STAGE ONE—DESIRED RESULTS
Unit Title: Brave New World Grade Levels: 12th Honors
Time Frame: 5-6 weeks
Subject/Topic Areas: Utopia/dystopia, political satire, societal/economic systems,
conditioning, propaganda techniques
Established Goals: NJCCS
LA.9-12.3.1 - All students will understand and apply the knowledge of sounds, letters, and words in
written English to become independent and fluent readers and will read a variety of materials and texts
with fluency and comprehension.
LA.9-12.3.1.12.A.1 - Interpret and use common textual features (e.g., paragraphs, topic sentence,
index, glossary, table of contents) and graphic features, (e.g., charts, maps, diagrams) to comprehend
information.
LA.9-12.3.1.12.A.2 - Identify interrelationships between and among ideas and concepts within a text,
such as cause-and-effect relationships.
LA.9-12.3.1.12.C.1 - Decode new words using structural and context analysis.
LA.9-12.3.1.12.D.1 - Read developmentally appropriate materials (at an independent level) with
accuracy and speed..
LA.9-12.3.1.12.D.3 - Read a variety of genres and types of text with fluency and comprehension.LA.9LA.9-12.3.1.12.E.1 - Assess, and apply reading strategies that are effective for a variety of texts (e.g.,
previewing, generating questions, visualizing, monitoring, summarizing, evaluating).
LA.9-12.3.1.12.E.3 - Analyze the ways in which a text's organizational structure supports or confounds
its meaning or purpose.
LA.9-12.3.1.12.F.4 - Clarify pronunciation, meanings, alternate word choice, parts of speech, and
etymology of words using the dictionary, thesaurus, glossary, and technology resources.
LA.9-12.3.1.12.F.5 - Define words, including nuances in meanings, using context such as definition,
example, restatement, or contrast.
LA.9-12.3.1.12.G.1 - Apply a theory of literary criticism to a particular literary work.
LA.9-12.3.1.12.G.4 - Analyze how works of a given period reflect historical and social events and
conditions.
LA.9-12.3.1.12.G.5 - Recognize literary concepts, such as rhetorical device, logical fallacy, and jargon,
and their effect on meaning.
LA.9-12.3.1.12.G.9 - Analyze how an author's use of words creates tone and mood, and how choice of
words advances the theme or purpose of the work.
LA.9-12.3.1.12.G.10 - Identify and understand the author's use of idioms, analogies, metaphors, and
similes, as well as metrics, rhyme scheme, rhythm, and alliteration in prose and poetry.
LA.9-12.3.1.12.G.11 - Identify the structures in drama, identifying how the elements of dramatic
literature (e.g., dramatic irony, soliloquy, stage direction, and dialogue) articulate a playwright's vision.
LA.9-12.3.1.12.G.12 - Analyze the elements of setting and characterization to construct meaning of
how characters influence the progression of the plot and resolution of the conflict.
LA.9-12.3.1.12.G.13 - Analyze moral dilemmas in works of literature, as revealed by characters'
motivation and behavior.
LA.9-12.3.1.12.G.18 - Differentiate between fact and opinion by using complete and accurate
information, coherent arguments, and points of view.
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LA.9-12.3.1.12.G.24 - Identify false premises in an argument.
LA.9-12.3.1.12.H.1 - Select appropriate electronic media for research and evaluate the quality of the
information received.
LA.9-12.3.1.12.H.4 - Read and critically analyze a variety of works, including books and other print
materials (e.g., periodicals, journals, manuals), about one issue or topic, or books by a single author or
in one genre, and produce evidence of reading.
LA.9-12.3.1.12.H.7 - Produce written and oral work that demonstrates synthesis of multiple
informational and technical sources.
LA.9-12.3.2.12.A.3 - Use strategies such as graphic organizers and outlines to plan and write drafts
according to the intended message, audience, and purpose for writing.
LA.9-12.3.2.12.A.6 - Review and edit work for spelling, usage, clarity, and fluency.
LA.9-12.3.2.12.A.9 - Reflect on own writing and establish goals for growth and improvement.
LA.9-12.3.2.12.B.3 - Draft a thesis statement and support/defend it through highly developed ideas and
content, organization, and paragraph development.
LA.9-12.3.2.12.B.5 - Write a range of essays and expository pieces across the curriculum, such as
persuasive, analytic, critique, or position paper, etc.
LA.9-12.3.2.12.B.9 - Provide compelling openings and strong closure to written pieces.
LA.9-12.3.2.12.C.1 - Use Standard English conventions in all writing (sentence structure, grammar and
usage, punctuation, capitalization, spelling).
LA.9-12.3.2.12.C.2 - Demonstrate a well-developed knowledge of English syntax to express ideas in a
lively and effective personal style.
LA.9-12.3.2.12.C.3 - Use subordination, coordination, apposition, and other devices effectively to
indicate relationships between ideas.
LA.9-12.3.2.D - Writing Forms, Audiences, and Purposes (exploring a variety of forms)
LA.9-12.3.2.12.D.2 - Write a variety of essays (for example, a summary, an explanation, a description,
a literary analysis essay)
LA.9-12.3.2.12.D.3 - Evaluate the impact of an author's decisions regarding tone, word choice, style,
content, point of view, literary elements, and literary merit, and produce an interpretation of overall
effectiveness.
LA.9-12.3.2.12.D.8 - Analyze deductive arguments (if the premises are all true and the argument's form
is valid, the conclusion is true) and inductive arguments (the conclusion provides the best or most
probable explanation of the truth of the premises, but is not necessarily true.)
LA.9-12.3.3.12.B.2 - Extend peer contributions by elaboration and illustration.
LA.9-12.3.3.12.B.3 - Analyze, evaluate, and modify group processes.
LA.9-12.3.3.12.B.5 - Question critically the position or viewpoint of an author.
LA.9-12.3.3.12.B.8 - Paraphrase comments presented orally by others to clarify viewpoints.
LA.9-12.3.3.12.D.1 - Speak for a variety of purposes (e.g., persuasion, information, entertainment,
literary interpretation, dramatization, and personal expression).
LA.9-12.3.3.12.D.3 - Demonstrate effective delivery strategies (e.g., eye contact, body language,
volume, intonation, and articulation) when speaking.
LA.9-12.3.4.12.A.1 - Discuss, analyze and extend ideas heard orally.
LA.9-12.3.4.12.A.2 - Distinguish emotive from persuasive oral rhetoric.
LA.9-12.3.4.12.B.1 - Summarize, make judgments, and evaluate the content and delivery of oral
presentations.
LA.9-12.3.4.12.B.3 - Determine when propaganda and argument are used in oral forms.
LA.9-12.3.4.12.B.5 - Follow oral directions to perform specific tasks to answer questions or solve
Page 2 of 66
problems.
LA.9-12.3.5.12.A.2 - Identify and evaluate how a media product expresses the values of the culture
that produced it.
LA.9-12.3.5.12.B.3 - Analyze the effects of media presentations and the techniques to create them.
LA.9-12.3.5.12.C.2 - Identify and discuss the political, economic, and social influences on news
media.
LA.9-12.3.5.12.C.3 - Identify and critique the forms, techniques (e.g., propaganda) and technologies
used in various media messages and performances.
LA.9-12.3.5.12.C.4 - Create media presentations and written reports using multi-media resources
using effective images, text, graphics, music and/or sound effects that present a distinctive point of
view on a topic.
Understandings

Students will know that Brave New World satirizes the vices and follies of humanity observed
in early twentieth century America and England.

Students will approach Brave New World as a look at the future, analyzing the difference
between prophecy and prediction.

Dystopian literature is often a commentary on our society and a speculation about what our
society might look like if its members are not alert.

As we have developed technologies as a society we have come to rely upon them, changing our
lives to the extent that many consider them necessities rather than luxuries (e.g. electricity,
television and radio, the Internet, even running water). If taken to the extreme, this dependence
can strip us of some of the things we enjoy, that make us human.

Sometimes people are happier if they are ignorant about the truth, but as individuals, we seek
the truth. How we negotiate this challenge is likely a question that will concern us throughout
our lives.

Striking a balance between what is good for individuals and what is good for society is a
concern in democratic nations.

Many people in our society consider the family to be the cornerstone of our society. We depend
on the family in many ways to enable society to function.
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Misunderstanding

Students will struggle grasping the magnitude of the changes to daily living brought by the
technological advancements of the 1930’s.

Students will have very little understanding of economic systems and governments beyond
democracy and capitalism.
Essential Questions

What role does technology play in sustaining human life and happiness? To what extent is society
controlled by technology and science? How is this control both good and bad?
Brave New World warns of the dangers of giving the state control over new and powerful technologies.
This essential questions conforms to (McTighe, 2005), in the sense that it positions the EQ as the vessel
for working towards the identified standards and objectives. This question specifically advances
learning towards four desired understandings identified under Stage One: Knowledge.

