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Copywork
About This Passage
At lunch, Winston's coworker Syme is excited to explain his job: he helps build Newspeak, the Party's new language. But Syme's real goal is shocking. He says the whole point of Newspeak is to 'narrow the range of thought,' which means to shrink the number of ideas a person can even think. By taking away words, the Party hopes that one day people will not have the words to think anything the Party does not want, so disobedient thoughts will become impossible. This sentence shows how the Party tries to control people not just by watching them, but by changing the very words they think in.
Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought?
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Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Tell what happens in this chapter in order: Winston eats lunch in the crowded, noisy canteen; his coworker Syme sits with him and excitedly explains his job, which is to build the Party's new language, Newspeak, by destroying words so that one day people will not even have the words to think forbidden thoughts; Winston quietly decides that Syme is too clever and will one day be taken away by the Party; their neighbor Parsons joins them, proud of his children who spy on grown-ups; a voice on the telescreen happily announces that everyone's life has gotten much better and the chocolate ration has gone up, even though Winston knows it was just cut, and everyone believes the cheerful lie; and a dark-haired girl at the next table keeps watching Winston, which fills him with fear that she might be a spy. When you reach the part about destroying words, slow down and tell why that is such a frightening idea.
Discussion Questions
- Syme is excited that his job is to destroy words, so that one day people will not have the words to think forbidden thoughts. What does it tell you about the Party that it wants to take away words like this, and why? What part of the chapter helps you decide?
- Winston quietly decides that Syme is 'too intelligent' and will one day be taken away by the Party, even though Syme loves the Party. Why might a Party like this one be afraid of someone who is very clever, and why? What part of the chapter helps you decide?
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Vocabulary
Item 1
Very keen and excited to do something; the cheerful voice on the telescreen sounds keen and excited as it reads out the Party's good news.
Item 2
A time when there is not nearly enough of something people need; there has been a shortage of razor blades for months, so everyone is begging for them.
Item 3
To ruin something completely so that it is gone; Syme's job is to wipe out words, hundreds of them every day, until the language is tiny.
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Critical Thinking
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