Brave New
World
Vocabulary/Background
Info/Lit Terms
Chapters 1-3
Chapter One











pallid: very pale
callow: young and not experienced
zealous: very enthusiastic
gamete: sexual reproductive cell, as a sperm or egg
viviparous: bringing forth living young, as mammals do. [viv
(life) + parer (bring forth]
deft: skillful
decant: to pour out of a container
caste: social class separated from others by hereditary rank
or profession or wealth.
superfluous: not needed or wanted
topsy-turvy: upside-down
II. Background
Background/Lit terms (1)

II. Background Info:


Henry Ford: popularized the assembly-line method of production when he
produced the affordable automobile, the Model T. Henry Ford is like a god to
the people of this society. The calendar years are marked for after his birth:
A.F.—After Ford. Also, the character Henry Foster, who is very fond of efficiency
and figures, has a name that is an allusion to Henry Ford.
III. Literary Terms: these will be the terms that we use to discuss the novel.
Please know them for our discussion and your tests and quizzes.
o

dystopian: dys (bad) + top (place). Dystopian stories have a society that to
the characters in the story is a perfect place, a utopia, or at least, it was an
attempt at utopia. Typically, in order to achieve utopia, the society in the
story has sacrificed something too large (e.g., humanity, individuality,
freedoms). Dystopian stories allow us to see an absurd result of a current
tendency of our own society (e.g., our desire for equality, our reliance on
technology, and so forth)
allusion: a brief reference to a person, event, or place, or to a work of art.
Chapter Two
 aseptic:
free from living germs
 cherub: type of angel; an attractive child
 posthumous: occurring after death
 indefatigable: never showing signs of
getting tired
Background/Lit terms (2)

II. Background Info:
o

Pavlov: Ivan Pavlov is known for his findings on
conditioned reflex. He would give dogs a
steak
while ringing a bell. The dogs would salivate when they
smelled the meat. He would do this repeatedly: show
the dogs the steak and ring the bell. Eventually, he just
rang the bell. The dogs would still salivate even though
there was no meat. The dogs were conditioned to
respond a certain way (salivate) to ringing a bell.
III. Literary Terms: these will be the terms that we use
to discuss the novel. Please know them for our
discussion and your tests and quizzes.

Satire: a type of writing that ridicules the shortcomings of
people or institutions.
Chapter 3












muse: to think about something deeply
apparatus: equipment designed to serve a specific function
incredulity: the feeling of not believing [in (not) + cred (belief)]
surreptitious: done secretly
axiomatic: generally believed to be true
truculent: aggressively hostile
promiscuous: having sexual relations with a lot of different people
grimace: pained facial expression
indignant: angry at something unjust
hypnopedia: teaching during sleep [hypno (sleep) + ped (child)]
ectogenesis: development outside the body, as of an embryo in an
artificial environment
copulate: engage in sexual intercourse
Background Info (3)

II. Background Info:



Trotsky: Leon Trotsky (1879-1940) was a Russian revolutionary and
communist theorist. He wasousted by Stalin.
Marx: Karl Marx (1818-1883) was the founder of modern communism.
He wrote the Communist Manifesto along with Friedrich Engels. In the
novel, Bernard Marx is named after Marx.
Malthusian: Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834) was an economist
who wrote “Essay on the Principle of Population.” In this essay, he
discusses the catastrophe that will happen if human population
outgrows the earth’s resources. He argues that population increase
will eventually bring wars and decrease pay for labor. He also
argues that people will have to
work harder to get resources.
Essentially, Malthus proposed that there is a threshold to populations.
If earth’s population goes beyond this threshold, then people will
experience catastrophes. The Malthusian Belt in the novel is a belt
that provides constant birth control so that the women in society
don’t get pregnant. Population is controlled by the Controllers for the
sake of stability.
Lit Terms (3)



III. Literary Terms: these will be the terms that we use to
discuss the novel. Please know them for our discussion and
your tests and quizzes.
Foil: a character who acts as contrast to another
character.
Question: In what ways is Fanny Crowne the foil of
Lenina Crowne?
Situational Irony: there is a difference between what is
expected to happen and what really happens. This occurs
in the novel when we see behavior or actions in this society
that goes against the expected behavior of our own times.
Example:
____________________________________________________