What ethical issues are involved in creating, lengthening, and improving life?
This question asks students to consider both explicit and implicit moral dilemmas, while examining
societal microcosms. (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005), maintain that the truly essential questions establish
priorities and help uncover all key ideas. I see these questions as both framing a successful analysis of
Brave New World and providing entry points for subordinate skills and concepts. Wiggins & McTighe,
2005), caution against stating questions that will not be explored thoroughly in the course of the unit. I
have been cautious to follow this advice and have selected questions intentionally designed to pave the
way for targeted understandings and learning objectives.

Are truth and happiness incompatible?
Similarly, this question maintains both real-life and textual significance and advances students towards
understandings identified under Stage One: Knowledge.

How is consumerism both beneficial and harmful in society?
(Wiggins & McTighe, 2005), explain related sets of overarching and topical questions are most
effective. While this questions is overarching, a logical topical counterpart is easily imagined i.e. How
is consumerism presented as both beneficial and harmful to society in Brave New World.
Page 4 of 66
Knowledge
Students will know…
Students will be able to…
Key Concepts/Terms
Novel Specific Skills
Societal/Economic Systems
 Utopia versus Dystopia
 Totalitarianism
 Egalitarianism
 Oligarchy
 Plutocracy
 Socialism
 Communism
 Free Market Capitalism
Conditioning
 Classical Conditioning
 Operant Conditioning
 Four possible consequences of a behavior
 Positive Reinforcement
 Schedules of Reinforcement and Extinction
 Negative Punishment
 Positive Punishment
 Negative Reinforcement
Propaganda Techniques
 Name Calling
 Glittering Generalities
 Transfer
 Testimonial
 Plain Folks
 Card Stacking
 Band Wagon



Historical figures and facts associated with
novel (Henry Ford, Pavlov, Freud, the Model
T) and how those influence the society.
Technological advances imagined by Aldous
Huxley compared with technological
advances realized by societal progress.
Key terms: viscose, acetate, pneumatic,
soma, Malthusian (belt), ectogenesis, caste,
hypnopaedia, viviparous, savage.

Compare, contrast techniques of social
control utilized in Brave New World
with 1984.

List aspects of society, technology,
government, etc. in Brave New World
that have come into being. Consider
those that have not.

Discuss aspects of eugenics in novel as
they relate to recent advances in human
cloning and genetic manipulation.
Debate pro’s and con’s of issue.

Work cooperatively and compose a
proposal for a utopian society
(persuasive writing, propaganda
techniques).

Analyze and evaluate our own society in
terms of Huxley's warnings.

Compare and discriminate between
ideas to determine their feelings about
consumerism, science, technology, truth,
happiness, the role of the individual, and
the role of the family.
General Skills

Identify elements of fiction.

Distinguish novel from other literary
forms.

Explain motivation in literary
characters.

Respond to theme(s) of novel.

Recognize and appreciate connections
among cultures.
Page 5 of 66
STAGE TWO—ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE
Performance Task(s)

Create media presentations and written report using multi-media resources using effective
images, text, graphics, music and/or sound effects that present a distinctive point of view on a
theme from the novel.

Student debate: Debate modern equivalents of controversial issues presented in the text.

Satire Abstract: Using Brave New World as a template, draft a satirical abstract of a futuristic
society based on observations of current behaviors.

Students will complete a webquest where they will be tasked to assume employment in
Department of Propaganda.

Weekly literary blog responses: Respond to weekly blog prompt and respond to a minimum of
two peer postings.
Page 6 of 66
Key Criteria
See Analytic/Holistic Rubrics
Other Evidence
 Reading verification quizzes
 Notebook check
 Teacher/Student writing conference
 Informal observation of discussion participation.
 Vocabulary quizzes
 Confusion/Questions log: Generate and maintain

a log of confusing, contradictory, or
ambiguous concepts and passages.
Writing on demand: Regularly demonstrate understanding through unannounced writing on
demand prompts.
Page 7 of 66
STAGE THREE—LEARNING PLAN
Lesson
12th Grade Honors Lesson on Genetic
Engineering:

Prior to the unit, students will be asked to
electronically customize the car of their
choice and bring the final product to class.
Students will be asked, “If they had the
same liberties in customizing a child what
types of characteristics would they
choose?”

Next students will be informed they might
soon be faced with this same moral
dilemma. Students will read a series of
articles describing “designer babies” and
genetic engineering?

Students will debate related moral/ethical
issues in choosing characteristics like
gender, eye color, skin color…

Students will read and discuss scholarly
analysis of the technology theme in Brave
New World.

Students will revisit the essential question,
“What ethical issues are involved in
creating, lengthening, and improving life?”

Students will be reminded to annotate
examples of technology being used a
vehicle for societal control throughout the
novel.
WHERETO
12th Grade Honors Lesson on Genetic
Engineering:

Hook, Tailor

Explore

Rethink, Reflect

Where and Why

Evaluate

Where and Why
Page 8 of 66
Lesson
12 Grade Honors Lesson on The Class System in
Brave New World:
th





Society in the brave new world is divided
into five distinct classes. The highest caste
being Alphas and the lowest class is the
Epsilons. Citizens are genetically engineered
with only enough intelligence to perform the
tasks required for their given class. In this
segment of the unit, students will be divided
in the same manner, with the same color
indicators, and will complete corresponding
duties by class. The Alpha’s will engage in a
leadership discussion, while the Epsilons
clean the classroom. Similar exercises will
continue throughout the first four chapters of
the novel.
Inevitably students will complain about the
unfair system. When complaining reaches a
fever pitch, students will be introduced to the
concepts of Soma and Hynopedia. Soma is a
drug much like LSD, and Hynopedia is
essentially conditioning; both function to
maintain passivity in Brave New World.
Students will recall prior knowledge of
classic conditioning. As honors students
many will have a working knowledge of
Pavlov and his related concepts.
Eventually, students will be asked to
compare the use of propaganda,
conditioning, media, and drugs/alcohol in our
society versus the brave new world. These
lessons should ideally be delivered upon
completing chapter six of the novel.
Again, students will revisit their themes list
and will be reminded to annotate examples of
propaganda, conditioning, media, and
drugs/alcohol being used as vehicles for
societal control throughout the novel.
WHERETO
12 Grade Honors Lesson on The Class System
in Brave New World:
th

Hook

Tailor

Organize, Tailor

Where and Why

Where and Why

Evaluate, Organize

Rethink, Reflect
Page 9 of 66
Lesson
12 Grade Honors: Brave New World
th
WHERETO
12 Grade Honors: Brave New World
th
Lesson 1 ch. 1, Virtual tour Central London
Hatchery and Conditioning Centre

Hook
Lesson 2 ch. 2, Conditioning experiment

Explore
Lesson 3 ch. 3, The French braid contest/analogy,
structure=French braid

Organize, Tailored
Lesson 4 ch. 4, Caste system exercise

Where and Why
Lesson 5 ch. 5, Mock Solidarity Service

Evaluate, Rethink, Reflect
Lesson 6 ch. 6, Discussion: Soma-drugs and culture

Explore, Where, and Why
Lesson 7 ch. 7, Scene enactment at the savage
reservation

Tailored
Lesson 8 ch. 8, Literary Allusion handout

Where and Why
Lesson 9 ch. 9, Study of subtext and character
motivation

Evaluate, Organize

Evaluate, Organize

Evaluate, Organize

Tailored

Tailored
Lesson 14 ch. 14, Writing about death and loss

Explore Rethink, Reflect
Lesson 15 ch. 15, Discussion: dissatisfaction with
the status quo

Tailored
Lesson 16 ch. 16, The cost of happiness exercise

Evaluate, Rethink, Reflect
Lesson 17 ch. 17, Dramatic Oral reading of closing
chapters

