1. Intro dystopian literature

• newEditor
• Engels
• Upper Secondary (Key Stage 4)
• GCSE

Goals for today 

Introduction to utopian and dystopian literature

Learning what the features are of this genre 

Considering how dystopian the openings are of five novels

See article from The British Library as homework for contextual information

Make quiz for this text. 

The dissolution of the self 

Write down what you see, think and wonder

F. Bate, 1838 Published by "The Association of all Classes of all Nations"

Utopia 

Utopia is a perfect world. In utopias there are not problems like war, disease, poverty, oppression, discrimination, inequality and so forth. The word utopia is made-up from Greek roots by Sir Thomas Moore in 1516. More wrote a book called Utopia. Depending on the Greet roots used, utopia can either mean 'no place' or 'good place'. 

'ou' = 'no' or 'not' and 'topos' = 'place' 

Have you happened upon the term 'utopia' in a current context? 

What do you associate it with? 

What do you see, think and wonder? 

By Viktor Öhman "City Wallpaper" 2014

Dystopia

Dystopia, on the other hand, is a world in which nothing is perfect. The problems that plague our world are often even more extreme in dystopias. Dystopia is a play on the made-up word 'utopia' using the root 'dys', which means 'bad' or 'difficult'. Words like dysfunctional or dyslexia illustrate the use of this prefix. 

Have you happened upon the term 'dystopia' in a current context? 

What do you associate it with? 

Have you come across it in literature or in film or streaming? 

Make a list, in your exercise book,  of the characteristics that you think are present in as dystopian society.

Some characteristics of a dystopia

• Propaganda is used to control the citizens of society. 
  

• Information, independent thought and freedom are restricted. 

• A figurehead or concept is worshipped by the citizens of the society. 

• Citizens are perceived to be under constant surveillance. 

• Citizens have a fear of the outside world. 

• Citizens live in a dehumanised state. 

• The natural world is banished and distrusted. 

• Citizens conform to uniform expectations. Individuality and dissent are bad. 

• The society is an illusion of a perfect utopian world. 

Look at the opening of the novel you have been given 

Identify and write down your ideas on: 

1. dystopian language 

2. dystopian themes

3. dystopian characters

3. Any emotional responses or ideas that are generated through your text.

On the paper 

1. Construct a mind map with the following 'arms' :

• dystopian language - examples and discussion of the effects. 

• dystopian themes - example(s) and discussion of the importance.

• dystopian characters - example(s) and discussion of the effects.

• (intended) emotional response from the reader. 

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The extracts 

1. Fahrenheit 451  - Ray Bradbury 

2. The Hunger Games -Suzanne Collins 

3. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood 

4. A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess

5. Never Let me Go  - Kazuo Ishiguro

Join, together in a group, with the other students who had your extract. Form a group so that you face each other. 

Tour the annotated extracts, rank them from most dystopian(highest number), to least dystopian(lowest number). Write the points you give in your exercise book. We will vote on the next screen 

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Text 1: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

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Text 2: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

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Text 3: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

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Text 4: A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

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Text 5: Never Let me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

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Some characteristics of a dystopia

For critic Tom Moylan, the critical dystopia doesn’t just set out a negative vision: it uses the portrait of a nightmare future in order to launch a political

critique of the present. Moylan suggests this form offers ‘explorations of the oppositional spaces and possibilities from which

the next round of political activism can derive imaginative sustenance and inspiration’ – that is, out of the rubble the chance of an alternative future.

Reference: Tom Moylan, Scraps of the Untainted Sky: Science Fiction, Utopia, Dystopia (Boulder: Westview, 2000), p. xv.