A blog to help secondary school students improve English. You can find mind maps, worksheets, videos and songs as well as some of the project works and activities done by the students.
Hello! My name's Liliana. I'm a teacher of English (Language and Literature) to Italian teenage stu
Why do people have hobbies? What is your hobby? Do you spend money
on your hobby? When did you start it? When do you
practice it? How many hours a week do you spend on your hobby?
What do you like
most about your hobby?
What don’t you like about it? Does your hobby interfere with your work/study/personal life?
Do you know anyone who has your own hobby? Do you know anyone who has no hobby?
Which hobbies are the most popular
with girls in your country? With boys? Are there any
hobbies you would like to try?
Would you rather take a magic
pill every day to never feel sad or angry, or feel real sadness when bad
things happen?
Would you rather have a mother
and father who love you best of all, or live in a world where nobody has
parents and everyone belongs to everyone?
Would you rather be made by
scientists to love a simple job from the day you are born, or have the
freedom to pick any job you want, even if you fail?
Would you rather watch loud,
exciting movies and play group games all day long, or sit quietly alone in
a room to think big thoughts?
Would you rather forget all old
history and old sad books so you can live an easy life today, or remember
history with all its wars and pain?
Happiness vs. Freedom
Would you be willing to take a daily pill that eliminates all sadness, anxiety, or pain, knowing that in return you would lose the ability to feel deep emotions?
If you could live in a perfect world with no war, poverty, or disease, would you accept a government that decides every single aspect of your life (job, relationships, thoughts)?
Can true happiness even exist if we don't know what suffering is?
Science, Technology, & Control
To what extent is it right to use genetic engineering and technology to create the "perfect" human being or the "ideal" citizen?
If technology could instantly satisfy your every material desire, would you truly be free, or would you just be a controlled consumer?
What value do art, literature, or history have in a society that lives exclusively in the present and in pure comfort?
Identity & Human Relationships
In a world where concepts like "mother," "father," and "family" are considered vulgar and illegal insults, how would our understanding of love and human connection change?
Is it better to belong to a community where everyone thinks exactly the same way to guarantee peace, or to risk chaos to defend individual identity?
If your entire personality and career path were decided in a lab before you were even born, would you still try to rebel?
BRAVE
NEW WORLD
The
novel opens in the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre, in the
years A.F., or After Ford. Ford is the God-surrogate that many citizens of the
World State believe is also Freud, the famous psychologist.
The Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning is leading a tour group of young
students around a lab. He explains the scientific process by which human beings
are fertilized and custom-made, and shows them the Social Predestination room,
where workers create the social castes. They pass onto the conditioning rooms,
where they reinforce the caste divisions by sleep-teaching.
The psychological conditioning process must ensure that people will like their condition, their social destiny.
Lenina Crowne is a Beta girl. She's been dating regularly with Henry Foster despite the government ban on long-term sexual relationships. To avoid trouble, Lenina agrees to go on a trip with Bernard Marx. They'll visit The
Savage Reservation, in New Mexico, where people can live according to the old lifestyle- in other words, they can have the signs of age, they can get married, they can experience feelings like love and they can have children without using any scientific process.
Before leaving, Lenina
and Bernard go on a date. He tries to show her the ocean, and to express some
of his subversive views to her, but she cries. She convinces him to take soma,
and they go back to his rooms and have sex. The next day, when Lenina asks him
if he had fun, Bernard is pained at the way she seems to degrade herself.
Bernard
triumphantly presents Linda and John, the Director's lost woman and
illegitimate son.
Lenina
is interested in The Savage, and so she takes him out, and much to her chagrin,
they do not have sex. The shame of being a “father”—the very word makes the onlookers laugh nervously—causes the Director to resign, leaving Bernard free to remain in London. John becomes very popular in London because of his strange life led on the Reservation. But while touring the factories and schools of the World State, John becomes increasingly disattisfied with the society that he see.
The
Savage refuses to appear at an assembly. This shatters Bernard's reputation.
Lenina is absent-minded, thinking about the Savage. He tells her he loves her
and she undresses. Disgusted by the sexual degradation of the society, he
violently rejects her.
The
Savage is in the Hospital for the Dying to visit his mother, Linda, who has been on permanent soma-holiday. He hears the
low-caste workers and several children talking badly about her and has a
violent reaction. Suddenly, Linda wakes, recognizes him, and dies. He attempts
to destroy a large supply of soma, causing a riot, and the police take him
away, along with Bernard and Helmholtz.
The
three meet with Mustapha Mond. Mustapha Mond and the Savage speak of religion.