Evaluate, Rethink, Reflect
Lesson 10 ch. 10, Contrast and foils
Lesson 11 ch. 11, Structure and Conflict in Brave
New World
Lesson 12 ch. 12, Community Sing-socialism today
Lesson 13 ch. 13, The Feelies and surrogates
exercise
Page 10 of 66
Sun
~ September 2010 ~
Tue
Wed
Thu
1
2
Mon
Reading
Quiz
Test
Project
Due Date
5
6
7
8
9
Fri
Sat
3
4
10
11
Introduce Work
Review essential
Questions/Unit
Goals
Homework
Background notes
and Ch 1.
12
13 BNW
14 BNW
15 BNW
16 BNW
17 BNW
Ch. 2
Ch. 3
Ch. 4
Ch. 5
Ch. 6
Utopia versus
Dystopia
19
26
Totalitarianism Plutocracy
Egalitarianism Socialism
Communism
Oligarchy
Aldous Huxley
Historical
context
Satire
plot/themes
20 BNW
21 BNW
Ch. 7
Ch. 8
Free Market
Capitalism
Character
Plot
Theme
22 BNW
Ch. 9
viscose,
acetate,
pneumatic,
soma,
Malthusian
(belt),
ectogenesis,
caste,
hypnopaedia,
viviparous,
savage
24 BNW
Ch. 10
Ch. 11
27
28 BNW
29 BNW
30 BNW
Ch. 12
Ch. 13
Ch. 14
Name Calling
Propaganda Glittering
Techniques Generalities
Transfer
Symbols exercise
23 BNW
Negative
Punishment
Positive
Punishment
Negative
Reinforcement
Test
Vocabulary/systems
Quiz 1
Cover Art
Conditioning
Classical
Conditioning
Operant
Conditioning
Four possible
consequences of a
behavior
Positive
Reinforcement
Essay
Due Date
18
Transfer
Testimonial
Plain Folks
Card Stacking
Band Wagon
Tone
Mood
Humor
Soma
25
Vocabulary/conditioning
Quiz 2
Community Sing
Assign
Project
Notes:
Presentations
Page 11 of 66
Appendix A
Blog Response Rubric
CATEGORY
Strong -4 points
Proficient -3 points
Preparation of Blog entry shows evidence of
thorough preparation through
blog entry
reading or reflection. Author speaks
as one who has knowledge to share.
Developing -2 points
Beginning-1 point
Blog entry shows evidence of Blog entry shows little
preparation through reading or evidence of preparation
reflection. Author speaks as
through reading or reflection.
one who has knowledge to
share.
Blog entry shows
no evidence of
preparation
through reading or
reflection.
Quality of
content
Blog entry contains substantial
information for reader. The entry
addresses the focus question(s)
completely.
Blog entry contains substantial
information for reader. The
entry addresses the focus
question(s).
Blog entry contains minimal
information for reader. The
entry addresses the focus
question(s).
Blog entry contains
minimal information
for reader. The entry
does not address the
focus question(s).
Personal
reflection
Blog entry conveys extensive
evidence of a personal response to
the focus question(s); demonstrates
the author's growth through
reflection on learning.
Blog entry conveys evidence
of a personal response to the
focus question(s);
demonstrates the author is
capable of reflecting on
learning.
Blog entry conveys little
evidence of a personal
response to the focus
question(s).
Blog entry shows no
personal response to
the focus
question(s).
Comments to two classmates'
blog entries. Reply shows
some thought has been given
to other students' comments
and new reply promotes some
conversation
Comments to two classmates'
blog entries. Reply shows little
thought has been given to
students' comments and new
reply promotes little
conversation.
Comments to
classmates' blog
entries are not
submitted.
Blog entry may have some
errors in standard written
English that rarely interfere
with understanding.
Blog entry has several kinds of
errors in standard written
English that interfere with
understanding.
Blog entry has
frequent and severe
errors in standard
written English that
interfere with
understanding.
All written requirements were
met.
Requirements were
not met on time
Comments on Comments to two classmates' blog
others' entries entries. Reply shows careful thought
given to other students' comments
and they reply in a manner that
promotes conversation. New reply
challenges peers to think critically.
Conventions
Blog entry shows few, if any errors
in standard written English that do
not interfered with understanding.
Requirements All written requirements outlined on All written requirements were
the assignment sheet were met on
met on time with clear
time with clear expression. Answers expression.
were comprehensive.
Score: _________/ 24
_______________%
Page 12 of 66
Appendix B
Literary Analysis Writing Rubric
Skill Area
6
Responses at
this level:
Offer
insightful
interpretations
of the text
with analysis
that goes well
beyond a
literal level.
5
Responses at
this level:
Offer
accurate
interpretations
of the text
with analysis
that goes
beyond a
literal level.
Development
Specific and
relevant
details that
support the
thesis
Develop ideas
clearly,
elaborate on
specific
textual
evidence, and
reveal an
insightful
understanding
of the
author’s use
of literary
elements and
techniques.
Develop ideas
clearly,
explain key
textual
evidence, and
reveal an
understanding
of the
author’s use
of literary
elements and
techniques.
Organization
Thesis
statement and
organization
of key
elements of
support and
paragraphing
Contain a
compelling
thesis
statement, use
insightful
analytical
topic and
concluding
sentences, and
make skillful
use of
transition
words and
phrases.
Use language
that is
precise,
engaging, and
sophisticated
and
incorporate a
wide range of
varied
Contain a
clear thesis
statement, use
topic and
concluding
sentences, and
make use of
transition
words and
phrases.
Contain a clear
thesis
statement but
ideas within
paragraphs
may be
inconsistently
organized.
Make some
attempt to use
basic
transitions.
Use language
that is
original and
incorporate
some varied
sentence
patterns.
Use
appropriate
language and
make some
attempt to use
sentence
variety but
with uneven
success.
Meaning
Sound
understanding,
interpretation,
and analysis
Language
Word choice
and sentence
variety
4
Responses at
this level:
Convey an
accurate
although
somewhat
basic
understanding
of the text and
offer partially
explained
and/or
somewhat
literal
interpretations.
Develop some
ideas more
fully than
others, using
relevant textual
evidence and
reveal some
understanding
of the author’s
use of literary
elements and
techniques.
3
Responses at
this level:
Convey a
partly
accurate
understanding
of the text and
offer few or
superficial
interpretations
with a
tendency to
retell.
2
Responses at
this level:
Convey a
confused or
largely
inaccurate
understanding
of the text and
offer unclear
interpretations.
1
Responses at
this level:
Provide no
evidence of
understanding
and make no
interpretations.
Develop ideas
briefly or
partially,
using some
textual
evidence but
w/o much
elaboration
and reveal a
vague
understanding
of the author’s
use of literary
elements and
techniques.
Fail to
maintain
focus on the
thesis
statement.
Exhibit a basic
structure but
lack
coherence.
Make an
inconsistent
attempt to use
transitions.
Contain textual
evidence that is
vague,
irrelevant,
repetitive
and/or
unjustified
and reveal a
confused
understanding
of the author’s
use of literary
elements and
techniques.
Do not include
textual
evidence and
reveal no
understanding
of the author’s
use of literary
elements and
techniques.
Establish a
confused or
irrelevant
thesis. Exhibit
some attempt
to provide a
beginning,
middle, and an
end. Make
little attempt
to use
transitions.
Fail to include
a thesis.
Exhibit a
complete lack
of
organization.
Make no
attempt to use
transitions.
Rely on basic
vocabulary and
rely on a
limited range
of syntactic
structures.
Use language
that is
imprecise or
unsuitable and
reveal a
confused
understanding
of how to write
in complete
Use language
that is
incoherent or
inappropriate
and include a
preponderance
of sentence
fragments and
run-ons.
Page 13 of 66
Conventions
Spelling,
punctuation,
capitalization,
usage
sentence
patterns.
Demonstrate
control of the
conventions
with
essentially no
errors.
sentences.
Demonstrate
control of the
conventions,
exhibiting
occasional
errors only
when using
sophisticated
language
(e.g.
punctuation of
complex
sentences).
Demonstrate
partial control,
exhibiting
occasional
errors that do
not hinder
comprehension
(e.g. incorrect
use of
homonyms).
Exhibit
frequent errors
that somewhat
hinder
comprehension
(e.g.
agreement of
pronouns and
antecedents,
spelling of
basic words,
errors in verb
tenses).
Exhibit
frequent errors
that make
comprehension
difficult (e.g.
subject-verb
agreement).
Exhibit
numerous errors
of several
kinds.
Appendix C
Power Point Presentation Rubric
Power Point Presentation Title _____________________________Date: ______________
Group members: ______________________________________________________________
CATEGORY
Content
RESPONSIBILITIES
The information we gave was interesting or important to others.
We were well informed about our topic.
We included reliable, factual information.
We added supportive detail to the main point(s).
We utilized my prior projects for support.
Organization
We organized ideas in a logical way.
The information and arguments/details were easy to understand.
We stayed focused and did not get off the topic.
The introduction included a clear statement of the main point(s).
The body of the presentation contained supportive details about the main
point(s).
Page 14 of 66
We included a strong conclusion was present.
Visual Aids
And Technology Use
Pictures and graphics improved the presentation or reinforced main points.
Pictures, graphics and their placement were creative.
Presentation was attractive.
Letters and fonts were easily viewed and read by the entire audience.
Slides contained no spelling or grammatical errors.
Delivery
We maintained eye-contact most of the time.
We spoke to the entire audience, not just one or two people and everyone
could hear us.
We didn't speak too fast or too slow.
We used standard grammar.
We used my notes but I did not read directly from them.
Resources
We used resources that addressed the topic.
We used authentic print resources.
We used interviews with others as a resource.
We used our own words in the speech; we didn't copy all the words.
Group Name: ____________________________________________________________
Title of Presentation: _____________________________________________________
Page 15 of 66
CATEGORY
Excellent-4
Good-3
Satisfactory-2
Content Accuracy
All content throughout
the presentation is
accurate. There are no
factual errors.
Most of the content is
accurate but there is
one piece of
information that
seems inaccurate.
The content is
Content confusing or
generally accurate, but contains more than
one piece of
one factual error.
information is clearly
inaccurate.
