Commemorating the end of George Orwell's year, 1984, the majority of articles in this journal issue are devoted to some aspect of language. The first article alerts teachers to the need for a critical examination of Orwell's underlying assumptions about language change in "Politics and the English Language." The next five articles deal with aspects of language in relation to the novel "1984," and all offer practical and helpful suggestions for raising student awareness of political uses of language (distortions of logic, verbal deceptions, use of doublespeak, and so on). An article from the ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills dealing with vocabulary is included for its value to language arts teachers in the elementary school. The sixth article deals with the autobiographical aspects of "Down and Out in Paris and London," and the remaining two articles discuss the literary heritage of the state of Illinois. (HTH)