Mond says that there is a choice between machinery, scientific medicine, and
universal happiness-- or God.
The
Savage flees, planning to become independent. He repents by whipping himself.
One day a photographer makes a popular film about The Savage. The Savage
becomes a celebrity. There is a huge riot which turns into an orgy. The next
morning, reporters find that the Savage has hung himself
How are children created and classified in the World State?
Children are not born naturally; they are decanted in hatcheries using the Bokanovskification process (cloning and splitting human embryos). They are chemically and psychologically conditioned and classified into rigid castes: Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons, ranging from intellectual leaders to manual laborers.
Why does Bernard Marx feel out of place among Alpha-Pluses?
Despite being an Alpha-Plus, Bernard is physically shorter and stunted compared to his peers, which rumors attribute to an accidental drop of alcohol into his blood surrogate during conditioning. This breeds deep insecurity, critical independent thought, and social alienation.
How did John’s mother, Linda, end up living on the Savage Reservation?
Linda visited the reservation decades earlier with the Director (Thomas). She fell into a ravine, was abandoned, and because she was pregnant, could not return to the World State due to the intense social stigma and taboo of natural motherhood.
Why does Bernard bring John and Linda back to London?
Bernard uses them as leverage to save himself from exile. By exposing the Director as a biological father, Bernard publicly shames him and secures his own social protection and popularity.
What goes wrong when Lenina tries to pursue a relationship with John?
A cultural clash occurs: Lenina expects casual, recreational intimacy dictated by World State conditioning, whereas John views her through the lens of Shakespearean romance, purity, and chastity. When John rejects her advances violently and calls her names, Lenina is utterly confused and horrified.
What causes John to start a riot at the hospital?
The death of his mother, Linda, in a drug-induced soma sleep. Distraught by the mindless conditioning of dying children, John tries to throw away their daily soma rations to free them, triggering a violent public riot.
How does Mustapha Mond explain the ban on art and religion to John?
Mond argues that stability and universal happiness require the elimination of high art, science, and religion. True art and deep spiritual faith depend on suffering, conflict, and passion—things the World State sacrifices to maintain total social order.
How does John's story end after he flees to the lighthouse?
Seeking solitude, John retreats to an abandoned lighthouse to purify himself. However, curious tourists and media helicopters track him down, turning his self-flagellation into a spectator sport. Overwhelmed by guilt, shame, and harassment, John ultimately hangs himself.
Part 2: Task-Based Activities & Classroom Exercises
1. Reading & Critical Analysis Task: The Two Worlds
Activity: Compare the World State and the Savage Reservation using a comparative mindset.
Discussion Prompts:
Which society values individual freedom more, and what are the heavy costs of that freedom?
How does Huxley use Shakespeare as a bridge between these two cultures?
2. Creative Writing Exercise: The Lost Diary Entry
Prompt: Put yourself in the shoes of Lenina Crowne the evening after her disastrous encounter with John. Write a 200-word diary entry expressing her confusion, her lack of comprehension regarding John's "primitive" ideas of love, and her reliance on soma to cope with emotional distress.
3. Listening & Speaking Debate Task: Happiness vs. Truth
The Scenario: Divide the classroom into two groups:
Team A (The World State Advocates): Argue that a society free of pain, disease, and sorrow (at the expense of art and truth) is morally superior.
Team B (The Savage Advocates): Argue that human dignity requires experiencing real suffering, authentic emotion, and freedom of choice. (by A.I.)
About one month ago, one of my English colleagues, the English conversation teacher and I had students from two classes, (one from Liceo Linguistico and one from Liceo Scientifico) do an English activity, whose inspiration was taken from an Italian TV programme, " Per un pugno di libri".
The activity came from the idea of a possible activity that students from two different classes could do together (Parallel Class).
So the students were divided into two groups and were asked to stand into two rows. They created two "queues". Each student had to answer a question or translate a sentence and if he/she failed he/she was out, while if the answer was right (from the grammar point of view and from the point of view of coherence) he/she went back behind the row related to his/her group.
The group having the last student left won the game. These are the questions we asked for:
How often a month do you eat out?
What’s the past participle of the verb sleep?
How do you call the people who sit and watch a performance at a theatre or a cinema?
Where do young people in this town usually spend their free time?
Translate: Dov’è tuo fratello? E’ andato nel parco a giocare a calcio
What’s the past simple of the verb ride?
What’s the word used to refer to the raised area in a theatre where actors perform?
Translate: Vorrei che tu mi accompagnassi alla stazione dei bus
What’s the past participle of the verb think?
Qual è il significato della frase What do you look like?
Which month and day were you born?
