1. Read some of the famous fables by the Greek writer Aesop (sixth century B.C.) and then explain the ways in which Orwell uses elements of the beast-fable in Animal Farm. Be sure to explain why, like Aesop, Orwell would employ animals to tell a story about human morality.

2. Research the Russian Revolution of 1917 and create a poster or Web page in which you connect the historical figures to their corresponding characters in Animal Farm. Be sure to explain how a certain animal’s personality suits its corresponding historical figure. (How, for example, is Napoleon like Stalin?)

3. Read Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and report on the ways that the novel’s vision of a totalitarian state resembles Napoleon’s government in Animal Farm.