i

Table of contents:

1        Chapter 1: History of Marxism

3        Chapter 2: Cases of Marxism

7        Chapter 3: Theorists and What They Look For

10      Chapter 4: Steps to Writing a Marxist Analysis

17      Activites and Puzzles

ii        How to Write a Marxist Analysis

History of Marxism        1

Chapter 1: History of Marxism

Marxism is named after Karl Marx, who founded Marxism in the 19th century. His first recorded political pamphlet, The Communist Manifesto, was written in 1848. He also wrote Das Kapital in 1867, reflecting on the negative effects of capitalism, including the rich exploiting the poor, and unequal treatment between the ruling class and the working class. Several leaders, such as Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin, modified this Marxism theory during the Russian Revolution. China's Mao Zedong also modified Marxism to their needs.

Definitions:

Karl Marx: The father and founder of communism.

Capitalism: An economic system where everyone has the right to buy, own, and control property.

Ruling class: The rich leaders; the bourgeoisie.

Working class: The poor people who must work in order to live.

Russian Revolution: Started by the Bolsheviks, who overthrew the Tsar and established a socialist government.

Read and Evaluate:

Copy and complete the following questions in your notebook.

1.    Who founded Marxism?

2.    What two famous books did Karl Marx write that were against capitalism?

3.    What are the negative effects of capitalism? Explain in your own words.

4.    What's the difference between the ruling class and the working class?

5.    Who modified Marxism during the Russian Revolution?

2        How to Write a Marxist Analysis

Cases of Marxism        3

Chapter 2: Cases of Marxism

North Korea 🇰🇵:

North Korea uses extreme modifications of Marxism which result in social alienation from other countries, a poor and unstable economy with no political freedom.

China 🇨🇳:

China also modified Marxism to develop its socialism with lower wages, restricted social media usage, and use of capital punishment.

Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice:

Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice shows how everyone was mistreating Shylock because he was different than others, and they want him to convert to Christianity just like everyone else.

North Korea: a dictatorship country where only one person has absolute power, potentially abusing it to violate human rights.

Alienation: Isolation from which one should be involved.

Shakespeare: A famous playwright known for writing plays such as Romeo and Juliet and The Merchant of Venice.

4        How to Write a Marxist Analysis

Cuba 🇨🇺:

Cuba is run by an authoritarian state where political opposition is prohibited and denied and can sometimes result in oppression. In 1959, the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution was founded but was succeeded by the Communist Party of Cuba in 1965.

Animal Crossing:

Animal Crossing is a social interaction video game made by Nintendo where Tom Nook (Nook Inc.), the bourgeoisie and ruling class, take advantage of the player and villagers, the working class, whose job is to become as rich as possible and take over the bourgeoisie of Tom Nook by social attraction and obtaining a 5-star rating.

Oppression: Prolonged, cruel or unjust treatment or control.

Bourgeoisie: The owners or leaders in a society.

Ruling class: The class of people who are typically rich and have power; they often abuse the working class.

Working class: The class of poor people who are typically poor with little power; they are often abused by the ruling class; the proletariat.

Some more definitions...

Agency: The capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices, based on their will. We hire support staff through an agency.

Class Consciousness: An awareness that is key to sparking a Revolution which would "create a dictatorship of the proletariat, transforming it from a wage-earning, property less mass into the ruling class". Old Major uses his Class Consciousness to lead the animals into The Rebellion.

False Consicousness: People's acceptance of an unfavorable social system without protest or questioning, that is, as the logical way for things to be. North Korea's false consciousness forced an unstoppable dictatorship.

Propaganda: Information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, or nation. Many countries used propaganda to convince their citizens.

Status Quo: The existing order of things: present customs, practices, and power relations. People with money are often content with the status quo.

Cases of Marxism        5

Read and Evaluate:

Copy and complete the following questions in your notebook:

1.    What is the most isolated country in the world?

2.    Who was the Jew that was mistreated by the Italians in         Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice?

