Animal Farm: GCSE AQA English Literature

Animal Farm is a modern text which appears on the AQA syllabus for English literature at GCSE level. Animal Farm is part allegory and part political satire. The topics it explores are complex, but explained with the imagery of the farm.

Course Introduction: All AQA GCSE English literature students must study one Shakespearean play, one 19th century novel, one cluster of poems from the poetry anthology and one modern text. Animal Farm by George Orwell is included in the AQA List of Modern Texts.

This modules breaks the novel, Animal Farm, into ten easily digestible sections. Brief summaries detail the events of the story from the ousting of Farmer Jones to the rise of Napoleon and the other pigs. Some animals are more equal than others.

This slide show depicts the context of Animal Farm and what inspired the novel. Born Eric Arthur Blair, George Orwell traveled extensively through Europe at a crucial period in the history of ideology. His writing reflects this.

Animal Farm is a story about politics. As such, the narrative is concerned with issues of power, social stratification, political structures, lies and propaganda. Read on here to learn more.

In Animal Farm, the horses represent the working class and the pigs, the ruling class. Napoleon, Snowball and the other pigs argue among themselves while Boxer and the horses toil and provide for the other animals.

Take this quiz to test your knowledge of George Orwell's Animal Farm. If you were an animal, which animal would your be?