Read the first half of the novel (chapters 1-5). What is your reaction to it so far? Explain what you like and dislike about it. What confuses you? What interests you? What characters do you like and dislike? Why?
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Responses should be at least 200 words each.
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Extra credit will be awarded if you respond to more than 5 questions.
My reaction to the novel so far is that I actually kind of like it. It gets a little confusing sometimes when the animals are all talking though. I like the setting at the farm, and the general theme of the book. I don’t really like some of the dialog, because it gets confusing, but other than that I like the novel so far. I’m confused about why the pigs have so much more power over all the other animals, and get to keep special things for themselves. I’m interested to find out what happens with the animal revolution, and if some of the characters will start to change throughout the story. So far, I like the character of Boxer, because he is a really hard worker and he hated the thought of killing a human. I actually like most of the characters. The only ones I don’t really like are the pigs. I don’t like Napoleon, because he acts like he is better than the other animals, and is given a lot more power over them. I also don’t like Snowball, because of the same reason. The pigs say that they are smarter than the other animals, and so they get special privileges like making decisions for the whole farm.
ReplyDeleteMy reaction to the book so far is that I like it. I like how it shows that in any form of government someone leads everyone else. I do not like how Napoleon had the dogs run Snowball off of the farm. I also don’t like how Napoleon said he didn’t want the windmill but then he announced he wanted it to be built. It will be interesting to see if the animals are going to be able to build the windmill within the two years. I am confused by why Mollie left the farm to live at Willingdon Farm. Boxer is likeable because even though he is not the smartest animal he always helps out wherever he can, but a negative is that he trusts the pigs too much. Snowball is a strong character because he comes up with ideas to improve the farm, and he is intelligent and also loyal to the other animals. Napoleon is one of the least likeable characters because he ran Snowball off of the farm, and he always disagreed with Snowball’s ideas but never came up with any ideas of his own. Finally, of all the animals, Squealer is one of the most obnoxious. He always talks to the other animals about how great Napoleon’s ideas are, and how he will lie to make it sound like all of the pig’s ideas are helpful and excellent for the farm.
ReplyDeleteThe beginning of this book is kind of confusing. But I like it. I get confused on which animal is talking, and even why the animals are talking? So far I like how they all work together. But I don’t understand what they don’t like about humans except that Mr. Jones made them work hard. What I liked about this book is that some of the animals do work hard, but some of them don’t. But my favorite character is Boxer because he works very hard. And his motto is, “I will work harder!” And he seems like he would be a good leader. I don’t like that Napoleon and Snowball are always disagreeing and fighting with each other. And I also don’t like Napoleon and Snowball because it seems like they think that they are better than the other animals. And I don’t like how Mollie is always sneaking off when it’s time to work but then just happens to show up when it’s time for dinner or right when all the work is done. I am interested to see what happens between the humans and the animals, and if their going to get a lot of the other animals to rebel or not.
ReplyDeleteI am actually starting to like this book. I like how the animals are determined and stand up for what they believe in. But, I don’t like how they assume all humans will be like Mr. Jones. I am confused on why the pigs are so much smarter than the others and why they are in charge of all the other animals. I don’t like their attitudes or how they think they're better than the others. I also get confused on which animal is which and who is talking. Also, why did Mollie leave and go to Willingdon Farm? I like Boxer the best because he is humble and works hard. He doesn’t seem to get into arguments and he does his share of work. He may not be the smartest, but he is always willing to do work without hesitating. I like how determined he is to get things done right and work harder. I don’t really like Napoleon. I don’t like how he thinks he is smarter and better than the others or how he ran Snowball off the farm. I also don’t like Mollie because she doesn’t do her fair share of work. I am interested to see if they build the windmill in the two years. I am also interested to see if any other animals leave the farm.
ReplyDeleteMy reaction to the book so far is I think I'm starting to like it. When I read Chapter 1, I thought it was so confusing. Now, I'm understanding it more. I like that the animals are a team, but some of them are more independent. An example is Napoleon. He ruined Snowball's drawing and was very jealous of how smart and clever he was. Napoleon, also, had those dogs run him off the farm. Napoleon is one of the many characters that I don't like. Another is Mollie. She betrayed all the animals on Animal Farm. She never did any of the work the other animals were doing. She was caught letting on of Mr. Pilkington's men rub her nose. She later ran away. A character that I do like is Boxer. He is very calm about the entire Rebellion and is a very hard worker. I don't like it when he changes his motto to "Napoleon is always right." I'm kind of confused about how those dogs learned to not like Snowball. Did Napoleon teach them to disagree and get rid of Snowball? Also, I'm confused about the sheep. Are they not very intelligent? I really like how the entire farm kept their word with Major about the Rebellion. They respected him enough to put his skull on the foot of the flagstaff and have every animal walk past the skull to show their respects. I really want to see if Snowball comes back, and I also want to see if they keep following Napoleon's orders or find out the real truth.
