comments

1 on jane kim
3 on daniel chang

Entry #5

Are there any settings in this novel which you have found to be beautiful? Or disturbing? Or memorable? Describe these settings and comment on why they were meaningful to you.

There was one setting in the novel that I found beautiful. It was the farm. I chose the farm for two reasons.

I chose the farm as a beautiful setting because of three reasons. When I think about a farm, I think of hills, dogs chasing each other, and animals. I mentioned hills because when I was young I always rolled down them and had a very nice time. I wrote dogs chasing each other because it reminds me of how happy life can be. When dogs chase each other, I always tend to think that they have no worries. The third thing I mentioned was animals. I mentioned animals because I love to play with animals. If there weren't animals in a farm I don't think it would have been as beautiful as it is.

My second and last reason I chose the farm was because it seemed peaceful. I think if I go to a farm, I forget everything that happened that day. It is just so peaceful to lie down on a hill and look at the animals. It is also just so refreshing to lie down on the hills and sleep with a weak but cool breeze. Just going to a farm is peaceful because you are away from everything else. There is nothing to bother you.

Entry #4

What is the major theme of this novel? Why is this theme important to a teenager living in 2007?

The major theme in this novel is that knowledge brings equality and control over the ignorance. Throughout the novel, the pigs who are the most intelligent, have control over other animals. Among the pigs, Napoleon was the smart leader that manipulated all the other animals with the help of Squealer. Napoleon shows this manipulation by consistently changing the seven laws to his own benefits. For example, when he starts sleeping in a bed, he changed the commandment to "All animals shall not sleep in beds with sheets." The other animals, not being able to understand any of the strange behaviors of the pigs, simply agree to Squealer, who justifies every action Napoleon makes. Therefore, knowledge bringing power to oneself is one of the major themes in the novel.


This theme is extraordinarily important and relevant to a teenager living in 2007 because this shows that having knowledge and understanding is the key to success. I mean success as in the ultimate "goal" of every human being's life. For example, one goal is money. To make money you have to be smart. The reason is because if you are smart, you will go to a good college. Then, there is a high possibility that you will get a good job. Just like this example, having a lot of knowledge leads to your goal.

Entry #3

Who are the main characters in the novel? Do you like them? Why or why not? What is special about them? What do they reveal about the universal human experience? There are four main characters in the novel. They are Snowball, Napoleon, Old Major, and Boxer.

Out of these four characters, I only like one. The one and only character I like is Boxer. Boxer was the horse whose incredible strength, dedication, and loyalty play a key role in Animal Farm. He helped build the windmill. Boxer was quick to help but stupid. He shows much devotion to Animal Farm’s ideals but lacks the ability to think about them independently. He ignorantly trusts the pigs to make all his decisions for him. Even though Boxer was a bit stupid, I liked how he kept on working hard, especially his mottoes that was “I will work harder.”

I hate the other three characters because they are like the "villains" in this novel. Out of those three, I hate Napoleon the most.

There is one reason I hate Napoleon. The reason is because of his trickery. He tricks all the other animals. First of all, he changes the seven commandments every single time for his own benefit. In the beginning, when the commandments were made, animals weren't allowed to sleep on human beds. Then later Napoleon starts sleeping in beds. He then changes the commandment to "All animals shall not sleep in beds with sheets." The second trickery he does is about the supply of food. He says that he will take care of it but the pigs and he eat it all. Napoleon gives the other animals very little food. Third and lastly, he betrays the other farm animals. When the commandments were made, there was a commandment that said “Four legs good, two legs bad.” This made all the farm animals safe, but later Napoleon became friends with humans and changed the commandment to “Four legs good, two legs better!"
Overall, I hate Napoleon because of his trickery.

There is one reason why I hate Old Major. The reason is that he gave false hope. He gave the animals hope that they would be free. He was wrong. This led the animals to misery. This made them lose trust. The reason is because of Old Major, only the pigs became treated fairly by humans. The other animals were treated the same way they were in the beginning.

