Known as one of the most iconic advertisements of the 20th century, Macintosh's "1984" commercial has become more of a social statement. Present the ad to a new audience of viewers with a lesson focused on identifying dystopian characteristics, and comparing the video to other works set in a dystopian world.

Concepts

dystopian literature, reading comprehension, symbolism, 1984, george orwell, fahrenheit 451, setting, story elements

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Additional Tags

english language arts

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Instructional Ideas

• Show before your novel unit on George Orwell's 1984 or Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 
• Encourage learners to use their observations from the commercial in comparison to another book or movie with a dystopian setting
• Use in a computer science or technology class to prompt discussion about the commercial's message toward technology in the 1980's

Classroom Considerations

• Provides a list of works of literature you could use with the ad, ranging in reading level

Pros

• Includes links to background information, lists of symbols to discuss, and comprehension questions
• A great example of non-print text for an informational reading unit

Cons

• None

Common Core

RL.9-10.1 RL.9-10.2 RL.9-10.3 RL.11-12.1 RL.11-12.2 RL.11-12.3