ReplyDeleteDuring the first half of the novel, I was a little confused because things were happening so fast, and it is hard to keep up. What I liked about it so far was that the animals fought for what they wanted and (most of them) worked as a team to get it. I disliked the fact that Old Major died, since he was such a wise/kind leader for the animals, and how Snowball and Nepolian couldn’t get along. It is understandable how they both wanted to lead the farm, but they didn’t even try to get along or discuses things through. What I didn’t understand was how most of the pigs didn’t really honor some of the Seven Commandments when, at first, all of the animals seemed too agreed to it. I was interested in the Rebellion because they were finally getting rid of their ‘master’, who had treated them so poorly by the intense labor and not giving them enough food. The two characters I like the most are the cart-horses, Clover and Boxer. I like Clover because she is a very kind and protective horse, and I like Boxer because of his steadiness of character, he is hard working, and he won’t give up.
ReplyDeleteMy reaction to the book so far is that I find it strange that animals talk to each other. Maybe that is just because fiction is hard to swallow at times. What I did like about the book, is that the author had good character development. Most of the hard working animals seemed to be content with even the little that they had. I also liked that the animals all worked together for a good cause. I was a bit confused at the fact that the animals hated the humans so much. The animals had just as much food and worked as hard as they did when the humas were running the farm. I was interested in the way the animaested in the fight scene where all the animals took their part in the rebellion. I liked the way the animals faught the armed humans with their pure strategic knowledge. I also liked it when they all honored Mayor and valued his leadership. I don't like Squealer, Napoleon, or any of the pigs. I think the Pigs are liers and are in it for the money and wealth and not for true rebellion. I do like Benjamin, Moses and Boxer because they are loyal, trustworthy and obey all orders.
ReplyDeletejoseph lea said...
ReplyDeleteMy reaction to the book so far is that I find it strange that animals talk to each other. Maybe that is just because fiction is hard to swallow at times. What I did like about the book, is that the author had good character development. Most of the hard working animals seemed to be content with even the little that they had. I also liked that the animals all worked together for a good cause. I was a bit confused at the fact that the animals hated the humans so much. The animals had just as much food and worked as hard as they did when the humans were running the farm. I was interested in the scene where the animals faught and they all took part. I liked the way the animals faught the armed humans with their pure strategic knowledge. I also liked it when they all honored Mayor and valued his leadership. I don't like Squealer, Napoleon, or any of the pigs. I think the Pigs are liers and are in it for the money and wealth and not for true rebellion. I do like Benjamin, Moses and Boxer because they are loyal, trustworthy and obey all orders.
July 23, 2012 1:43 PM
My reaction to the book so far is that I find it hard to grasp that animals are smart enough to rise up against their leaders and take over the farm. In this book I like how the animals do all the work themselves and that they don't communicate with the "outside" world. What I disliked about this book is how the pigs are "superior" over everyone else. I also didn't like that Napoleon and Snowball couldn't ever come to an agreement and that in the end they were forced to get rid of the other candidate. In the book I'm confused at how much the pigs take and keep away from the other animals and how much they lie to them. The one thing I am interested in is the way that they fight and how they are so smart in they techniques. I like how Boxer was immediately emmotional at how he hurt the stable boy which just shows me that not all animals want to kill the humans but are still against them. I really dont like Napoleon, Squealer, and the cat. I think Napoleon and Squealer and the rest of the pigs just use the animals to their own advantage. I think the cat is just a hypocrite because she says she has changed, but then will go and not do any work.
ReplyDeleteMy reaction to the book so far is that I immediately like the book. I am a big history buff and I recognize right away that the book was about socialism and the Bolshevik Revolution in Soviet Russia. I like that the book is practically the whole story of the formation of the USSR with characters as animals instead of political figures. I dislike and get confused on who the farmers are supposed to represent. Perhaps they are the monarchs of Russia or other countries surrounding it. I am interested in the historical symbolism of these characters such as Old Major representing Karl Marx (the father of socialism). I like the majority of the characters, such as Squealer, Napolean and Snowball, because they portray soviet leaders, and soviet citizens such as Boxer and Clover, at that period in history. I dislike the farmers such as Mr. Jones, Mr.Pilkington because I am confused on who they are supposed to represent.
ReplyDeleteMy reaction to the first half of this book is that the animals should be content with the farm the way that it is with the farmer running it. They probably don't know how difficult the full responsibilities of running a farm can be by themselves. They have their minds only set on tomorrow, not the distant future. I appreciate that they want to be independent, but I don't like their logic or methods in getting things done. I liked how Snowball wants to run Animalism (aka communism) the way that communism was run at first. So, at first it does run smoothly, but when Napoleon overthrows Snowball and the real Animalism sinks in with the pigs in power and superior over the other animals - we now know what is to come. Nothing really confuses me about this book so far, but what interests me is wanting to know if Snowball is going to come back and what will Napoleon do about that.
