Animal Farm Name___________________

Persuasive Paragraphs English 10R – Period ______

Paragraph #1
“You have heard , then, comrades,” he [Squealer] said, “that we pigs now sleep in the beds of the

farmhouse? And why not? You did not suppose, surely, that there was ever a ruling against beds?

A bed merely means a place to sleep in. A pile of straw in a stall is a bed, properly regarded. The

rule was against sheets, which are a human invention. We have removed the sheets from the

farmhouse beds, and sleep between blankets. And very comfortable beds they are too! But not

more comfortable than we need, I can tell you, comrades, with all the brainwork we have to do

nowadays. You would not rob us of our repose, would you, comrades? You would not have us

too tired to carry out our duties? Surely none of you wishes to see Jones back?”

Paragraph #2

“The fact that we pigs now sleep in the beds of the farmhouse,” he [Squealer] said, “has been

heard by the comrades. There was never a ruling against beds. Any place to sleep in can be

defined as a bed. Sheets were determined to be against the rules; sheets were invented by

humans. The sheets have been removed from the farmhouse beds by us, and we sleep between

blankets. The beds are comfortable, but not more comfortable than we need. Brainwork is

required of us nowadays. We will not be robbed of our repose by you, will we? We would be too

tired to carry out our duties. Jones is surely not wanted back by any of you.”

Directions:
1. Read each version of Squealer’s speech.

2. In your own words, summarize the purpose and main ideas of the speech.

3. Which version do you believe is more effective in expressing this purpose? Why?
 4. Identify at least three examples of passive voice in the speeches above and revise each
sentence using the active voice.
Animal Farm Name___________________
Persuasive Paragraphs English 10R – Period ______

“You have heard , then, comrades,” he [Squealer] said, “that we pigs now sleep in

the beds of the farmhouse? And why not? You did not suppose, surely, that there

was ever a ruling against beds? A bed merely means a place to sleep in. A pile of

straw in a stall is a bed, properly regarded. The rule was against sheets, which are a

human invention. We have removed the sheets from the farmhouse beds, and sleep

between blankets. And very comfortable beds they are too! But not more

comfortable than we need, I can tell you, comrades, with all the brainwork we have

to do nowadays. You would not rob us of our repose, would you, comrades? You

would not have us too tired to carry out our duties? Surely none of you wishes to

see Jones back?”

Directions:
1. Draw two lines under the topic sentence.
2. Draw a slash to separate each claim/support cluster
3. Draw a single line under each claim
4. Draw parenthesis around the support for each claim
5. Draw two lines underneath the “clincher”

6. Complete the chart below to indicate the purpose of each claim.

Claim # Persuasive Purpose