"Animal Farm" by George Orwell, Chapters 1-2 DLB B

Mrs. Borley (United Kingdom)
What would happen if the Russian Revolution of 1917 took place on a small English farm? This provocative novella blends fable, satire, and allegory while grappling with some of the twentieth-century's most consequential political ideas.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1-2, Chapters 3-4, Chapters 5-6, Chapters 7-8, and Chapters 9-10

Here are links to our lists for other works by George Orwell: 1984, Politics and the English Language, Shooting an Elephant
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. clime
    the weather in some location averaged over a period of time
    Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland, Beasts of every land and clime, Hearken to my joyful tidings Of the golden future time.
  2. tidings
    information about recent and important events
    Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland, Beasts of every land and clime, Hearken to my joyful tidings Of the golden future time.
  3. vivacious
    vigorous and animated
    Snowball was a more vivacious pig than Napoleon, quicker in speech and more inventive, but was not considered to have the same depth of character.
  4. nimble
    moving quickly and lightly
    The best known among them was a small fat pig named Squealer, with very round cheeks, twinkling eyes, nimble movements, and a shrill voice.
  5. expound
    add details to clarify an idea
    Several nights a week, after Mr. Jones was asleep, they held secret meetings in the barn and expounded the principles of Animalism to the others.
  6. apathy
    the trait of lacking enthusiasm for or interest in things
    At the beginning they met with much stupidity and apathy.
  7. elementary
    easy and not involved or complicated
    Some of the animals talked of the duty of loyalty to Mr. Jones, whom they referred to as “Master,” or made elementary remarks such as “Mr. Jones feeds us. If he were gone, we should starve to death."
  8. accord
    concurrence of opinion
    With one accord, though nothing of the kind had been planned beforehand, they flung themselves upon their tormentors.
  9. rubbish
    worthless material that is to be disposed of
    The reins, the halters, the blinkers, the degrading nosebags, were thrown on to the rubbish fire which was burning in the yard.
  10. caper
    jump about playfully
    All the animals capered with joy when they saw the whips going up in flames.
  11. knoll
    a small natural mound
    A little way down the pasture there was a knoll that commanded a view of most of the farm.
  12. gambol
    play or run boisterously
    In the ecstasy of that thought they gambolled round and round, they hurled themselves into the air in great leaps of excitement.
  13. unalterable
    not capable of being changed
    These Seven Commandments would now be inscribed on the wall; they would form an unalterable law by which all the animals on Animal Farm must live for ever after.
Created on Tue Jun 24 11:57:04 EDT 2025 (updated Tue Jul 15 09:13:30 EDT 2025)

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