All posts by Christopher Waugh

“Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinions of others, for those voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth.” (Katherine Mansfield)

Chapter One – Relative Clauses Exercise

As part of the development of your “Chapter One” dystopian creative writing piece, we are exploring a variety of grammatical forms that are prevalent in the genre. Today: Relative Clauses

Nineteen Eighty Four – Preparing for “Critical Response” Assessment

Guidance supporting preparation of a critical review of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four that is supported by assessment by New Zealand’s NCEA framework. NCEA English 3.1 AS91475

Literary Theories: Marxism

An introduction to Marxist criticism including a starting sample of ‘what Marxist literary critics do’

Literary Theories: Feminism

An introduction to feminist criticism including a starting sample of ‘what feminist literary critics do’

Nineteen Eighty-Four: Exploring the Text

How does Nineteen Eighty-Four help us to define the genre “Dystpian Literary Fiction”?

Nineteen Eighty-Four: How to handle a quotation

An exemplar demonstrating one way of producing the analysis required in relation to any self-selected quotation from the text.

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Nineteen Eighty-Four: An Historical Context

Fragments of historical information to put into context the social/historical norms at the time George Orwell wrote “Nineteen Eighty-Four”

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Apple: You’ll see why 1984 won’t be like “1984”

This advertisement, aired during the Super Bowl in 1984 shows Apple’s advertising agency tapping into the Cold War anxieties about totalitarianism to present it’s new computer products. How does this ad appear to us now Apple has become one of the world’s largest multinational companies?

Nineteen Eighty-Four: What to do with a quote

Exploring different approaches we can take to expand on a selected quotation.

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The Grammar of Dystopia

The Dystopia genre has its own grammar – This close reading of the opening page of Nineteen Eighty-Four offers a clear insight into the grammatical means by which George Orwell infused his futuristic vision with an eerie authenticity.