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Class Period: _____________
Utopian and Dystopian Literature
Utopia:
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Dystopia:
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Characteristics/Examples of a Dystopian Society
What are some examples of dystopian societies? What characteristics make them
dystopias?
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Types of Dystopian Controls
Most dystopian works present a world in which oppressive societal control and the
illusion of a perfect society are maintained through one or more controls. What are
some of these oppressive controls/powers in society?
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The Dystopian Protagonist
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Often feels trapped and is struggling to escape.
Questions the existing social and political systems.
Believes or feels that something is terribly wrong with the society in which
he or she lives.
Helps the audience recognizes the negative aspects of the dystopian world
through his or her perspective.
Is the setting of WALL-E part of a utopian or a dystopian society? Why?
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Equal is Not Always Fair
Declaration of Independence – “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that
all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Does it guarantee equal results or equal opportunity under the law? As you answer,
think about today’s politicians and our own government – are we in danger of this
“equal” world, or is America on a different path?
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Huxley and Brave New World
Things you should know:
Huxley’s inspiration for the novel: H.G. Wells’ utopian novel Men Like Gods.
Setting: London, England and New Mexico, United States, 2540 A.D.
Genre(s): Utopian/Dystopian; Futurism
Related Works: George Orwell’s 1984; Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We; H.G. Wells’ The Sleeper
Awakes; Margaret Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale
Note the following while you read:
- Huxley’s commentary on technology’s role in society
- Huxley’s commentary on advertising’s role in society
- Character names – All characters were named carefully, not arbitrarily; what do
these names mean? Why these characters?
- Major themes: can you pick up on them?
- Symbolism and imagery
o As you read, note symbols and images here:
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Motifs: like a minor theme, used to help develop and establish themes
o Sex
o Shakespeare
o Isolation
o “Fordism”
Notes on Huxley and Futurism:
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Brave New World
World State vs. US
On the chart below are listed a number of social problems which confront the US as well as many other
places in the world. Document how the World State resolved this problem: record this information, with
cited page numbers, in the first column. Determine what you think would be a consensus among US
citizens toward such a solution. Record this information in the second column. Decide what your
personal position would be on solving each problem; record this information in the third column. You may
use your own paper if you wish.
Problem
How World State
Resolved Problems
1.
Overpopulation
2.
Pollution
3.
Drug Abuse
4.
Birth Defects
5.
Cloning
6.
Labor Problems
7.
Racial Prejudice
8.
Free Will
Probable US Attitude
Your Attitude
Group Work – PowerPoint Presentation
Huxley gives each of his characters a name of great significance.
These character names are usually the combination of several
historical figures’ names.
Each group will be responsible for researching the significance behind
the names of two characters from the novel.
Each group needs to do the following:
1. Research the name I give you.
2. Create a PowerPoint presentation over the following:
a. The lives of these historical figures – where they’re from,
what they did of importance, if they figure into a political
or literary movement (Modernism, futurism, realism,
Communism).
b. Why did Huxley think these people were important enough
to figure them into his novel?
c. Why do you think he named these specific characters
these names? Irony? Character traits match?
d. Come up with new names for these characters, using
people from current pop culture.
3. You will be presenting this information to the class – basically,
you will teach the other students about the name I gave you. So
make be creative and innovative with your presentation.
4. Your presentation should be 3-5 minutes in length.
Approved Web Sites:
 Encyclopedia.com
 Library of Congress
 Databases via the School Library
Brave New World
10 Significant Quotes
As you read the novel, identify who said the following quotes and the
significance of each one.
1) "Bokanovsky’s Process is one of the major instruments of social
stability!"
2) "And that," put in the Director sententiously, "that is the secret of
happiness and virtue— liking what you’ve got to do. All conditioning
aims at that: making people like their unescapable social destiny."
3) "Moral education, which ought never, in any circumstances, to be
rational."
4) "Imagine the folly of allowing people to play elaborate games which
do nothing whatever to increase consumption. It’s madness. Nowadays
the Controllers won’t approve of any new game unless it can be shown
that it requires at least as much apparatus as the most complicated of
existing games."
5) "History is bunk."
6) "Wheels must turn steadily, but cannot turn untended. There must
be men to tend them, men as steady as the wheels upon their axles,
sane men, obedient men, stable in contentment."
7) "You’ve got to choose between happiness and what people used to
call high art. We’ve sacrificed the high art."
8) "‘You can only be independent of God while you’ve got youth and
prosperity; independence won’t take you safely to the end.’ Well,
we’ve now got youth and prosperity right up to the end. What follows?
Evidently, that we can be independent of God."
9) "Christianity without tears— that’s what soma is."
10) "But I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real
danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin."
Brave New World
Significant Quotes
Now, come up with five more quotes you believe are significant. Please
explain why you chose those specific quotes.
Major Characters: Chapters 5 – 8
During your reading, fill out the chart below with textual evidence.
Character:
Bernard
Marx
Lenina
Crowne
John the
Savage
What he/she likes:
What he/she doesn’t like:
Major Characters: Continued
Character
Bernard
Marx
Lenina
Crowne
John the
Savage
Viewed by the World
State as:
What has
meaning/value to
them:
How do you see
them:
How do we, as a society, hold similar values? How would we fit into
the World State or the Savage Reservation?
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