What’s the name of the British Prime Minister?
What are you going to do tomorrow afternoon?
Could you speak English when you were three?
What is Promessi Sposi about?
Translate: Stavo guardando la TV quando il telefono squillò
What’s the past participle of the verb learn?
Qual è il significato della frase What’s the matter with you?
Translate. Ho fame, ora mi preparo un panino
What’s the past simple of the verb bring?
What is a traditional breakfast in your country?
How do you call the words of a song?
Translate: smetti di guardare la TV. La guardi da tre ore
What’s the name of a person whose job is to find talented musicians and singers?
Translate: Ho appena perso il treno. Devo prendere il prossimo
What’s the verb meaning “prendersi cura”?
Which countries make up Great Britain?
Monday, April 16, 2018
Some of the mind maps made by the students in the third class about the effects of drugs and alcohol
Doublethink is the
act of accepting two contradictory beliefs as correct. Doublethink
is due to a lack of cognitive dissonance—thus the person is completely
unaware of any conflict or contradiction.According toGeorge Orwell, doublethink is:
“…..to believe that democracy was impossible and that the Party was the
guardian of democracy, to forget whatever it was necessary to forget, then to
draw it back into memory again at the moment when it was needed, and then
promptly to forget it again….”
Ministry of Love (Newspeak: Miniluv) It enforces loyalty to Big Brother through fear, and repression,
as well as systematic brainwashing. Referred to as "the place where there is
no darkness", its interior lights are never turned off. It is arguably the
most powerful ministry, controlling the will of the population.
Ministry of Peace (Newspeak: Minipax) serves as the war
ministry of Oceania's government, and is in charge of the armed forces, mostly the navy and army. The Ministry of Peace
may be the most vital force of Oceania, as the nation is at war continuously
with either Eurasia or Eastasia and requires just the right force in order not
to win the war, but to keep it in a
state of equilibrium.
Ministry of Truth (Newspeak: Minitrue) is the ministry of
propaganda. In reality
it serves the opposite: it is responsible for any necessary falsification of
historical events.
NewspeakThe
official language of Oceania and the new language of the Party, devised to meet
the ideological needs of Ingsoc (English Socialism). The goal of Newspeak is to
reduce the English language to the fewest words possible blackwhite– to believe that black is white,
to know that black is white, and to forget that one has ever believed the
contrary , doublethink -the act of simultaneously accepting two
mutually contradictory beliefs as correct, unperson -someone of whom, after
his or her execution, any evidence that he or she ever existed was erased, free – meaning negative freedom (without) in a physical
sense, only in statements like "This dog is free from lice", as the
concepts of "political freedom" and "intellectual freedom"
do not exist in Newspeak.
“Un-“ is a Newspeak prefix used for
negation. It is used as a prefix to make the word negative,
since there are no antonyms in Newspeak. Therefore, for
example, warm becomes uncold. On the other hand,
the Party controls one’s ability to think negatively byallowing only the positive term preceded by “un-“.
For example, the concept of “bad” can be expressed only with ungood.
Party Slogans
Examples include: “War is Peace”; “Freedom is Slavery”; “Ignorance is Strength.”
War is peace: nobody questions the Party while at war. People are
focused on war and they have no energy and no time to fight against the systemor be aware of internal problems. It
brings people together. Ignorance is strength: if people remain
ignorant, they will not question the Party. If they can’t recognize the
negative aspects of the system, the Party will be stronger and stronger. Freedom is slavery: if people are free to think for
themselves, do things and express ideas, they may realize and oppose the
contradictions. So everybody is made weak. They may become slaves to their own
ideas and not be strong under one idea from the Party. As a result, they
are brought to think that freedom is indeed enslavement.
Telescreen
An oblong metal plaque
that looks like a dulled mirror and acts like a television, a camera, and a
listening device for the Inner Party and Thought Police. There is no way to
shut it off completely, and it keeps tabs on all Party members.
Thought
Police
It is used by the Inner Party that seeks out those against
the System, searching out anyone with even the smallest thoughts against the
Party or Big Brother. Their powers of observation force everyone to live as
though they are always being watched or listened to.
Thoughtcrime
Thinking against the Party, complaining about the Party, doubting Big Brother, or questioning any Party action or "fact."
Two Minutes
Hate Daily requirement for all Party members.
Organized group of members watches Party presentations on a telescreen
denouncing Goldstein and war enemies (either Eastasia or Eurasia), and
celebrating Big Brother. Causes great outbursts of hatred such as directed
screaming and violence at screen representations of the enemy. https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6hEHomT8SeTVjZxZl96WGk4aVU/edit
