1984 ap essay prompts

by George Orwell

1984 essay questions.

Compare and contrast Julia and Winston. How does each rebel against the Party, and are these rebellions at all effective?

Trace Winston's path towards destruction. Where do we first see his fatalistic outlook? Is his defeat inevitable?

Discuss the role of technology in Oceania. In what areas is technology highly advanced, and in what areas has its progress stalled? Why?

Discuss the role of Big Brother in Oceania and in Winston's life. What role does Big Brother play in each?

Discuss contradiction in Oceania and the Party's governance, i.e. Ministry of Love, Ministry of Truth, Ministry of Plenty, Ministry of Peace. Why is such contradiction accepted so widely?

Discuss and analyze the role O'Brien plays in Winston's life. Why is he such a revered and respected character, even during Winston's time in the Ministry of Love?

Discuss the symbolic importance of the prole woman singing in the yard behind Mr. Charrington's apartment. What does she represent for Winston, and what does she represent for Julia?

1984 is a presentation of Orwell's definition of dystopia and was meant as a warning to those of the modern era. What specifically is Orwell warning us against, and how does he achieve this?

Analyze the interactions between Winston and the old man in the pub, Syme, and Mr. Charrington. How do Winston's interactions with these individuals guide him towards his ultimate arrest?

Analyze the Party's level of power over its citizens, specifically through the lens of psychological manipulation. Name the tools the Party uses to maintain this control and discuss their effectiveness.

Outline the social hierarchy of Oceania. How does this hierarchy support the Party and its goals?

GradeSaver will pay $15 for your literature essays

1984 Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for 1984 is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Describe O’Briens apartment and lifestyle. How do they differ from Winston’s?

From the text:

It was only on very rare occasions that one saw inside the dwelling-places of the Inner Party, or even penetrated into the quarter of the town where they lived. The whole atmosphere of the huge block of flats, the richness and...

What was the result of Washington exam

Sorry, I'm not sure what you are asking here.

how is one put into the inner or outer party in the book 1984

The Outer Party is a huge government bureaucracy. They hold positions of trust but are largely responsible for keeping the totalitarian structure of Big Brother functional. The Outer Party numbers around 18 to 19 percent of the population and the...

Study Guide for 1984

1984 study guide contains a biography of George Orwell, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

1984 Summary
Character List

Essays for 1984

1984 essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of 1984 by George Orwell.

The Reflection of George Orwell
Totalitarian Collectivism in 1984, or, Big Brother Loves You
Sex as Rebellion
Class Ties: The Dealings of Human Nature Depicted through Social Classes in 1984
1984: The Ultimate Parody of the Utopian World

Lesson Plan for 1984

About the Author
Study Objectives
Common Core Standards
Introduction to 1984
Relationship to Other Books
Bringing in Technology
Notes to the Teacher
Related Links
1984 Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for 1984

Introduction
Writing and publication

Iliana Gutierrez's AP Lit Comp Blog

Sunday, april 7, 2013, essay prompts for 1984, no comments:, post a comment.

To Read, or Not to Read

A review of classic novels from high school, 1984: a practical read.

Orwell’s novel tells the story of a man named Winston Smith who lives in a totalitarian society that essentially oppresses the people by invading the privacy and controlling the minds of each individual. The government, symbolized by “Big Brother,” spies on the people and forbids them from having independent thoughts. Although Winston originally supports the government, he eventually joins in underground resistance called the Brotherhood to overthrow Big Brother.

Through this novel, Orwell was seeking to demonstrate to the readers the risk of a society that gives up freedoms and rights to privacy, which historically have been for the “greater good” of the country at the time but, in reality, lead to dangerous totalitarian forms of government. The author conveyed through his novel that such a dystopian society was possible through the rise of communism, and he aimed for readers to become more aware of these dangers.

Many of you who have taken AP Lang are familiar with the prompts that conclude with, “Use appropriate examples from your reading, experiences, or observations to support your argument.” By reading this book throughout the month of March, my teacher wanted us students to have the book fresh in our minds for us to use as a potential example for our argumentative essays. After teaching the AP course for several years, this was the first year he tried having students read a novel as a part of the course in an effort to try to further improve AP exam scores.

Similar to most students, I personally found this novel incredibly useful because I found ways to relate it to pretty much every prompt I was given. Having a deep understanding of a renowned novel proved to be handy when it came to writing a detailed paragraph that served to defend, challenge, or qualify a specific essay prompt, as opposed to the common teaching practice of quickly cramming several books throughout a course, for which reason the storylines become easily forgettable. I enjoyed reading 1984 because the assignments were much more low-key and relaxed, and I think that aspect of the way the book was assigned corresponded to a further understanding of the novel.

Overall, I strongly believe that 1984 proved to be a beneficial book to read, as it accomplished the educational goal of gaining a deep understanding of the novel and the author’s goals of demonstrating how mass surveillance and full government control affects a society. The book was enjoyable to read, as well, as the plot was thrilling to follow along with. I rate the novel as a 10/10, for it was definitely worth the read. 🙂

4 thoughts on “ 1984: A Practical Read ”

Yasmin, interesting comments! I’ve never read this book, but I’m definitely a fan of George Orwell. Upon reading your summary, I was struck by how similar this is to his other novel, Animal Farm, where the animals rebel against the tyrannical human farmers, and begin their own communist society. Though it models the Russian revolution more than a dystopian society, many of the ideas from 1984 are recurring. This book also reminds me of A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen, because of the theme of the importance of independent thought. In A Doll House, Nora, the main character, lives dancing to the tunes of her husband, and she cares about superficial things like money. Towards the end, she finally realizes she has rendered her mind a slave, and she has a duty to herself to find herself as a human with independent thought. Anyway, cool, maybe I’ll read 1984 sometime!

