1984

Chapter Six: Worksheet

Exercise A

Tick the events and ideas that occur in this chapter

1. Winston has a conversation with a prole in a pub. __________

2. Winston writes in his diary about an intimate encounter. __________
3. We learn the extent to which the party is trying to kill human instinct. __________
4. Winston is interrogated by a party official and thrown into prison. __________
5. Winston goes on a date with the dark-haired girl. __________
6. We are shown to what extent Winston yearns for love and intimacy. __________
7. We are told about what Winston’s wife Katherine is like. __________
8. Winston has a dream about the Golden Country. __________
9. We learn that love is a form of rebellion in Airstrip One. __________

Exercise B

Match the quotes from the text to the definition.

1. He shut his eyes and pressed his fingers against them. __________
2. The most deadly danger of all was talking in your sleep. __________
3. It was dangerous, but it was not a life-and-death matter. __________
4. All marriages between Party members had to be approved by a committee. __________
5. It was curious how seldom he thought of her. __________
6. She had not a thought in her head that was not a slogan. __________
7. It was extraordinarily embarrassing, and, after a while, horrible. __________
8. He saw himself standing there in the dim lamplight. __________

a) Winston describes his wife Katharine in terms of her thoughts and beliefs.
b) Betrayal of the party might happen when you are in an unconscious state.
c) The relationship between Winston and his wife is no longer important to him.
d) Winston describes his experiences of intimacy with his wife.
e) Orwell describes the process of matrimony in his version of the future.
f) The punishment for using prostitutes is mentioned.
g) Winston tries to block out a disturbing memory.
h) Winston remembers one of his specific encounters with a prostitute.

Exercise C (pgs 81-84)

Decide if the statements below are true or false

1. Winston’s diarized encounter with a prostitute took place in a luxurious hotel. True/False
2. Winston is paranoid about his facial expressions revealing his innermost thoughts. True/False
3. Winston is writing in his diary about how he once met his wife, Katharine. True/False
4. Unless his wife is dead, Winston is married. True/False
5. Winston clearly uses prostitutes on a regular basis. True/False
6. The Party don’t openly encourage that people use prostitutes, but they seem to support it. True/False
7. Members of the Party cannot get married under any circumstances. True/False
8. In 1984, the purpose of marriage is simply to have children. True/False

Exercise D (pgs 84-87)

Choose one of the options from the multiple choice questions

 1. How did the party view sexual intercourse?
a) As something akin to an unpleasant surgical operation.
b) As a thoughtcrime, punishable by imprisonment.
c) As a romantic inclination that could not be fully purged from humanity.
d) As something occurring naturally in every human being.
2. What was the Party trying to do to the sex instinct?
a) To use it so that people could express themselves artistically.
b) To support it so that everyone would want to have a loving family.
c) To control it in order to reduce the overall population.
d) To kill it.
3. How long had Winston’s relationship with Katharine lasted?
a) For nine years.
b) For several years.
c) For just over a year.
d) For twenty-five years.
4. ‘A face that one might have called noble until one discovered that there was as nearly as possible nothing
behind it.’ What is Orwell trying to express here.
a) That Katharine’s thoughts were difficult to read.
b) That Katharine’s appearance was misleading.
c) That Katharine did not like to share her thoughts with Winston.
d) That Katharine was possibly a member of the aristocracy.
5. What are we led to believe about Katharine’s thoughts?
a) That she liked to have open-minded discussions with Winston.
b) That she only believed what her parents told her.
c) That her thoughts were in line with Party orthodoxy.
d) That she was writing them down in a secret diary, just like her husband.
6. What word(s) does Winston NOT use to describe his intimacy with his wife Katharine?
a) Strange
b) Mysterious
c) Horrible
d) Extraordinarily embarrassing
7. What does Orwell imply is the reason why Katharine refuses to be celibate with Winston?
a) She is passionately in love with Winston.
b) She believes she has a duty to the Party to produce children.
c) Deep down she has strong feelings for her husband.
d) She is a devout Christian and believes that she must satisfy her husband’s needs.
8. When Winston’s ‘dread’ about intimate encounters is revealed, what does that word express?
a) Disgust
b) Shame
c) Rage
d) Fear
9. Why might Winston feel a sense of ‘defeat’ about using prostitutes?
a) He is a loser and it is natural for him to feel that way.
b) The Party’s ideology seems to suggest that this is what they want men to do.
c) He knows that he should obey his wife at all times.
d) He believes in the Christian faith and his religion forbids these kinds of acts.

Exercise E

Match the literary devices to the examples

personification using absolutes appealing to the senses simile zoomorphism

hyperbole alliteration euphemism metaphor

1. The most deadly danger of all was talking in your sleep. ____________
2. He seemed to breathe again the warm stuffy odour of the basement kitchen. ____________
3. The poorer quarters swarmed with women who were ready to sell themselves. ____________
4. Which advocated complete celibacy for both sexes. ____________
5. To embrace her was like embracing a jointed wooden image. ____________
6. ‘making a baby’ ____________
7. Katharine’s white body, frozen for ever by the hypnotic power. ____________
8. ‘And what he wanted…was to break down that wall of virtue.’ ____________
9. The feeble light of the paraffin lamp had seemed very bright.’