utopia vs dystopia

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 5

Utopias and Dystopias

Purpose of this lesson

At the end of this lesson, you will understand:

• the similarities and differences between a utopia and a dystopia
• the characteristics of dystopian fiction
• why "The Handmaid's Tale" is dystopian

Thomas More’s “Utopia”

• Lawyer, sheriff, statesman
  
• Friend of Erasmus
  
• 1516 publishes Utopia
  
• A story about travel to an ideal society
  
• Not the first but the definition of the genre
  
• A commentary on society
  

• .....
• .....
• Eutopia
  
• Topos = place
  
• Eu = good
  
• “the perfect society” →

• ....
• ....
  
• Outopia
  
• Topos = place
  
• Ou = not
  
• “does not exist”/“nowhere”
  

A Meaningful pun

Recognizable

A utopia cannot be completely different from our society, it must resemble it, and appear to be a progression from or alternative version of our current society.

watch the following video

Decide if it is a utopia or a dystopia.

Is a utopia-for-all possible? Explain

Dystopia 

dys=bad + topos=place

What are some rules we have in our society or in our school that limit personal freedom in some way?

Why are these rules in place? When is it okay to limit personal freedom for the benefit of society?

Techniques used in dystopian literature 

During the following video take notes on:

- The techniques mentioned

- A historical moment when looking for a utopia has turned into a dystopia

- Other techniques, you see in the video, that define dystopian literature? For example, isolation etc.

0

Dystopian society in fiction

• Citizens' lives are closely controlled by a government or corporation by means of technology, religion or ideology.
•  The truth about the world is kept from most members of society
• Citizens must conform to the rules.  Individuality is a bad thing. 
• Citizens are dehumanized.
• The society presents the illusion of a utopia to its citizens.
• The main character in dystopian works is one of the few to see the truth.

Dystopian fiction criticizes

Technology

Ideology

Religion

The Seven Deadly Sins

Margaret Atwood

Birth Date : November 18, 1939 (age 80)

Education: Radcliffe College, Victoria College, Harvard University

Place of Birth: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada 

Setting

• The near future
• Republic of Gilead -> a Christian totalitarian society that has replaced the United States
• A city in what used to be New England

 “You often hear in North America, "It can't happen here," but it happened quite early on. The Puritans banished people who didn't agree with them, so we would be rather smug to assume that the seeds are not there. That's why I set the book in Cambridge.”​

Characters

• Offred​
  
• Moira​ 
  
• The Commander​ 
  
• The Commander’s Wife​ 
  
• Luke​ 
  
• The Daughter​ 
  
• Janine​ 
  
• Ofglen​
  
• Aunts Lucy, Elizabeth, Sara, Lydia, Helena​ 
  
• Rita and Cora​ 
  
• Nick​