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Propaganda and language

GCSE · English Literature · AQA · P2.A.AT*Animal Farm* (Orwell) — totalitarianism, propaganda, corruption of revolution; Boxer, Snowball, Napoleon; the Russian Revolution allegory

Question

How does Orwell present propaganda in Animal Farm? Use Squealer as a starting point. (30 marks)

Mark scheme guidance:

  • Squealer's techniques: appeal to fear ("Jones will come back"); false statistics; revision of history ("surely you do not remember correctly"); the sheep as a chorus of slogans.
  • The rewriting of the Commandments — one of literature's most precise accounts of how language is manipulated.
  • "Some animals are more equal than others" — the grammatical absurdity makes the corruption visible.
  • The animals' limited memory exploited by Squealer — manipulation of historical record.
  • Context: Soviet propaganda (Pravda); Orwell's Politics and the English Language (1946) — "the great enemy of clear language is insincerity".
  • Top answers: argue Squealer is the novel's most chilling character because he shows how language enables oppression.

30 marks · take your time before peeking.

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Generated by TopMyGrade AI · cross-check official sources before relying on the mark-scheme phrasing.