Is this strange?

2. What might the woman singing in the street symbolizes?

3. Why does Winston keep thinking about O'Brien? What does O'Brien represents to Winston?

4. Describe Winston's marriage. Why did he separate from his wife?

5. "All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary." What is a palimpsest, and why do you think the author used this word?

6. How does the dark-haired girl's note affect Winston? Has it changed his outlook?

7. Look up the word "comrade" up in a dictionary. Why do you think everyone in Oceania is supposed to call each other comrade?

8. What does Part 1, Chapter 1 show the reader about the quality of Oceania's services and products?

9. The sandy-haired woman in the cubicle next to Winston spends all day deleting any record of people who have been "vaporized," even though her own husband had been killed this way. How do you think she felt when she deleted her own husband's name? Why does she continue to do this job?

10. What is unusual about Winston's telescreen, and why is it important?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Oceania has been at war ever since Winston can remember. However, the country that it has been at war with has changed, and it seems that the Party wants Oceania to constantly be at war with someone. Why would a government want to have a permanent state of war? What benefits could a government get from it? Be sure to use real-world examples to back up your arguments.

Essay Topic 2

It can be said that Winston is tragically flawed due to his continued defiance of the rules of Oceania. His actions will eventually lead to his downfall.

Think deeply about yourself and your actions. Do you know someone who has a tragic flaw, or do you yourself have one? Write an essay explaining the flaw, why you consider it to be a problem, some examples demonstrating it, and how you think you or the other person can change to fix the flaw. Remember to keep within the definition of "tragic flaw," and avoid simply writing about something that you don't like about yourself or another person.

Essay Topic 3

Love is one of the most fundamental human emotions. In Nineteen Eighty-Four, love and sexual affection are outlawed so that citizens will reserve their love for Big Brother. Write an essay explaining:

1) Why love is (or is not) important.

2) The ways that love can fundamentally change a person's life.

3) Whether or not love can really "conquer all." Examples, both literary and real, are encouraged.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,110 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample