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Below are text-specific Common Module essay questions for 1984, designed for students who are confident in their understanding of the novel. If you are still building your skills or feel unsure about HSC Common Module essay writing, it is usually best to begin with generic Common Module essay questions, which help develop foundational skills and confidence.

Text-specific essay questions are more advanced. They assume a holistic understanding of 1984 and may ask you to focus on particular themes, characters, events, or literary techniques such as setting, symbolism, or language. If you have not read the novel closely, some of these questions may feel challenging at first.

While a strong HSC Common Module essay typically explores only two or three key ideas supported by a manageable selection of quotes, success depends on a broad and flexible knowledge of the text. These questions are designed to help you refine existing arguments, improve adaptability, and practise responding effectively to exam-style prompts.

Here are those questions.

• Orwell’s novel represents the shared human desire for change. To what extent do you agree with this assertion?  (Sydney Grammar 2020)
• Prose fiction invites the reader to interpret the motivations of its characters. How does the author of your prescribed text use characterisation to represent human experiences? (ETA 2019)

• He gazed up at the enormous face. Forty years it had taken him to learn what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark moustache. O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O stubborn, self-willed exile from a loving breast! Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won victory over himself. He loved Big Brother. – Question: In what ways does the quote above contribute to a lasting impression of the complex nature of  human experiences represented in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four?  (ETA 2019)
• In what ways has your perception of the human experience been shaped by the use of setting in prose fiction? (Baulkham Hills, 2019)
• Analyse how the representation of power in Nineteen Eighty-Four shapes our understanding of the individual and collective human experience.  (Sydney Grammar, 2019)
• How has your understanding of the challenges of human experience been shaped by Orwell’s use of the dystopian novel form? (Sydney Grammar, 2019)
• There will be no loyalty, except loyalty towards the Party. There will be no love, except the love of Big Brother. There will be no laughter, except the laugh of triumph over a defeated enemy. There will be no art, no literature, no science. There will be no distinction between beauty and ugliness. There will be curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always – do not forget this, Winston – always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – for ever. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell – Question: In what ways does this quote contribute to your understanding of the complexities that arise when collective experiences are forced upon individuals in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four? (EMHS, 2019)
• To what extent does the exploration of human experience in Nineteen Eighty-Four invite you to reconsider your understanding of loneliness? (NESA, 2019)
• Analyse how the representation of rebellion shapes your understanding of human qualities and emotions in Nineteen Eighty Four. In your response make detailed reference to your prescribed text. (Sefton, 2019)
• Read this extract from Orwell’s novel and use it as a prompt to respond to the essay question below. “He turned over towards the light and lay gazing at the glass paperweight. The inexhaustibly interesting thing was not the fragment of coral but the interior of the glass itself. There was such a depth to it, and yet it was almost as transparent as air. It was as though the surface of the glass had been the arch of the sky, enclosing a tiny world with its atmosphere complete. He had the feeling he could get inside it, and that in fact he was inside it, along with the mahogany bed and the gate-leg table, and the clock and the steel engraving and the paperweight itself. The paperweight was the room he was in, and the coral was Julia’s life and his own, fixed in a sort of eternity at the heart of the crystal.”Question: Write an essay supporting the view that in Nineteen Eighty Four, beauty is as important as ugliness in achieving Orwell’s purpose. (Sydney Boys, 2019)
• To what extent does Nineteen Eighty-Four represent the human qualities and emotions that arise from the abuse of power? (Abbotsleigh, 2020)
• Write a personal reflection on the insights this novel gave you into Winston’s human qualities and emotions. Base your reflection on Winston’s experience with O’Brien and ONE other person. (Catholic Paper, 2020)
• How does Nineteen Eighty Four illuminate the role of fear in the human experience?
• Stories confront us with the truths about being human but also offer us solace. In an essay response, show how this statement is true of Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and one related text of your own choosing.
• “What mattered were individual relationships, and a completely helpless gesture, an embrace, a tear, a word spoken to a dying man, could have value in itself.” Question: How do the composers of texts encourage us to reflect on the significance of our relationships? In your response, make close reference to Nineteen Eighty-Four and a related text of your own choosing.
• “Storytelling is a powerful way of waking people up.” Question: How has George Orwell (through Nineteen Eighty-Four) and the composer of a related text achieved this?

If you have a thoughtful essay question you’d like to share, you’re welcome to add it in the comments below.