Example: Annotated Bibliography
Animal Farm
Bunyan, James and H. H. Fisher. The Bolshevik Revolution. (Stanford University, California. Stanford University Press, 1934).web.17 October. 2012
World War 1 had left the Russian people demoralized, fatigued, and without good leadership; it left the Russian landscape war torn, scarred, and infertile. Tsar Nicholas 2 had just dragged 11 million helpless peasants into death, and the majority of the population, the serfs, where starved and tired. The country was ripe for rebellion. Many years before, Karl Marx had written the Communist Manifesto, predicting that the working class would rise up. In Russia, they did. The Tsar was dethroned and the Bolshevik party was established with Vladimir Lenin as the leader.
The novel, Animal Farm, by George Orwell is one big metaphor for what happened to the country of Russia in the years 1917 to 1945. These are the times after World War 1 up to the conclusion of World War 2. Karl Marx in the novel is represented by an old boar named Major, who predicts the animals’ uprising against the farmer. The animals plan an overthrowing of farmer Jones, and this is the equivalent to the usurping of Tsar Nicholas 2’s throne.
Quinn, Edward. "Joseph Stalin as a literary reference." History in Literature. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2004. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, web.17 October 2012
Joseph Stalin was born to a Russian family in 1878, in the province of Georgia. Stalin was born to an abusive father and had a rough childhood, which would reflect many of his later actions. In 1893, Stalin, being an able an intelligent student, was admitted to an orthodox charter school in Tilifs. Six years later he was expelled from the school and arrested for his radical political view. This is where Lenin took an interest in him. Stalin was admitted into office and took control of the Soviet Union in 1922. While in office, Stalin was responsible for the deaths of millions, and in fact more than Hitler was. Stalin’s two five year plans, along with his relentless war tactics, sent poverty, starvation, and death all throughout the U.S.S.R., however the economy was fixed and was in good shape.
The main character in Animal Farm, is a Berkish boar named Napoleon. Using his wits, his careful planning, and his static intelligence, this pig rose to the top of the other animals when they took the farm from jones. This originally good intentioned leader that then turned extremely cruel and corrupt could only represent one man. Napoleon is Stalin. In the novel, Napoleon’s one year mill plan that cut back on food in order to pay for the expensive mill was the same as Stalin’s five year plan, where millions died of starvation. In the battle of Stalingrad, Joseph Stalin sent hundreds of thousands to their deaths against the Germans in order to hold one town. The battle of the Cowshed is a metaphor for this, where Napoleon willingly sent many animals to their demise.
Gaydosik, Victoria. "Orwell, George." Facts On File Companion to the British Novel: 20th Century, vol. 2. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File. Web. 17 October 2012
George Orwell was born in India, in 1903. His father was a career administrator; this is when colonialism was still a major aspect of many countries. He was raised in India, but moved back to England with his mother during his early years; however, he moved back to India when he graduated from school. He later fell into poverty in his later years; because he had no money, because his writing was getting rejected by publisher; because he wandered homeless for many years.
George Orwell, because of his being born in India and later moving to England, was a man that had the chance to observe and grow up in two cultures that were polar opposites. This provided his fresh perspective on human civilization as a whole and drove him to write his two best sellers 1984 and Animal Farm. He observed the south Asian culture of India that was considered unrefined, and then moved back to “civilized” England; he could not have been bias when writing.
Stade, George, and Karen Karbiener, eds. "Orwell, George." Encyclopedia of British Writers, 20th Century, vol. 2. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2003. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File,web. 17 October 2012
George Orwell was born as Eric Arthur Blair in Mongol, India, although he moved to England when he was in his pre-adolescent stage of life. While living in Burma after moving from England to India again, Orwell witnessed many horrifying things about daily life in that city, He wrote Burmese Days; this attacked imperialism. While Orwell considered himself a socialist, he often attacked totalitarian views and was shunned by his fellow left wingers.
Orwell’s original plan for his career in writing was to write “a neat shelf of realistic novels,” however this plan was easily shattered when Orwell manifested his love for politics. His writing instead of being innocent stories turned into political satire, attacking many types of human society; this is apparent in Animal Farm, 1984, and Burmese days, all of which he attacks a different way of life, shadowed in a fictional story.
Fowler, Rodger. "On Animal Farm." In The Language of George Orwell, 159–80, 237–38. 1995. Quoted as "On Animal Farm" in Bloom, Harold, ed. Animal Farm, New Edition, Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts on File, Inc. 17 October 2012
Many critics find Animal Farm very easy to criticize; they talk of its informality and its basic structure; they even talk of its length. They say that the novel’s use of language is very basic and that it is too forward. They say that it is a “crystalline little book', 'conciseness of form and simplicity of language', 'a bare English, uncluttered by metaphor,' a style 'direct, exact and sharply concrete,' 'a series of lively visual images held together by a membrane of almost transparent prose”(George Woodcock).
Yes, it is true that Animal Farm is written with the most basic form of language, but that is because Orwell didn’t want it to be too cluttered with words; he had a point to get across. Orwell stated that if anything he said in the story would have to be explained, then the works would be a failure.
Meyers, Valerie. "Animal Farm: An Allegory of Revolution." George Orwell, 101–113, 149–150. 1991. Quoted as "Animal Farm: An Allegory of Revolution" in Bloom, Harold, ed. Animal Farm, New Edition, Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts on File, Inc.
In Orwell’s satire, he pokes fun at communism and at their tyrannical leader himself, Joseph Stalin. This novel was written only about a year after the Teheran conference, which was the conclusion of WWII; Stalin was still our ally, and tension could have only gotten worse between our two countries. We would later enter the cold war between our adversary.
George Orwell was writing a satire, and therefore, somebody was to be offended. Stalin was probably the wrong person to offend, but what needed to be said by Orwell was told in this novel about Marxism, and how it failed under the leadership of Joseph Stalin. Orwell even had to write an edited version for communist Ukraine.