Animal Farm Study Guide Flashcards

Vocabulary terms, literary devices, and character allegories based on the Animal Farm study guide.

Novella

A short novel.

Allegory

An extended metaphor; a story within a story that often ends with a moral, life lesson, or universal message.

Satire

The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize the flaws, corruption, or foolishness of individuals, institutions, or society.

Narrative Perspective

The lens or vantage point through which a story's events, characters, and settings are filtered and relayed to the reader.

Author's Purpose

The main reason or goal an author has for writing a specific text, such as to educate, to inform, to entertain, or to persuade.

1st Person Point of View

A storytelling style where 'I tell my own story' using pronouns like I, me, and my.

3rd Person Limited Point of View

A storytelling style where an outside narrator tells the story using pronouns like 'he,' 'she,' and 'they,' but stays restricted to the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of only one character at a time.

3rd Person Omniscient Point of View

An all-knowing and all-seeing narrative style where an external narrator tells the story using pronouns like 'he,' 'she,' and 'they.'

External Conflict

A struggle where a main character struggles with an outside force, such as man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. society, or man vs. technology.

Internal Conflict

A struggle within a character, defined as man vs. self.

Irony

A sharp contrast between expectation and reality, or between what is said and what is truly meant.

Situational Irony

A type of irony where you expect one thing and get another.

Verbal Irony

A type of irony where you say one thing and mean another, such as sarcasm.

Dramatic Irony

A type of irony where the audience knows more about a character or characters than the character does.

Mr. Jones (Allegorical Role)

Mean, lazy owner of Manor Farm who represents Tsar Nicholas II (Czar Nicholas II), an overthrown, neglectful ruler whose poor management triggers the rebellion.

Old Major (Allegorical Role)

Wise old pig who invents the philosophy of freedom and Animalism; represents Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin.

Napoleon (Allegorical Role)

Big, cruel pig who uses brute force, propaganda, and fear to seize total control; represents Joseph Stalin.

Snowball (Allegorical Role)

Smart pig and brilliant military thinker who wants to modernize the farm with the windmill but is violently chased away; represents Leon Trotsky.

Squealer (Allegorical Role)

Small pig who tricks others with lies, manipulates statistics, and alters history; represents Vyacheslav Molotov and the State Media propaganda machine.

Minimus

The pig who writes poems and songs for Napoleon.

Boxer (Allegorical Role)

Strong, hard-working carthorse who works with absolute loyalty ('I will work harder') until being sold by his leaders; represents the Soviet Working Class.

Clover (Allegorical Role)

Kind, motherly horse who notices rules changing but lacks the education or voice to stop tyranny; represents the observant but helpless ordinary citizens.

Benjamin (Allegorical Role)

Old, wise donkey who knows things will never improve and stays quiet; represents cynical intellectuals.

Mollie (Allegorical Role)

Vain horse who loves ribbons and human treats and flees the farm; represents the Russian Bourgeoisie / Upper Class.

Moses (Allegorical Role)

Tame raven who calms working animals with stories of a blissful afterlife ('Sugarcandy Mountain'); represents organized religion and the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Dogs (Allegorical Role)

Fierce animals taken as puppies and trained by Napoleon to act as violent bodyguards; represent the NKVD / Stalin's Secret Police.

The Sheep (Allegorical Role)

Unthinking animals that drown out logical debate by mindlessly chanting slogans like 'Four legs good, two legs bad'; represent the brainwashed masses.

Mr. Pilkington (Allegorical Role)

Easy-going owner of Foxwood farm; represents the United Kingdom and Western Allies.

Mr. Frederick (Allegorical Role)

Tough owner of Pinchfield farm who enters a fragile pact with Napoleon but betrays and attacks the farm; represents Adolf Hitler / Nazi Germany.

Mr. Whymper (Allegorical Role)

Opportunistic trader who bridges the gap between the animal state and human society to make a profit; represents Western Capitalists.