Category: Book Club

Winston's neighbor is married to one of his fellow–employees, Parsons, who is " …employed in some subordinate post for which intelligence was not required…."

What does "subordinate" mean?

"Doublethink" requires one "to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them…."

What does"simultaneously"mean?

While eating lunch in the canteen, Winston is approached by a man named Syme. What project is Syme working on?

Please enter the first three words of a sentence that shows your answers is correct.

What is the main idea of this chapter?

Were there any words that you did not know?
You can always list them here.

What do you think will happen in the next chapter?
(This is just a spot for you to jot some notes for yourself.)

Were there any words that you did not know?
You can always list them here.

What do you think will happen in the next chapter?
(This is just a spot for you to jot some notes for yourself.)

Winston is impressed by the way the woman in the courtyard sings: "It struck him as a curious fact that he had never heard a member of the Party singing alone and spontaneously."

What does"spontaneously"mean?

What is the main idea of this chapter?

Preparations for Hate Week are in full swing and the staffs of all the Ministries are working overtime: ". . .stands had to be erected, effigies built, slogans coined, songs written, rumours circulated, photographs faked."

What does"circulated"mean?

A new war poster has appeared all over London, showing a frightening image of a soldier with a submachine gun. "The proles, normally apathetic about the war, were being lashed into one of their periodical frenzies of patriotism."

What does"apathetic"mean?

Winston's physical, emotional and psychological health has improved since he and Julia began meeting in the secret room: "The process of life had ceased to be intolerable, he had no longer any impulse to make faces at the telescreen or shout curses at the top of his voice."

What does"intolerable"mean?

Julia is younger than Winston, and this makes a difference between them. Unlike Winston, "She had grown up since the Revolution and was too young to remember the ideological battles of the fifties and sixties."

What does"ideological"mean?

Winston observed that "In some ways [Julia]was far more acute than Winston, and far less susceptible to Party propaganda."

What does"susceptible"mean?

Another difference between Winston and Julia was that "In the ramifications of party doctrine she had not the faintest interest."

What does"ramifications"mean?

Often when Winston tries to discuss Ingsoc or begins to use Newspeak words, Julia displays a behavior that he finds unsettling. What does she do?

Were there any words that you did not know?
You can always list them here.

Were there any words that you did not know?
You can always list them here.

What do you think will happen in the next chapter?
(This is just a spot for you to jot some notes for yourself.)

Explaining the differences between proles and members of the Party, the book explains: "[Proles] can be granted intellectual liberty because they have no intellect. In a Party member, on the other hand, not even the smallest deviation of opinion on the most unimportant subject can be tolerated." What does "deviation"mean?