Sequencing of
Information
Information is
organized in a clear,
logical way. It is easy
to anticipate the next
slide.
Most information is
organized in a clear,
logical way. One slide
or piece of
information seems out
of place.
Some information is
There is no clear plan
logically sequenced.
for the organization of
An occasional slide or information.
piece of information
seems out of place.
Effectiveness
Project includes all
material needed to
give a good
understanding of the
topic. The project is
consistent with the
driving question.
Project is lacking one
or two key elements.
Project is consistent
with driving question
most of the time.
Project is missing
more than two key
elements. It is rarely
consistent with the
driving question.
Project is lacking
several key elements
and has inaccuracies.
.Project is completely
inconsistent with
driving question.
A few graphics are not
attractive but all
support the topic of
the presentation.
All graphics are
attractive but a few do
not support the topic
of the presentation.
Several graphics are
unattractive AND
detract from the
content of the
presentation.
Use of Graphics All graphics are
attractive (size and
colors) and support
the topic of the
presentation.
Needs Improvement1
Text - Font
Choice &
Formatting
Font formats (color,
Font formats have
bold, italic) have been been carefully planned
carefully planned to
to enhance readability.
enhance readability
and content.
Font formatting has
Font formatting makes
been carefully planned it very difficult to read
to complement the
the material.
content. It may be a
little hard to read.
Spelling and
Grammar
Presentation has no
misspellings or
grammatical errors.
Presentation has 1-2
misspellings, but no
grammatical errors.
Presentation has 1-2
Presentation has more
grammatical errors but than 2 grammatical
no misspellings.
and/or spelling errors.
Cooperation
Group shares tasks
and all performed
responsibly all of the
time.
Group shares tasks
and performed
responsibly most of
the time.
Group shares tasks
and performs
responsibly some of
the time.
Group often is not
effective in sharing
tasks and/or sharing
responsibility.
Delivery
Members spoke at a
good rate, volume and
with good grammar.
They maintained eyecontact while using,
but not reading their
notes.
Members spoke a little
faster or slower than
necessary, or too
quietly or loudly.
They used acceptable
grammar. They
maintained eyecontact, but relied too
much on their notes.
Members spoke at a
good rate and volume,
but used poor
grammar. They relied
heavily on their notes.
Members
demonstrated having
paid little attention to
rate, volume or
grammar. They read
nearly word for word
from notes.
Page 16 of 66
Brave New World
Cooperative Review Assignment
 The class will be divided into six groups of no more than five
 Each group will become experts on a three chapter section of the novel
and will then instruct and delight the class with their presentation.
 Student presentations will commence Thursday and conclude Friday
(3 groups each day approximately 12 minute presentation time per
group)
Presentation Requirements
 3 page typed summary/analysis of section
 Selection of eight significant quotes/passages/scenes with detailed
explanations and interpretations presented to the class
 Identification of eight literary devices employed in given passage
(symbols, motifs, characterization, imagery) ***see terms handout
 Visual element (PowerPoint preferred)
 Creative element of any kind (poster, art, character diary, creative
writing, enactment, puppet show, poetry, music video)
 1 Outside source worth examining
Presentations should be informative, insightful, creative, and entertaining!
Group 1
Group 4
Ch. 1-3
Ch. 10-12
Group 2
Ch. 4-6
Group 5
Ch 13-15
Group 3
Ch. 7-9
Group 6
Ch 16-19
Page 17 of 66
Rubric for Presenting an Oral Response
to Literature
Use the following rubric to evaluate oral responses to literature.
Rating System
+ = Excellent
X = Average
- = Weak
Content____
Advances a judgment that demonstrates a grasp of the work’s significant ideas____
Supports ideas and viewpoints through references to the text or to other works____
Demonstrates awareness of the author’s use of stylistic devices____
Assesses the ambiguities, nuances, and complexities within the text____
Presents a strong introduction and conclusion____
Delivery_____
Uses appropriate verbal techniques _____
Uses appropriate nonverbal techniques _____
Chooses and maintains a logical organization _____
Concisely summarizes the main ideas of the text _____
Uses evocative language that is clear and unambiguous____
Engages listeners_____
Presentation Summary_____
Attitude toward the piece of literature is apparent and appropriate_____
Attitude toward the audience is apparent and appropriate_____
Preparation is evident and thorough_____
Organization is discernible and effective____
Meets all established requirements______
The preceding alternative assessment was design for my honors level seniors who begin the
school year reading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. In contrast to the following traditional
Page 18 of 66
summative assessment, this assessment functions as a formative assessment designed to reinforce
and promote deeper understanding of the text, which at the honors level is read entirely
independently.
Brave New World
Name______________
Honors English IV
Period______________
1.
In what year does the novel begin?
a. A.D. 632
b. A.F. 634
c. A.F. 632
d. A.D. 634
2.
For what do the letters D.H.C. stand?
a. Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning
b. Director of Hatcheries and Cloning
c. Director of Halcyon and Complaint
d. Director of Hazardous Materials and Cloning
3.
What is Bokanovsky’s Process?
a. checking the abnormal growth of an egg in order to study it
b. checking the normal growth of an egg so that it buds
c. checking the normal growth of an egg to create Omegas
d. checking the abnormal growth of an egg to avoid reproducing undesirable people
4.
Of what is Bokanovsky’s Process a major instrument?
a. various undisclosed processes
b. the Arch-Community Songster’s repetoire
c. social stability
d. the success of the Nine Years War
5.
What is the motto of the World State?
a. Community, Identity and Rigidity
b. Community, Identity and Stability
c. Community, Identity and Atonement
d. Community, Identity and Virility
…We don’t need human intelligence.
6.
Who says the above quotation?
a. Hoover
b. the Director
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c. Fanny
d. Foster
7.
What caste is the speaker discussing in the above quotation?
a. Alphas
b. Betas
c. Deltas
d. Epsilons
8.
What problem is the speaker discussing in the above quotation?
a. the philosophies of certain Controllers who supported Simple Lifers
b. the contrast between mental and physical maturity
c. extending the number of revolutions per minute of blood surrogate for Alphas
d. the trauma of decanting
9.
Pavlov is famous for having conditioned:
a. rats
b. birds
c. children
d. dogs
10.
What are Delta children conditioned against?
a. books and televisions
b. books and soma
c. flowers and soma
d. flowers and books
11.
What colors do Deltas wear?
a. khaki
b. green
c. red
d. blue
“Honestly,” put in the anxious-looking girl, “I didn’t mean to hurt him or anything. Honestly.”
12.
What has just happened?
a. Lenina has just been thrown down by John.
b. A boy has demonstrated his reluctance to join in ordinary erotic play.
c. Bernard has been kicked in the shins by a seven year old Delta Minus.
d. A student has been tricked by a seven year old Alpha Plus
13.
Who was Lenina seeing almost exclusively at the beginning of the novel?
a. Henry Foster
b. Bernard Marx
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c. Helmholtz Watson
d. Mustapha Mond
14.
What is hypnopaedia?
a. the scientific study of hypnotic remedies
b. the process by which ovaries are surgically removed and utilized
c. sleep teaching
d. the method by which Gammas reproduce
15.
What rumor circulates about Bernard Marx?
a. that he finds monogamy repulsive
b. that he drinks while performing his duties at the Center
c. that alcohol was in his blood surrogate
d. that he will become the next World Controller in charge of Western Europe
16.
Who is Ruben Rabinovitch?
a. the polish-speaking child who woke up speaking English
b. the polish-speaking child who saved the World State from annihilation in the Nine
Years’ War
c. the polish-speaking child who escaped the World State and lived on a reservation
d. the polish-speaking child who invented Podsnap’s technique
The Controller’s evocation was so vivid that one of the boys, more sensitive than the rest, turned
pale at the mere description and was on the point of being sick.
17.
What is the Controller’s name?
a. Duns Scotus
b. George Edzel
c. Benito Hoover
d. Mustapha Mond
18.
What did he just describe?
a. the decanting process
b. pre-modern homes
c. the method by which the World State came to power
d. the Violent Passion Surrogate
No wonder these poor pre-moderns were mad and wicked and miserable.
19.
For what reason were pre-modern people mad and wicked and miserable?
a. They were forced to condemn monogamy.
b. They were never faced with a difficult obstacle.
c. Their world didn’t allow them to take things easily.
d. Their world was focused on consumption.
Page 21 of 66
20.
For what reason does Fanny admonish Lenina?
a. allowing herself to become upset regarding the Savage
b. not being promiscuous enough
c. discussing the rumors about Bernard
d. disliking the feelies
21.
For what was Helmholtz Watson well-known?
a. being monogamous
b. having silenced the Naturists
c. being the first World Controller
d. being the Escalator-Squash champion
22.
How does Helmholtz feel about the phrases he writes?
a. They aren’t properly understood by those for whom he writes them.
b. He’s exceptionally proud of their brevity.
c. He’s unconcerned with their historical significance.
d. They aren’t important enough.
23.
What is served in the form of strawberry ice cream during Solidarity Services?
a. a pregnancy substitute
b. peyotl
c. mescal
d. soma
24.
How does Bernard feel after the Solidarity Service?
a. replenished and peaceful
b. violent
c. isolated and empty
d. thoughtful and pleasant
25.
What disquieting mania does Lenina feel that Bernard has?
a. He enjoys writing.
b. He frequents the feelies more often than is normal.
c. He likes to do things in private.
d. He only wants to play Centrifugal Bumblepuppy.