ReplyDeleteReaction: I really love this book so far. I think the farm is better off with the pigs in charge considering they can actually talk to the other animals. They do have a little too much power though, they might even turn out more mean that Jones was in the first place.
ReplyDeleteWhat I like: I like that the animals took over the farm and killed Jones. I also like how they can run the farm on their own without any help from humans.
What I don’t like: I don’t like that the pigs have so much power and I think they should do more physical work.
What confuses me: The only thing that confuses me about this book is how the animals won the Battle of cowshed. It seems like a bunch of men with guns could beat some animals.
What characters I like: I like the sheep because they are stupid and funny and I also like boxer because he is a very hard worker and he is useful in fights with the humans.
What interests me: I am very intrigued by the fact that the pigs can have so much power over the other animals. It seems that the strongest animals would have all the power but the pigs are just so smart; it doesn’t even matter what they do, the other animals always seem to listen.
I am impressed with the direction the book is taking. The conflict of the story has expertly begun to shift towards the leadership of Napoleon. The animals have given him unquestioning loyalty and he has started to abuse it like the humans who once abused them. I like the clearly defined characters and their unique role in the story. Boxer is a good example of this, demonstrating great loyalty to Napoleon, even though he fails to understand Napoleon's motives. I also am enjoying the political symbolism, as the story highlights the Bolshevik Revolution in an animal format. I do not like how the story has shown a dark theme. The animals have a relatively happy present, but they have a grim and uncertain future under the leadership of Napoleon. Nothing has confused me so far. Overall my favorite characters are Napoleon for his complex and developing character, and Boxer for the simplicity of his character.
ReplyDeleteFor the most part I am enjoying this novel. I think it is extremely weird that the animals talk, have meetings, Etc. But I like being able to see what they think, as apposed to most books where animals don’t say anything and you don’t know anything they’re thinking. I like how the majority of the animals got along! It was cool seeing them hang out and have their meetings in the barn. I think if other authors would have this much creativity, they could be very successful! A majorly confusing factor of this story would definitely be “why do the animals want to rebel?”. I don’t think animals would actually want to rebel because they are getting fed and cared for, but who knows. Even though I thought the talking animals were a little weird, I was still interested in them talking. It is very different than other average novels. I really like Old Major. He is a good example for everyone and super responsible. He’s a good role model for the other animals on the farm. There are no characters that have been mentioned so far that I don’t like. They all seem cool and like to work together.
ReplyDeleteI like this novel a lot! I really like how the animals were smart enough to take over and hold meetings in the barn. I did not like how Mr. Jones did not feed the animals enough and that he was always drunk. I am glad he was run off Animal Farm. I like how the animals got pumped up when old major said that speech. The fact that pigs are dominant confuses me. why did the author decide to chose pigs as the smartest animal? One thing I really liked is how the author mentions the puppies in the beginning like it's no big deal and you forget about them, and then they come out of no where as beast dogs with spiked collars. I don't like one bit that Napoleon ran off Snowball. Snowball's windmill idea was really smart and now Napoleon claims he likes the idea? This confuses me. I really liked Snowball and I think he was better at leading then Napoleon. I don't like Mollie because she is obsessed with herself but I really like Boxer for his good work ethic. I really hate Squealer because I imagine everything he says in a squealy voice.
ReplyDeleteI am beginning to like this novel. What I like about Animal Farm is that the animals are fighting for what they believe in, without backing down. But I dislike how the pigs are in charge and above all the other animals. I also didn't like how Snowball and Napoleon could never come to agreement. The dialogue was a little confusing. I was unsure of who was speaking at some times, and I lost track of which animal was which. My favorite character is Boxer. He's hardworking, and he always has a great spirit. Boxer seems to have a great heart, and he does his work without hesitation. But I don't like Mollie and Napoleon. Mollie doesn't work as hard as the other animals do, and she seems a little too interested in herself. Whenever the animals were working, Mollie was nowhere to be found. But eventually she would show up when all the work was finished for the day. I also didn't like Napoleon. He seemed to put the other animals down and always got away with things. I am interested to see if the animals finish building the windmill in two years and if the humans will put a stop to Animal Farm.
ReplyDeleteMy reaction to the first half of this book is that I actually am really enjoying it so far. I really like that the setting of the book and the title of the book actually make sense together, because on most books I read they don’t and that confuses me about the book, and I also liked all the hard working animals like Boxer. I did not like how the pigs were in charge though and I also didn’t like some of the dialog when the animals were speaking because at times it got way too confusing to keep up with which animal was talking when some of the times. I really like boxer in this book because he is always very hard working. I also like Benjamin because he’s very loyal and trustworthy, but I do not like Napoleon the pig or any of the other pigs at that because they all lied to the other animals and they tricked the other farm animals into thinking that the pigs were in charge when all along the pigs were never in charge or supposed to be they just tricked all the other animals into thinking they were so they would have the power.
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