I would like to start off by saying that I have never read this novel before, but your paragraph summary of the plotline of the novel, itself, has intrigued me to the point where I want to read this book in the near future. Dystopian society books are definitely my favorite reads, and I can easily see how they are relatable to almost all AP English prompts we were given. The plotline seems very similar to a Brave New World type of book or Fareignheight 451 (both of which I read and loved, so I am sure I will like this too). I love the fact that you mentioned how you included this book in our Schreyer essay of doing the wrong thing for the right reasons because I never would have considered an example like this to fit under that essay prompt, but now that you have explained it, I see just how perfectly fitting it is! My essay for this Schreyer question focused more on individual, smaller actions, but I think your “bigger picture” choice is so intriguing (and obviously office of admissions thought so too! lol).

To begin, I think you did a great job of explaining the plot without ruining any plot lines all while still being able to grab a readers attention! As you can tell, I have read “1984” before too for my Honors English class my senior year of high school. Although, I would disagree with giving the book A 10/10 because I believed the plot line to be a little slow and rather boring at times. With that said, I do agree that at certain points in the book, I wasn’t able to put it down but it definitely had some dry parts. I do agree that “1984” is able to connect with a lot of essay prompts; I have used it in plenty of my essays in the last few years because it is easy to compare the novel to a literary topic that English teachers will eat right up! I also think it is really interesting how you included the book in your Schreyer’s essay, and look where you are now! I would recommend the book as well because I think it is just one of those books you have to read in your lifetime

I also read 1984 through my 11th grade English class. I agree entirely with your 10/10 rating. 1984 is one of my favorite books. I think it should be read by all at some point, as it shows the dangers of trading privacy for the illusion of “security” in an era where our government is using the ever-present threat of terrorism to convince the masses to give up their freedoms and liberties for the “greater good.” You mention that this book was easy to reference in many essays which I entirely agree with. I also would argue that the book can also serve as a reference for many aspects of life, whether it be public policy decisions or a better understanding of the significance of people paying hundreds of dollars to carry around a device that has cameras, microphones, GPS tracking, into which they can type every personal thought and communication.

1984 essay prompts

All formats, resource types, all resource types.

Rating Count
Price (Ascending)
Price (Descending)
Most Recent

1984 Goldstein's Book Differentiated Activities, Presentation, and Essay Prompts

1984 | Orwell | Q3 Essay Prompts AP Lit Open Ended Literary Response

1984 Critical Thinking Questions and Essay Prompt

Word Document File

1984 Study Questions & Essay Prompts (review, test, lecture) Google Docs

Google Docs™

7 Excellent Essay Prompts for Orwell's 1984

1984 Study Questions & Essay Prompts (review, test, lecture) On Word (DOCX)

English George Orwell 1984 Socratic Seminar, Essay Prompt and Teacher Resource

Orwell's 1984 Section 1 Objective Test and Essay Prompt with Key

Easel Activity

1984 Unit Packet - Study guide, workshops, vocab, essay prompts w/KEY

Orwell's 1984 Book 3 Three Essay Prompts

1984 Writing/ Essay Prompts

1984 Unit Packet - Study guide, workshops, vocab, essay prompts , w/KEY

1984 Compare OR Contrast Essay Prompt

Google Slides™

Orwell's 1984 Goldstein's Book Essay Prompts

1984 Literary Analysis Essay Prompts

Essay Options for 1984 Writing Prompts

1984 Essay Prompts

1984 Novel, by George Orwell - Essay Prompt

1984 40 point essay prompts

1984 Essay Prompt (Summer Reading)

Four Essay Prompts for 1984 with Rubric

1984 Essay Prompts and Rubric

1984 Writing Prompts (In-Class Essay or Final Paper), High School ELA

1984 Book I Reading Questions + Essay Prompt

We're hiring
Help & FAQ
Privacy policy
Student privacy
Terms of service
Tell us what you think

Finished Papers

Well-planned online essay writing assistance by PenMyPaper

Writing my essays has long been a part and parcel of our lives but as we grow older, we enter the stage of drawing critical analysis of the subjects in the writings. This requires a lot of hard work, which includes extensive research to be done before you start drafting. But most of the students, nowadays, are already overburdened with academics and some of them also work part-time jobs. In such a scenario, it becomes impossible to write all the drafts on your own. The writing service by the experts of PenMyPaper can be your rescuer amidst such a situation. We will write my essay for me with ease. You need not face the trouble to write alone, rather leave it to the experts and they will do all that is required to write your essays. You will just have to sit back and relax. We are offering you unmatched service for drafting various kinds for my essays, everything on an online basis to write with. You will not even have to visit anywhere to order. Just a click and you can get the best writing service from us.

Customer Reviews

Earl M. Kinkade

Our Listings
Our Rentals
Testimonials
Tenant Portal

1035 Natoma Street, San Francisco

This exquisite Edwardian single-family house has a 1344 Sqft main…

Orders of are accepted for more complex assignment types only (e.g. Dissertation, Thesis, Term paper, etc.). Special conditions are applied to such orders. That is why please kindly choose a proper type of your assignment.

Eloise Braun