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Part 1 – Chapter 1

What is the main idea of this chapter?

On every landing in the stairwell of Winston Smith's building, there is a large poster of Big Brother: "It depicted simply an enormous face, more than a metre wide: the face of a man of about forty–five, with a heavy black moustache and ruggedly handsome features."

What does"features"mean?

Inside Winston's apartment is a telescreen, which he can dim but never turn off. "The telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously. Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it, moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard."

What does"simultaneously"mean?

There are four government Ministries, "…between which the entire apparatus of government was divided. The Ministry of Truth, which concerned itself with news, entertainment, education, and the fine arts. The Ministry of Peace, which concerned itself with war. The Ministry of Love, which maintained law and order. And the Ministry of Plenty, which was responsible for economic affairs."

What does"apparatus"mean?

Which Ministry does Winston think is the really frightening one?

Winston sets his features "into the expression of quiet optimism" when facing the telescreen. What does "optimism"mean?

Winston decided to begin a diary on this particular day because of an incident with O'Brien, which "happened that morning at the Ministry, if anything so nebulous could be said to happen."

What does"nebulous"mean?

The principal figure in the daily Two Minutes Hate is Emmanuel Goldstein, the Enemy of the People. "He was the primal traitor, the earliest defiler of the Party's purity. All subsequent crimes against the Party, all treacheries, acts of sabotage, heresies, deviations, sprang directly out of his teaching."

What does"subsequent"mean?

After Winston writes DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER several times in his diary, he begins to feel panic and considers tearing out those pages. "He did not do so, however, because he knew that it was useless. Whether he wrote DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER, or whether he refrained from writing it, made no difference."

What does"refrained"mean?

Winston knows he has committed "the essential crime that contained all others in itself". What crime is he referring to?

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Question #3

Winston wakes from a dream, which takes place in a pasture. "The landscape that he was looking at recurred so often in his dreams that he was never fully certain whether or not he had seen it in the real world."

What does"recurred"mean?





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Feedback

You made it to the end! Here is your feedback for "Part I Chapter 4"

Think about what strategies worked (and didn't work) for you this time. How can you do well next time?

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Question #6

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.)

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Question #4

At the antiques shop, Winston buys a glass paperweight with a piece of coral in the center. "There was a peculiar softness, as of rainwater, in both the colour and the texture of the glass."

What does"texture"mean?





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Question #3

Winston worries about what the girl with think of him. Now that they are alone together, "… the sense of his own inferiority was heavy upon him."

What does"inferiority"mean?





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Question #8

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?





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

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Question #4

Winston remembers that is mother "…did everything that was needed —— cooked, washed, mended, made the bed, swept the floor, dusted the mantelpiece —— always very slowly and with a curious lack of superfluous motion, like an artist's lay–figure moving of its own accord."

What does"superfluous"mean?