I also hate Snowball because of his greed. He was like a miniature Napoleon. He tried to gain more power than Napoleon but failed. He should had controlled his greediness and stayed under Napoleon. It would have been better than being chased of Animal Farm by the dogs Napoleon raised.

These characters reveal that there are many people out in the world that are greedy, give false hope, untrustworthy, and hard working.

Entry #6

What was the reason of the rebellion? Who caused it? Do you think it was a good idea?

The reason for the rebellion was because of equality. Old Major (the boar) mentions that the animals are not treated equally. He talks about how they weren't being treated equally. Major talks about how the animals were being the slaves of the humans. He also talks about how he had a dream. He dreamed of a world without the humans. Life for the animals would have been without tyranny. The animals would be well fed, happy, and treated well. Major then starts trying to persuade them saying that four legs are good and two legs are bad. Then the animals are finally persuaded. They rebel with surprise and Mr. Jones is kicked out of the farm.

The animal that caused this rebellion was a boar. The boar's name was Old Major.

I don't think this rebellion was a good idea. The reason is because the animals weren't prepared for it. Out of all the animals, Boxer was the only one prepared. The animals were just like African colonies. They couldn't think for themselves. They always listened to the pigs.

Entry #2

Please choose one passage from the novel that is significant to you. Why is this passage meaningful? Please type it into one of your entries and comment on what you think about the passage.

“ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL. BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.” Page 81
When I first read this quote, I was surprised at how strong and powerful it was. I just kept on repeating the quote in my head. This was the first quote that made me want feel really impressed at the writer. This quote was meaningful to me because it talks about equality. I was always curious why people don't treat other ethnics equally. This quote explains why. Different ethnics believe that other ethnics are not as equal as them.

This quote was meaningful in the book for one reason. The reason is because this quote was one of the seven commandments, initially being “ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL.” The pigs have added a detail to this commandment to justify their actions of the following: pigs carrying whips, pigs installing a telephone, pigs wearing clothes, and pigs standing with two feet. There was a sudden change in the book after this. The animals' hope was to become equal with the human beings. But after this quote you can tell what is going to happen after the pigs start editing the seven commandments. The pigs would be the only ones that are equal with the humans. When I first read this quote, I felt really sorry for the other animals. The reason was because some animals being more “equal” means that some animals are more important than other animals. This breaks the law of equality. This quote, therefore, tells me that equality was not achieved at the end even through the hard labors and rebellion against human beings.

Entry #1

What is the climax of this novel? What happens? How do the events of this novel make you feel?

The climax of this novel is when Napoleon kicks Snowball off the farm with his the dogs that he raised and declares that the power to make decisions for the farm will be made by the pigs only. Napoleon kicked Snowball off the farm because Napoleon feared that Snowball will become the leader instead of him.

Throughout the events in the novel, I felt special, annoyed, and confused

The event from this novel that made me feel very special was when the pigs mistreat other animals. This part of the novel indirectly talks about racism. This is a topic that I am really interested and wish it would stop. One example is that the pigs are like white people while the other animals are black. This may be changed though. It depends on where you live. For example, if a white is living in a black society, the blacks would be the pigs. I felt special throughout this part of the novel because no one is really racist in our school.

The event in the novel that made me feel annoyed was when the windmill, that the animals were making, is always broken down by something. The part of this event made me annoyed because the animals were working really hard to fix it but it was broken down again.

The selfishness of the pigs also made me annoyed. I can't believe how someone can be so unfair. I also learned, after reading the book, that the pigs were imitations of actual people living during the Russian Revolution.

The event in the novel that made me confused was the conclusion. I didn't understand the conclusion. It said that the animals couldn't tell the difference between the pigs and the people. Is this talking about the phisical appearance or mental appearance? For example, is this talking about how the pigs dressed up as human beings so it was hard to tell the difference or the pigs act like human beings so they can't tell the difference.