In our own society, we have departments in the federal governement, such as the Department of Defense and the Department of Education. Are these the same as the ministries in Oceania? How are they different?

The government portrayed in 1984 is nothing like our own. It is a totalitarian government, in which, every aspect of a citizen's life is controlled. Independent thought is a crime, writing a diary is a crime, information propagated by government agencies is falsified and accepted without question for fear of reprisal. History is rewritten on a regular basis to support government policies, and the media is only allowed to report what the Party wants them to report.