The following collection of thematically related readings is available in Animal Farm and Related Readings in McDougal Littell's Literature Connections series.

Excerpt from The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union by Michael Kort, © 1992
Summary: This history summarizes the Soviet Union's volatile history from the late 1800s to the end of Stalin's reign in 1953.

"The Stalin Epigram" by Osip Mandelstam
from Selected Poems © 1973
Summary: Although this bitterly satirical poem was memorized, not written down, its author was arrested and sent to Siberia for writing such terrible things about Stalin.

"The Rebellion of the Magical Rabbits" by Ariel Dorfman, © 1986
Summary: In this story, Dorfman creates a society of animals to illustrate what happens when a government tries to control what citizens see and hear.

"Crow Song" by Margaret Atwood
(from You Are Happy: Selected Poems, © 1976)
Summary: A crow comments on human behavior, our preoccupation with war, and what we seem to believe in.

"Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
(from Welcome to the Monkey House, © 1961)
Summary: Vonnegut's short story asks this question of "total equality": is it a dream or a nightmare?

"The Birds" by Daphne du Maurier
(from Kiss Me Again Stranger, © 1952)
Summary: The classic story of human terror caused by a revolution of birds.