26.
What real problem does Bernard wonder about when he and Lenina are hovering in his
helicopter?
a. What would it be like if he were free to see anyone he liked?
b. What would it be like if he were free from his conditioning?
c. What would it be like if he were able to write what he thought about?
d. What would it be like if her were free to go to Cyprus?
Page 22 of 66
27.
What happened to the Director on the New Mexico Reservation years ago?
a. He learned the native languages as part of a research project.
b. He was trapped there for two years.
c. He left a young woman there.
d. He participated in an actual religious ceremony.
28.
To where does the Director threaten to send Bernard?
a. Iceland
b. Finland
c. Greenland
d. Nova Scotia
29.
Why does the Indian climbing down a ladder arouse horror and amazement in Lenina?
a. because he’s old
b. because he’s carrying the head of a chicken
c. because he’s married
d. because he’s angry
30.
What two images are raised from the ground during the Indian religious ceremony?
a. a coyote and an eagle
b. an eagle and Jesus
c. Jesus and a coyote
d. an eagle and Buddha
31.
What does Linda do to get herself into trouble on the Reservation?
a. She steals mescal from other women there.
b. She tries to kill her child.
c. She isn’t monogamous.
d. She takes too much soma.
32.
What did lines from Hamlet cause John to do years ago on the Reservation?
a. attack Linda
b. go into the mountains and starve himself for five days
c. attack Pope
d. lay on a rock with arms outstretched in the hot sun
Yes, I do find it of sufficient scientific interest.
33.
What does the Controller find of sufficient scientific interest?
a. John and Linda
b. the Director’s story regarding the New Mexico Reservation
c. Biran de Maine’s comments on old age
d. Pavlov’s research into metronomes
34.
What does John do when he sees the Director?
Page 23 of 66
a.
b.
c.
d.
calls him father
tackles him and tries to kill him with a microscope
returns a talisman to him
yells at him in Zuni
35.
How do the other people present react?
a. They call use soma vapor to subdue him.
b. They begin to cry uncontrollably.
c. They laugh.
d. They all begin the rituals normally found in a Solidarity Service.
36.
What does John say to Lenina regarding the film they watch?
a. Why don’t they let us have things like that on the Reservation?
b. Mitsima told me about those films.
c. I don’t think you ought to see things like that.
d. How might I star in a film such as that one?
37.
About what does Helmholtz write a rhyme that gets him into trouble?
a. reading the works of Shakespeare
b. being alone
c. taking soma
d. coming to Solidarity Services
38.
At what Shakespeare play does Helmholtz laugh?
a. The Tempest
b. Romeo and Juliet
c. Coriolanus
d. Julius Caesar
39.
How does John react to Lenina’s advances?
a. He runs away from her and tells Bernard what happened.
b. He takes a gramme of soma and acquiesces.
c. He accepts them and “has” her.
d. He calls her a whore.
40.
What else does he do as a result of her advances?
a. He reports her to the authorities.
b. He gives up his soma habit.
c. He slaps her.
d. He begins to “have” other women.
41.
Why does John leave Lenina locked in a bathroom?
a. because Bernard calls him and tells him that the Arch-Songster wants to see him
b. because Linda calls him and asks for his help in getting back to the Reservation
c. because Linda calls him and asks for his help in finding work
d. because he gets a phone call regarding his mother
Page 24 of 66
42.
When John kisses Linda, what name does she call him?
a. Pope
b. John
c. Savage
d. Helmholtz
“Oo-oh!” said all the hundred and sixty-two simultaneously, as though they were looking at
fireworks.
43.
Who are the hundred and sixty-two?
a. the menial staff of the Park Lane Hospital for the Dying
b. the Indians at the snake ceremony
c. the babies viewing the wildflowers on a gigantic screen
d. members of Bernard’s Bokanovsky group
44.
What has caused this reaction?
a. A vigorous game of electromagnetic golf is being played before them.
b. The lid covering their daily reading ration has been opened.
c. The lid covering their paychecks has been opened.
d. The lid covering their soma ration has been opened.
“I come to bring you freedom…”
45.
Who says the above quotation?
a. Mustapha Mond
b. Fanny
c. Lenina
d. John
46.
What does this person throw out the window?
a. soma
b. food
c. literature
d. clothing
47.
How does Helmholtz react when he sees what’s going on?
a. He runs away to get the authorities.
b. He runs in to help the Savage.
c. He runs in to help Fanny.
d. He runs to get John since Lenina’s in trouble.
48.
How does Bernard react when he sees what’s going on?
a. He runs in to help John.
b. He attempts to protect Lenina from the Deltas.
c. He calls for the authorities.
Page 25 of 66
d. He is too indecisive to do anything.
49.
What caste was involved in the Cyprus experiment?
a. Deltas
b. Gammas
c. Omegas
d. Alphas
50.
What do those involved in the Cyprus experiment eventually do?
a. They reject the scrutiny of the World Controllers and develop their own military.
b. The maintain a peaceful though difficult existence on the island until the
experiment is ended.
c. They return to the mainland to become the deciding factor in the Nine Years’
War.
d. They petition the World Controllers to resume the government of the island.
Essays
Select 3 of 5
1. When John first starts reading Shakespeare, he discovers that the words make his emotions
"more real" - they even make other people more real. Talk about the power of language in the
book, the power of the word to influence thought and behavior. Why did Huxley choose
Shakespeare as the medium of John's intellectual awakening?
2. One of the most striking - and comic - aspects of Huxley's Utopia is the way our sexual mores
and assumptions have been turned on their head: monogamy is bad, passion is deviation, casual,
meaningless sex is the socially approved norm. What is Huxley getting at here? Is there any
expression of human sexuality that he finds acceptable? Is sex at the heart of the "problem" in his
view of human nature?
3. Talk about the morality of the book. Is it a Christian morality? Socialist? Anarchist?
4. When Brave New World was first published in 1932, the world was plunged in depression,
fascism was on the rise in Western Europe, and Marxism appealed to increasing numbers of
intellectuals in Europe and America. Place the book in the context of its historical moment.
Which parts transcend its time and place?
5. As dehumanizing and oppressive as the brave new world Utopia is, the alternative in the
"savage reserve" is in many ways worse - dirty, violent, unhealthy, cruel, uncomfortable. What
point is Huxley making about human nature and the nature of human communities? Is his vision
totally negative - or does the book hold out some shred of hope, some alternative mode that
fosters both freedom and community?
Page 26 of 66
Utopian/Dystopian Society Novel Projects:
A. Individual Project: Quote Journals: List any citations/quotations that strike an
emotional chord in you, or are points that you will remember from the novel. Each entry,
composed of the following information is worth ten points. You may complete up to 10
entries or 100 points. These must be typed, double-spaced (single-spaced for long
quotations) and follow MLA guidelines.
1. Copy the exact citation and page number (MLA)
1 points
2. State who made the comment (character or author)
2 points
3. Explain the situation when the statement/quote is made.
5 points
4. Explain what this statement/quote means to you (2-3
2 points
sentences).
B. Group Project: Overnight (maybe everyone slept for twenty years like Rip Van
Winkle), the World has transformed. Maybe, the earth has actually moved, or
land masses have shifted. Everyone wakes up one morning, no, not as dung beetles, but
as residents of a Utopian Society. You will randomly be placed on a team with 3-4 peers.
Each team has the honor of presenting an analytic summary of all aspects of this society
at a New World Conference. Create a presentation for the conference that includes: a
poster, a PowerPoint presentation, a travel brochure, and a packet containing specific yet
succinct written explanations for every aspect of the country your group represents. Each
group’s job is to sell its country’s concept to the rest of the class. After all of the
presentations have been studied, the class will vote on one of the countries as the Best
Place to Live
NOTE: if this society was known as another country in the 2009 world, state which one it
was. In your Preface, give a 5-10 sentence summary of who, what when, why and how this
new civilization evolved. Be sure to name your country.
Points to Include:
A. PREFACE
1. Topography Map
2. City/Town plat
3. Climate/Weather
4. Society’s Philosophic tenets
5. Government
6. Economic Structure (agriculture, business, industry, manufacturing, jobs, financial
policies. Etc).
7. Legal Systems (Crimes and Punishments)
8. Social Infrastructure (housing, health/medical/mental care, care of children/ elderly/those
not able to function on their own, family compositions/expectations,
public maintenance: Residential/Commercial).
9. Educational System
10. Religion(s)
11. Ethnicity(-ies)
12. Social/Moral/Ethical Expectations
13. Transportation Systems
14. Media (Press, radio, television, etc)
15. Anything else that you want to add.
B. Bibliography: Follow MLA Guidelines for the Works Cited page.
Page 27 of 66
Utopian Society Grading Rubric Group Members: ___________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Grade ________________
Requirements Superior 10 Excellent 9
Satisfactory Needs Work Completed
8
7
Something 6
Analytic
Summaries:
Welldeveloped;
creative;
logical;
succinct;
detailed;
proofread and
revised for
grammar,
usage, spelling
and
punctuation.
Visual
Presentations:
Creative;
logical;
illustrates the
summaries
clearly; shows
effort and time
to complete.
Presentation Evaluation Rubric Group Members: __________________________
______________________________Grade___________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
_______
90-100
80-89
70-79
60-69
Depth of
Information
Preparation
Engaging the
class
Speaking
Clarity
Poise
NOTE: The grades for the written and oral aspects of this project are both averages of
each individual’s grade.
Page 28 of 66
Brave New World
College-Level Analysis Paper
EXPECTATIONS:












