Newspeak

High school (ages 12+)
Thinking & Learning

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/newspeak

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the literary source?George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949)
2. What is the primary function?To limit cognitive range and prevent 'thoughtcrime'
3. Why did the Party create Newspeak?The Party made Newspeak to control people’s thoughts. By limiting words, they try to stop people from thinking about ideas that challenge the Party.
4. How does Newspeak change ordinary words?Newspeak removes many words or changes them to simpler ones. For example, the word "bad" becomes "ungood," so people have fewer ways to describe feelings.

Newspeak: A fictional, engineered language designed to restrict thought and expression by limiting vocabulary and grammar.
Thoughtcrime: The act of thinking or holding beliefs that deviate from the Party's ideology, made impossible by Newspeak.
Ingsoc: The Newspeak term for English Socialism, the totalitarian ideology governing Oceania.
Oldspeak: The standard English language that Newspeak is intended to eventually replace.