3.    Who is the bourgeoisie? Answer in full sentences.

4.    Why do governments produce propaganda?

6        How to Write a Marxist Analysis

Chapter 3: Theorists and What They Look For

Karl Marx:

Karl Marx's political writings, such as The Communist Manifesto started a social, economic, and political theory called Marxism, named after Karl Marx. His theory explains that society is an opposition between the ruling class and the working class.

Joseph Stalin:

Joseph Stalin founded the Soviet Union in 1922 and transformed it into a world power in 25 years. The Soviet Union defeated Germany during World War II and led into the age of nuclear weapons.

Vladimir Lenin:

Vladimir Lenin founded Russia's Communist Party and Leninism, which led to the Bolshevik Revolution. Lenin is still considered the greatest revolutionary thinker since Marx.

Bios:

Karl Marx - britannica.com/

biography/Karl-Marx

Joseph Stalin -britannica.com/

biography/Joseph-Stalin

Vladimir Lenin -Britannica.com/

biography/Vladimir-Lenin

Theorists and What They Look For        7

Leon Trotsky:

Leon Trotsky led the Russians into a Revolution in October 1917, however, he became anti-Stalinist after his exile from Russia in 1929, but he was assassinated by one of Stalin's agents.

What do they look for?

Marxist theorists typically look for emphasizing the role of class and industry and ideology as they reflect, promote, and sometimes challenge the prevailing social order. They also look for how those in power seek to maintain that power, in part by justifying it through art and literature. Another concept is the struggle between the working class and the ruling class, resulting in the poor attempting to escape the oppression of the capitalists but failing.

Bios:

Leon Trotsky - britannica.com/

biography/Leon-Trotsky

Definitions:

Marxism: The theory that capitalism is bad for society because the ruling class exploits the working class; named after Karl Marx.

8        How to Write a Marxist Analysis

Read and Evaluate:

Copy and complete the following questions in your notebook.

1.    What is Marxism, and what does it explain?

2.    Who founded the Soviet Union and when?

3.    Who founded Russia's Communist Party? Hint: It's the same person who founded Leninism.

4.    Who was exiled from Russia and later assassinated by one of Stalin's agents?

5.    What are the concepts that Marxist theorists look for?

Theorists and What They Look For        9

10        How to Write a Marxist Analysis

Chapter 4: Steps to Writing a Marxist Analysis

A Marxist Analysis is typically written in this format:

Thesis - What is the message of the passage when read through the Marxist lens?

Points (Between 1 and 3) - How is the Marxist theory present in the passage?

Evidence/Proof (after each point) - Use parts of the passage to show points.

Analysis - Use terms from the theory to analyze.

Concluding Statement (If required) - Restate the thesis.

Think of PPA (Point - Proof - Analysis) Form!

Steps to Writing a Marxist Analysis        11

Example (Passage):

Passage: "Now comrades, what is the nature of this life of ours? Let us face it: our lives are miserable, laborious, and short... Man... sets them to work,... gives back to them the bare minimum that will prevent them from starving, and the rest he keeps for himself" (Orwell 6, 8).

Thesis: Marxism tells us how the ruling class takes advantage of the working class through slavery and unjust treatment.

Point: The animals constantly struggle to live on Manor Farm because Mr. Jones constantly forced the animals to work for the rest of their lives for his own benefit.

Evidence/Proof: Old Major explains that "their lives are miserable, laborious, and short" (6) because Mr. Jones "sets them to work... gives back to them the bare minimum that will prevent them from starving, and the rest he keeps for himself.

Analysis: Old Major explains the oppression of the Jones bourgeoisie and how they are forced to work until they die of killed by Mr. Jones. The farm would be a utopia without Mr. Jones, and the animals would have loved all the way up to their natural lifespans if they weren't forced to work harder.

Example (song):

Joe Hill - "There is Power in a Union"

12        How to Write a Marxist Analysis

[Verse 3]
If you've had enough of "the blood of the lamb"
Then join in the grand Industrial band
If, for a change, you would have eggs and ham
Then come, do your share, like a man

[Back to Chorus]

Steps to Writing a Marxist Analysis        13