include author’s full name and book title in the first paragraph
within your first paragraph, explain your analysis topic and the specific literary
techniques you will be analyzing as they relate to that topic
focus is to be on analysis of the literature, not on plot summary
you should assume your reader is familiar with the work, but provide background
information (minor plot summary, character information) to assist your points
ALL quotations must be introduced before the quote is inserted in the paper (who said it?
to whom? why? what does it prove?)
this is not a “book report” and shouldn’t read as one
all of the analysis will be your own work/ideas
all of the writing will be your own writing
no outside sources are to be used, not even for reference
all general statements will be supported by textual evidence
the level of analysis and writing are to be college-level in sophistication, complexity, and
treatment of the subject matter
organization of ideas will be coherent, logical, sophisticated, with smooth transitions
between ideas
PROMPT:
The following excerpt is from an essay written for an online teacher’s guide (enotes.com):
“Written in 1931 and published the following year, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World is a
dystopian—or anti-utopian—novel. In it, the author questions the values of 1931 London, using
satire and irony to portray a futuristic world in which many of the contemporary trends in British
and American society have been taken to extremes. Though he was already a best-selling author,
Huxley achieved international acclaim with this now-classic novel. Because Brave New World is
a novel of ideas, the characters and plot are secondary, even simplistic. The novel is best
appreciated as an ironic commentary on contemporary values.”
In a thoughtful analysis of the work, explain why the last sentence is true. Include at least three
different literary techniques employed by Huxley to achieve that “ironic commentary.”
You may wish to consider: structure, syntax, point-of-view, narrative technique/framing,
symbolism, paradox, diction, allusion, characterization, imagery, use of figurative language,
situational irony, dramatic irony, verbal irony, hyperbole, motif.
[Note: Do not include plain irony as one of your three, as that is the tone, and is a “given” in this
assignment. The question is…How does Huxley achieve that irony?].
Be careful not to focus only on the ironic tone; explain how the work is a “commentary on
contemporary values” and tell which values, exactly, are being commented upon in this ironic
way (with text support).
Page 29 of 66
TURN IN:
You will turn in the following items stapled behind your final paper:
 handwritten book notes and/or brainstorming notes
 handwritten outline (with page numbers indicating where you will get support from the
text)
 first draft
 Be sure to label each (“outline,” “notes,” “first draft”) at the top.
FINAL PAPER SPECIFICS:








