This course will cover three important areas devoted to Orwell： his life, his work, and his legacy. We will first discuss some of Orwell‘s autobiographical essays and a few passages from important biographies devoted to him. Then we will discuss his key works, including both essays and his late fiction (Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four). Students will be expected to have read some of Orwell‘s work before the course begins and we will go beyond the texts discussed in ＂The Essential Orwell＂ seminar taught in Spring 2011. A special feature of the course will be a discussion of the critics and the intellectuals who have responded most intensely to Orwell as a writer and an intellectual hero, and also to the extraordinary controversies and conflicts that have arisen about Orwell and his heritage. I know a number of these writers personally and have written eight books devoted to Orwell and his work. We will also therefore address how Orwell can influence your life and how he has influenced the lives of important intellectuals around the world. Finally, we will also view several film adaptations and documentaries that address Orwell‘s life, work, and legacy. Ultimately our goal will be to understand Orwell‘s immense significance as an intellectual who represents what is sometimes referred to as a si＂ngular universal,＂ a figure who seems to sum up the range and depth of cultural experience of the entire age. This has been Orwell‘s fate and fortune with respect to the latter half of the 20th century. Students will be expected to give short in-class presentations and write several short reports and a term paper.

Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four
Orwell’s autobiographical essays