Animal Farm

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Which historical figure does Major, the old boar, symbolize?

A) Joseph Stalin

B) Vladimir Lenin

C) Karl Marx

D) Leon Trotsky

2. Toward the end of the book, the pigs display they are as capable of corruption and cruelty as humans. What is the earliest hint in the book of these inherent tendencies?

A) Napoleon takes away Jessie and Bluebell’s puppies.

B) The milk disappears after the animals return from their first hay harvest.

C) Snowball simplifies the Seven Commandments into a single maxim.

D) Napoleon and Snowball disagree about building the windmill.

3. Which statement best describes Boxer’s attitude towards the pigs?

A) Boxer is infuriated and disgusted by them.

B) Boxer is fiercely protective of them.

C) Boxer is cynical and suspicious of them.

D) Boxer is blindly and unquestioningly loyal to them.

4. Which of the following is the strongest example of the theme Humans Versus Animals in the book?

A) The animals gather in the barn to hear Major speak of his special dream.

B) Snowball devises a flag for Animal Farm with a horn and a hoof against a green field.

C) Mr. Frederick and Mr. Pilkington spread rumors about Animal Farm being unstable, immoral, and unsuccessful.

D) Mollie leaves the farm to live among humans in Willingdon.

5. Which of the following best states what the Animal Farm flag symbolizes?

A) The green fields of England and the future Republic of Animals

B) The fresh, new lease on life experienced by the animals

C) The triumph of nature and animals over humans

D) The fertility and prosperity of the farm to be enjoyed exclusively by the animals

6. Which of the following best describes the differences between Snowball and Napoleon?

A) Snowball is visionary and idealistic about the future of all animals, while Napoleon is shrewd and pragmatic about increasing his own power.

B) Snowball is diffident and lacks confidence, while Napoleon is self-assured and assertive in his communication.

C) Snowball uses propaganda and revisionist history to increase his own power, while Napoleon attempts to use science, facts, and statistics to solidify his position.

D) Snowball is opinionated and argumentative, while Napoleon is quick to defer to the inputs of the other pigs.

7. What can be inferred from Napoleon’s decision to build the windmill after ousting Snowball, despite initially disagreeing with the plan?

A) Napoleon could not see the benefits of the windmill immediately, and it had to be explained to him by Squealer and the other pigs after Snowball’s departure.

B) Napoleon recognized inherent flaws in Snowball’s original plan and decided to make significant adjustments to the windmill’s design after driving Snowball away.

C) Napoleon realized Snowball intended to betray the animals eventually and was waiting to oust Snowball so that the windmill could be built without issues.

D) Napoleon recognized the plan was a good one but did not want Snowball to be the one to carry it out, as it would earn Snowball the credit.

8. Which of the following does Napoleon not engage in to solidify his power over the rest of the animals on the farm?

A) Propaganda

B) Misinformation

C) Bribes and incentives

D) Brute force

9. Which of the following is an example of revisionist history?

A) Napoleon confers honors upon himself.

B) The animals change the text of the original Seven Commandments.

C) Minimus composes a new song for Animal Farm.

D) The pigs deceive Mr. Whymper into thinking that Animal Farm is prosperous.

10. Which of the following best describes what Benjamin the donkey represents?

A) A member of the intelligentsia

B) A cynic

C) A member of the unquestioning public

D) A religious figure

11. How does the author use Benjamin the donkey to propel the action of the story?

A) His belief in the eventual reward for hard work and goodness gives the reader hope that democracy will prevail on the farm.

B) His fierce resistance to injustice provides inspiration for the other animals, who look up to him when they need strength.

C) His powerful gift of friendship is enough to save his friends when they are in their most desperate hours.

D) His clear-eyed understanding of the plight of the farm grounds the reader in the animals’ actual suffering.

12. What best describes how Snowball is remembered after he is ousted from the farm?

A) Snowball is scapegoated and demonized.

B) Snowball is martyred and remembered as a saint.

C) Snowball is erased from Animal Farm’s history.

D) Snowball is exposed as the traitor he always was.

13. How do the pigs attend to Boxer’s death?

A) They bury him on Whymper’s farm.

B) They tell the animals he went to Sugarcandy Mountain.

C) They sell his body for profit.

D) They build a memorial for him.

14. Which statement best represents the implication of the Seven Commandments being replaced by a single new one?

A) Animal Farm has achieved the utopia dreamt of by Major.

B) Animal Farm has been reclaimed by the humans on the outside.

C) Animal Farm has devolved into an unjust, stratified, and hierarchical society.

D) Animal Farm is on the brink of a new revolution.

15. Which is the correct order of events?

A) The animals carry out a rebellion, Manor Farm is renamed Animal Farm, Napoleon becomes a dictator, Snowball is ousted.

B) Napoleon becomes a dictator, the animals carry out a rebellion, Snowball is ousted, Manor Farm is renamed Animal Farm.

C) Manor Farm is renamed Animal Farm, the animals carry out a rebellion, Snowball is ousted, Napoleon becomes a dictator.

D) The animals carry out a rebellion, Manor Farm is renamed Animal Farm, Snowball is ousted, Napoleon becomes a dictator.

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating textual details to support your response.

1. Why do the other animals fail to react to the deteriorating circumstances around them? Substantiate your answer with at least two examples from the text.

2. Illustrate how Animal Farm parallels Soviet communist history by providing at least three similarities between characters or events.