Times New Roman, 12 pt. font
double-spaced
1” margins
heading: name, due date, period
title (centered, no special font treatment of any kind)
pages numbered at the bottom
there is no length limit; it will be as long as you need to concisely make your points and
support them
all quotations AND paraphrasing must have a page number reference. See examples
below:
quotation example:
Mustafa Mond tends to speak in more poetic prose, employing fragmented sentences, vivid
imagery, alliteration, allusion, and figurative language that belies his professed disdain for
literature. One example occurs as he explains the concept of passé parenthood to a group of
curious students: “Mother, monogamy, romance. High spurts the fountain; fierce and foamy the
wild jet. The urge has but a single outlet. My love, my baby. No wonder those poor pre-moderns
were mad and wicked and miserable” (62).
paraphrase example:
Fanny criticizes Bernard’s idiosyncrasies to Lenina in the women’s changing room, citing his
short stature and odd habits as proof that someone made a mistake with his embryo while it was
on the assembly line (41).
Page 30 of 66
Name______________
Brave New World: Chapter 1
1. Why is the first sentence strange? What does it set up?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. What is the meaning of the World State’s motto “COMMUNITY, IDENTITY,
STABILITY?”
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3. Why does the fertilizing room look so cold, when it is actually hot inside?
What goes on there?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4. Why do particulars “make for virtue and happiness,” while generalities “are
intellectually necessary evils?”
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5. How do people know who they are in this society?
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
6. Why use the Bokanovsky process at all? How is it an instrument “of social
stability?”
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
7. Why don’t the Epsilons “need human intelligence?”
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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Page 32 of 66
Name______________
Brave New World: Chapter 2
1. What work does the conditioning do? Who gets conditioned? How does
hypnopaedia work?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Why condition the Deltas to hate nature but love outdoor sports?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3. How does time work in this book? History? Why does Ford say “History is
Bunk?”
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4. What are the various castes like, and why?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5. How do the students demonstrate their own conditioning?
______________________________________________________________________________
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Page 33 of 66
Name______________
Brave New World: Chapter 3
1. How do the children play together? What is childhood like?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. How is our world depicted? How do we get from here to there?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3. Why must games be so complex in this society?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4. Why are strong emotions dangerous? Family relationships? Romance?
Religion? Art? Culture?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5. How is sexuality used in this novel? Do you see any problems with it?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
6. What does Mustapha Mond do? What is his relationship to history?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
7. Is there anything unusual about Lenina Crowne? Bernard Marx? What?
Why?
______________________________________________________________________________
Page 34 of 66
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
8. How does Huxley use the cinematic technique toward the end of this
chapter?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
9. What is soma? What are its uses?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
10. How do people age in this society?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Page 35 of 66
Name______________
Brave New World: Chapter 4
1. What is life like for the Epsilon-Minus Semi-Moron who runs the elevator?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. How do the other Alphas relate to Bernard?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3. What does Lenina do on her date?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4. What does she think of the lower castes?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5. Why is Bernard the way he is? What does he really want?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Page 36 of 66
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
6. Why is Helmholtz the way he is? What does he want? How is he different
from Bernard?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Page 37 of 66
Name______________
Brave New World: Chapter 5
1. What do Lenina and Henry talk about on their way home? What happens at
the crematorium?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Why are stars depressing?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3. What are the solidarity services like? What role do they play? How does
Bernard fit?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Page 38 of 66
Name______________
Brave New World: Chapter 6
1. Why is being alone a bad thing?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. What do Lenina and Bernard do on their first date? Why is the ocean
important? The moon?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3. What does Bernard say about freedom? What does he mean?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4. How does the date end?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5. What does it mean to be infantile in this society?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
6. How does the director feel about Bernard? Why is he warning him?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
7. What does his story mean? What does it show us about him?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Page 39 of 66
______________________________________________________________________________
8. How does Helmholtz feel about Bernard after he hears the story of the
meeting with the director?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
9. What do we learn from the Warden? What are the reservations like?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
10. What does the word Malpais mean?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Page 40 of 66
Name______________ Brave New World: Chapter 7
1. How is the mesa like a ship?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Why doesn’t Lenina like their Indian guide?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3. What is the city itself like? What are the people like? How does Lenina
respond? Bernard?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4. What ceremony do the witness? What does it mean? What does it seem like
to Lenina?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5. What idols emerge from the ground?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
6. How is John Savage different? What does he want? How does he respond to
Page 41 of 66
Lenina?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
7. What is Linda’s story? What has her life been like here? How does Linda
react to her?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Page 42 of 66
Name______________ Brave New World: Chapter 8
1. What was John’s upbringing like? His relationship with Linda? His
education?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Why doesn’t linda want to be called a mother?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3. What social positions do Linda and John hold in Malpais?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4. What does John want in his life?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5. What does Linda tell him about the Other Place?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
6. What does he learn from Shakespeare? How does he relate to Hamlet? The
Tempest?
______________________________________________________________________________
Page 43 of 66
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
7. What does it mean to discover “Time and Death and God?”
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
8. What do John and Bernard have in common?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Why does Bernard want to take John to London?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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Page 44 of 66
Name______________ Brave New World: Chapter 9
1, Why does Mustapha Mond agree to the plan?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. What happens when John watches Lenina sleep? What does he think or
feel?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
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Page 45 of 66
Name______________ Brave New World: Chapter 10
1. How and why was the DHC planning to make an example out of Bernard?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Why is unorthodoxy worse than murder?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3. How does Linda act in the hatchery? How does the DHC react? The
spectators?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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Page 46 of 66
Name______________ Brave New World: Chapter 11
1. Why does John become popular, but not Linda?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. How does Bernard’s life change? How does he react? What does Helmholtz
think?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3. How does Linda spend her time?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4. How does Bernard talk in public?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5. What does Mustapha Mond think of Bernard’s reports?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
6. What does John think of the caste system? Of the clones? How does he use
The Tempest now?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
7. What do we learn about the reservations at Eton? What does John think?
______________________________________________________________________________
Page 47 of 66
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
8. How do the children respond to dying? Why?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
9. How does Lenina feel about John?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
10. What does John think about the feelies? Why?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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Page 48 of 66
Name______________ Brave New World: Chapter 12
1. Why does John decide not to come to Bernard’s party? What does this mean
for Bernard?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. How does Lenina feel at the party? Why does she feel this way?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3. How does John feel? Why is he reading Romeo and Juliet?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4. What does it mean that Lenina likes looking at the moon now?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5. What role does Mustapha Mond play as a censor? Why does he do it? What
does he censor? What does he really want?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
6. How does Bernard’s position change? How do John and Helmholtz respond
to Bernard now?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
7. Why is Helmholtz in trouble with the authorities? What has he done that is
Page 49 of 66
dangerous, and why is it dangerous? Why did he do it? What does he want?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
8. What does Helmholtz think of Shakespeare? Romeo and Juliet?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
9. What does Helmholtz think is necessary for good writing?
______________________________________________________________________________
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Page 50 of 66
Name______________ Brave New World: Chapter 13
1. What are the consequences of Lenina’s emotion? What is happening?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. How does she feel for John? What does she do to get what she wants?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3. How does John feel for Lenina? What does he want to do to prove it?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4. How does John react to Lenina’s actions? Why does he respond this way?
What did he want from her?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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Page 51 of 66
Name______________ Brave New World: Chapter 14
1. What is the hospital for the dying like? What are the dying like?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Note the television. Recall TV did not exist as we know it in 1932.
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
3. Why is Linda dying?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4. What memories flood over John as he stands before his mother? Why these
particular memories? What are his memories of the “other place”? What role
does memory play in civilization?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
5. Why are the Delta children at the hospital? What does John think of this?
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Page 52 of 66
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
6. Why isn’t death terrible for those in the civilized world? What does this mean
for the individual?
______________________________________________________________________________
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Page 53 of 66
Name______________ Brave New World: Chapter 15
1. The title phrase recurs here. How is it used differently than before? What
does it mean now?
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
2. Why does John decide to interfere with the soma distribution? Why does he
say it is poison?
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
3. What is John’s conception of slavery and freedom? Manhood? Liberty?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
4. What does he think of the Deltas to whom he delivers his speech?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5. What roles do Bernard and Helmholtz play here? What does this tell us
about their characters?
Page 54 of 66
______________________________________________________________________________
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6. How does the soma riot end? What does it mean to be happy and good?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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Page 55 of 66
Name______________ Brave New World: Chapter 16
1. How would you describe Bernard’s behavior in this chapter? Why does he
act this way?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Why doesn’t John like civilization?
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3. Why does Mond say old and beautiful things are forbidden?
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4. Why can’t tragedies be written now? What is necessary for tragedy?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
5. What does art mean in the new world? What can’t it mean? What is
Helmholtz’s role?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
6. What does Mond say is the role of liberty? Happiness? Stability? Truth and
Page 56 of 66
Beauty?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
7. How does Mond explain the caste system? Do you agree?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
8. What would happen with an entire society of Alphas?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Why must science be constrained? Progress? Do you agree?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
10. What choice did Mond make as a young physicist? Why? What is his real
position?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Why does Helmholtz make the choice he makes?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Page 57 of 66
Name______________ Brave New World: Chapter 17
1. Why does Mond want to talk with John alone? What do they talk about?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. What is the significance of their discussion of religion? What does John
argue religion can give to civilization? Why does Mond argue that it is
