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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. What is the name of O'Brien's servant, and where does Winston think he is from?

2. Julia is only a rebel __________.

3. What kind of pencil does O'Brien use?

4. What is the theme song of Hate Week?

5. How do the proles normally feel about the war?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Winston admire about his mother?

2. What is the most important theme of Nineteen Eighty-Four, and why?

3. According to O'Brien, where does reality exist?

4. When questioned by O'Brien, Winston and Julia state that they are willing to commit many crimes, including the killing of innocent people. Do you think this is justifiable, given the terrible nature of the Party?

5. How can Winston still achieve victory over the Party in Part 3, Chapter 4?

6. Describe the forced-labor camps, according to the common criminals.

7. What do Winston and Julia mean when they say "We are the dead?"

8. At the end of Part 2, Chapter 5, what does Winston realize about the Party and their orthodoxy? How does this relate to the everyday citizens of Oceania?

9. Winston tells Julia that she is "only a rebel from the waist downwards." What does he mean by this, and is it true?

10. What does Winston think O'Brien will say is the reason the Party seeks power?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One of the most important warnings in Nineteen-Eighty-Four is that the past can be erased and history can be changed. "Who controls the past, controls the future: who controls the present controls the past."

Write a short essay on a real historical event about which historians disagree. Be sure to show both sides, and in the conclusion, explain what you think really happened and why.

Essay Topic 2

Winston has a terrible fear of pain. He hates it more than anything else and is willing to do almost anything in order to avoid pain. Write an essay on pain, and Winston's experience with it. Be sure to cover:

1) How pain influences Winston throughout the book.

2) Possible reasons why Winston fears pain so much.

3) Possible ways that Winston could have controlled his fear of pain.

4) How your attitude towards pain is similar or different to that of Winston.

Essay Topic 3

Against the Party, one may feel that almost any action is acceptable, or that "the ends justify the means." Is violence an acceptable way of solving problems or achieving goals--even in combating a violent regime? Be sure to discuss:

1) Show how violence has succeeded or failed in the past.

2) Pros and cons associated with using violence.

3) Moral arguments for or against the use of violence.

4) The role of violence in the future of the world.

(see the answer keys)

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