unnecessary and potentially dangerous?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3. What does Mond believe is the role of God? How is it related to the self?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4. What role does solitude play in spirituality?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5. How does John argue that the civilized man has been degraded? From what
and to what?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Page 58 of 66
6. What are your conceptions of the roles of self-denial, chastity, nobility,
heroism? What would John or Mond say?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
7. What role does Mond say soma plays in this? What is an “opiate of the
masses”?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
8. What does it mean “to suffer the sling and arrows of outrageous fortune” or
oppose them?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
9. What does John mean by saying that nothing in civilization costs enough?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
10. In saying no to civilization, what does John say yes to? Would you make
the same decision?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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Page 59 of 66
Name______________
Brave New World: Chapter 18
1. How does John purify himself?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Where does he go, and what does he plan to do there?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3. Does this represent a healthy alternative from society?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4. Why the self-flagellation?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5. What are his thoughts of Lenina?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
6. What makes the film so popular back in London?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
7. What does Lenina want? What does John think she wants?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Page 60 of 66
8. How does the crowd respond? What happens that evening? What becomes of
Lenina?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
9. What is John’s decision? Why does he make it? Were there alternatives?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Source:
http://wiki.english.ucsb.edu/index.php/English_192_Brave_New_World_Discussion_Questions
Page 61 of 66
Aldous Huxley: The Author and his Times - somaweb.org
***Essential Question: What events or experiences in the author's life might have contributed to
Huxley’s writings?
Aldous Leonard Huxley was born on July 26, 1894, into a family that
included some of the most distinguished members of that part of the
English ruling class made up of the intellectual elite. Aldous' father was
the son of Thomas Henry Huxley, a great biologist who helped develop
the theory of evolution. His mother was the sister of Mrs. Humphrey
Ward, the novelist; the niece of Matthew Arnold, the poet;
and the granddaughter of Thomas Arnold, a famous
educator and the real-life headmaster of Rugby School who
became a character in the novel Tom Brown's Schooldays.
Undoubtedly, Huxley's heritage and upbringing had an
effect on his work. Gerald Heard, a longtime friend, said
that Huxley's ancestry "brought down on him a weight of
intellectual authority and a momentum of moral
obligations." Throughout Brave New World you can see evidence of an ambivalent attitude
toward such authority assumed by a ruling class.
Like the England of his day, Huxley's Utopia possesses a rigid class structure, one even stronger
than England's because it is biologically and chemically engineered and psychologically
conditioned. And the members of Brave New World's ruling class certainly believe they possess
the right to make everyone happy by denying them love and freedom.
Huxley's own experiences made him stand apart from the class into which he was born. Even as
a small child he was considered different, showing an alertness, an intelligence, what his brother
called a superiority. He was respected and loved--not hated--for these abilities, but he drew on
that feeling of separateness in writing Brave New World. Bernard Marx and Helmholtz Watson,
both members of the elite class, have problems because they're different from their peers. Huxley
felt that heredity made each individual unique, and the uniqueness of the individual was essential
to freedom. Like his family, and like the Alphas of Brave New World, Huxley felt a moral
obligation--but it was the obligation to fight the idea that happiness could
be achieved through class-instituted slavery of even the most benevolent
kind.
Another event that marked Huxley was his mother's death from cancer
when he was 14. This, he said later, gave him a sense of the transience of
human happiness. Perhaps you can also see the influence of his loss in
Brave New World. The Utopians go to great lengths to deny the
unpleasantness of death, and to find perpetual happiness. But the cost is
very great. By denying themselves unpleasant emotions they deny
themselves deeply joyous ones as well. Their happiness can be continued
endlessly by taking the drug soma by making love, or by playing Obstacle
Page 62 of 66
Golf, but this happiness is essentially shallow. Standing in contrast to the Utopians are the
Savages on the Reservation in New Mexico: poor, dirty, subject to the ills of old age and painful
death, but, Huxley seems to believe, blessed with a happiness that while still transient is deeper
and more real than that enjoyed by the inhabitants of London and the rest of the World State.
When Huxley was 16 and a student at the prestigious school Eton, an eye illness made him
nearly blind. He recovered enough vision to go on to Oxford University and graduate with
honors, but not enough to fight in World War I, an important experience for many of his friends,
or to do the scientific work he had dreamed of. Scientific ideas remained with him, however, and
he used them in many of his books, particularly Brave New World. The idea of vision also
remained important to him; his early novels contain scenes that seem ideal for motion pictures,
and he later became a screenwriter.
He entered the literary world while he was at Oxford, meeting writers like Lytton Strachey and
Bertrand Russell and becoming close friends with D. H. Lawrence, with whom you might think
he had almost nothing in common.
Huxley published his first book, a collection of poems, in 1916. He married Maria Nys, a
Belgian, in 1919. Their only child, Matthew Huxley, was born in 1920. The family divided their
time between London and Europe, mostly Italy, in the 1920s, and traveled around the world in
1925 and 1926, seeing India and making a first visit to the United States.
Huxley liked the confidence, vitality, and "generous extravagance" he found in American life.
But he wasn't so sure he liked the way vitality was expressed "in places of public amusement, in
dancing and motoring... Nowhere, perhaps, is there so little conversation... It is all movement
and noise, like the water gurgling out of a bath--down the waste. Yes, down the waste." Those
thoughts of the actual world, from the book Jesting Pilate, were to color
his picture of the perpetual happiness attempted in Brave New World.
His experiences in fascist Italy, where Benito Mussolini led an
authoritarian government that fought against birth control in order to
produce enough manpower for the next war, also provided materials for
Huxley's dystopia, as did his reading of books critical of the Soviet
Union.
Huxley wrote Brave New World in four months in 1931. It appeared
three years after the publication of his best-seller, the novel Point
Counter Point. During those three years, he had produced six books of stories, essays, poems,
and plays, but nothing major. His biographer, Sybille Bedford, says, "It was time to produce
some full-length fiction--he still felt like holding back from another straight novel--juggling in
fiction form with the scientific possibilities of the future might be a new line."
Because Brave New World describes a dystopia, it is often compared with George Orwell's
1984, another novel you may want to read, which also describes a possible horrible world of the
future. The world of 1984 is one of tyranny, terror, and perpetual warfare. Orwell wrote it in
Page 63 of 66
1948, shortly after the Allies had defeated Nazi Germany in World War II and just as the West
was discovering the full dimensions of the evils of Soviet totalitarianism.
It's important to remember that Huxley wrote Brave New World in 1931, before Adolf Hitler
came to power in Germany and before Joseph Stalin started the purges that killed millions of
people in the Soviet Union. He therefore had no immediate real-life reason to make tyranny and
terror major elements of his story. In 1958 Huxley himself said, "The future dictatorship of my
imaginary world was a good deal less brutal than the future dictatorship so brilliantly portrayed
by Orwell."
In 1937, the Huxleys came to the United States; in 1938 they went to Hollywood, where he
became a screenwriter (among his films was an adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and
Prejudice, which starred the young Laurence Olivier). He remained for most of his life in
California, and one of his novels caricatures what he saw as the strange life there: After Many a
Summer Dies the Swan. In it the tycoon Jo Stoyte tries to achieve immortality through scientific
experimentation, even if it means giving up humanity and returning to the completely animal
state--an echo of Brave New World.
In 1946 Huxley wrote a Foreword to Brave New World in which he said he no
longer wanted to make social sanity an impossibility, as he had in the novel.
Though World War II had caused the deaths of some 20 million inhabitants of
the Soviet Union, six million Jews, and millions of others, and the newly
developed atomic bomb held the threat of even more extensive destruction,
Huxley had become convinced that while still "rather rare," sanity could be achieved and said
that he would like to see more of it. In the same year, he published The Perennial Philosophy, an
anthology of texts with his own commentaries on mystical and religious approaches to a sane life
in a sane society.
He also worried about the dangers that threatened sanity. In 1958, he published Brave New
World Revisited, a set of essays on real-life problems and ideas you'll find in the novel-overpopulation, overorganization, and psychological techniques from salesmanship to
hypnopaedia, or sleep-teaching. They're all tools that a government can abuse to deprive people
of freedom, an abuse that Huxley wanted people to fight. If you want to further relate his bad
new world to the real world, read Brave New World Revisited.
In the 1950s Huxley became famous for his interest in psychedelic or mind-expanding drugs like
mescaline and LSD, which he apparently took a dozen times over ten years. Sybille Bedford says
he was looking for a drug that would allow an escape from the self and that if taken with caution
would be physically and socially harmless.
He put his beliefs in such a drug and in sanity into several books. Two, based on his experiences
taking mescaline under supervision, were nonfiction: Doors of Perception (1954) and Heaven
and Hell (1956). Some readers have read those books as encouragements to experiment freely
with drugs, but Huxley warned of the dangers of such experiments in an appendix he wrote to
The Devils of Loudun (1952), a psychological study of an episode in French history.
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Another work centering on drugs and sanity was Island (1962), a novel that required 20 years of
thought and five years of writing. Among other things, Island was an antidote to Brave New
World, a good Utopia. Huxley deplored the drug he called soma in Brave New World--half
tranquilizer, half intoxicant--which produces an artificial happiness that makes people content
with their lack of freedom. He approved of the perfected version of LSD that the people of Island
use in a religious way.
Huxley produced 47 books in his long career as a writer. The English critic Anthony Burgess
has said that he equipped the novel with a brain. Other critics objected that he was a better
essayist than novelist precisely because he cared more about his ideas than about plot or
characters, and his novels' ideas often get in the way of the story.
But Huxley's emphasis on ideas and his skin as an essayist cannot hide one
important fact: The books he wrote that are most read and best remembered today
are all novels--Crome Yellow, Antic Hay, and Point Counter Point from the 1920s,
Brave New World and After Many a Summer Dies the Swan from the 1930s. In
1959 the American Academy of Arts and Letters gave him the Award of Merit for
the Novel, a prize given every five years; earlier recipients had been Ernest
Hemingway, Thomas Mann, and Theodore Dreiser.
The range of Huxley's interests can be seen from his note that his "preliminary research" for
Island included "Greek history, Polynesian anthropology, translations from Sanskrit and
Chinese of Buddhist texts, scientific papers on pharmacology, neurophysiology, psychology and
education, together with novels, poems, critical essays, travel books, political commentaries and
conversations with all kinds of people, from philosophers to actresses, from patients in mental
hospitals to tycoons in Rolls-Royces...." He used similar, though probably fewer, sources for
Brave New World.
This list gives you some perspective on the wide range of ideas that Huxley studied. He also
wrote an early essay on ecology that helped inspire today's environmental movement. And he
was a pacifist. This belief prevented him from becoming an American citizen because he would
not say his pacifism was a matter of his religion, which might have made him an acceptable
conscientious objector.
Huxley remained nearly blind all his life. Maria Huxley died in 1955, and Huxley married Laura
Archera a year later. He died November 22, 1963, the same day that President John F. Kennedy
was assassinated. He was cremated, and his ashes were buried in his parents' grave in England.
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Utopias and Dystopias
Brave New World belongs to the genre of utopian literature. A utopia is an imaginary society
organized to create ideal conditions for human beings, eliminating hatred, pain, neglect, and all
of the other evils of the world.
The word utopia comes from Sir Thomas More's novel Utopia (1516), and it is derived from
Greek roots that could be translated to mean either “good place” or “no place.” Books that
include descriptions of utopian societies were written long before More's novel, however. Plato's
Republic is a prime example. Sometimes the societies described are meant to represent the
perfect society, but sometimes utopias are created to satirize existing societies, or simply to
speculate about what life might be like under different conditions. In the 1920s, just before Brave
New World was written, a number of bitterly satirical novels were written to describe the horrors
of a planned or totalitarian society. The societies they describe are called dystopias, places where
things are badly awry. Either term, utopia or dystopia, could correctly be used to describe Brave
New World.
Satire In satire, human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to
censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods, ideally with the intent
to bring about improvement.
*Although satire is usually meant to be funny, the purpose of satire is not primarily humour in
itself so much as an attack on something of which the author strongly disapproves, using the
weapon of wit.
Totalitarianism (or totalitarian rule) is a concept used to describe political systems where a state
regulates nearly every aspect of public and private life.
Egalitarianism is a political doctrine that holds that all people should be treated as equals, and
have the same political, economic, social, and civil rights
Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or
collective ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
Free Market Capitalism A free market is a market in which property rights are voluntarily
exchanged at a price arranged completely by the mutual consent of sellers and buyers.
*By definition, in a free market environment buyers and sellers do not coerce each other, in the
sense that they obtain each other's property without the use of physical force, threat of physical
force, or fraud, nor is the transfer coerced by a third party
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