Transcript Brave New World - Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District

Brave New World
Terms and Allusions for
Understanding
A.D.


Anno Domini
Latin for Year of our Lord
Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon

The first 5 letters of the Greek alphabet
Big Ben

Commonly refers to London’s 4-sided
clock tower (although it is actually the bell
that sounds within)
Charing Cross

District in Westminster, London, so named
as the place where Edward I placed the last
of a series of crosses for his deceased wife
Eleanor of Castile
English Channel

The arm of the Atlantic that runs between
Great Britain and France
Eugenics

The belief that the human race can be
improved through selective breeding, e.g.
encouraging reproduction by persons
thought to have desirable traits, and
discouraging those thought to have genetic
defects or undesirable traits.
Henry Ford and the Model T

Innovator of using the moving assembly
line to mass produce cars. Introduced in
1908, the Model T was his first car to be
produced this way.
Herbert Hoover


31st President of the United States.
Before becoming president, as the head of
the American Relief Administration, he
helped to feed millions of starving
Europeans, because the ravages of war,
and even extended aid to Soviet Russia.
Was president during the stock market
crash of 1929, but was seen as not doing
enough to help the American people.
Vladimir Lenin


Leader of the Bolshevik faction of the
Russian Social Democratic Worker’s Party
(a socialist party), led the October
Revolution, which put his party into power.
Known for his mercilessness with the
opposition and his disregard for the
sufferings of his countrymen.
Thomas Malthus


A British economist of the late 1700s/early
1800s, especially concerned with overpopulation
Malthusian: Relating to Malthus or to his
theory that population, unless checked (as
by war or disease), tends to increase at a
faster rate than its means of subsistence.
Mal Pais

Spanish for “bad land” or “bad country”
Karl Marx

German philosopher, wrote The
Communist Manifesto with Friedrich
Engels.
Benito Mussolini


Fascist dictator of Italy from 1922-1943,
forming an alliance with Hitler’s Germany.
At one point, he was a fervent socialist, but
changed his political beliefs.
Ivan Pavlov

Russian physiologist who is known for his work
with classical conditioning. He ran experiments
with dogs where he presented them with meat
powder which resulted in salivating. He then
presented them with the powder while ringing a
bell, resulting in an association between meat and
the sound of the bell. Finally, just by ringing the
bell, the dogs would salivate. He was backed by
the communist Soviet government.
Predestination

The idea that God, or another force, has
already decided an individual’s outcome;
fate, destiny.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s idea of a
“noble savage”

The innate goodness of uncivilized man
that has not been corrupted by civilization.
George Bernard Shaw

Irish playwright, and prominent member of
the Fabian Society (a British socialist
organization)
Satire

A literary work holding up human vices and
follies to expose, ridicule, or scorn, with the
goal to ultimately bring about change.
Soma

A plant with hallucinogenic
properties that was consumed
during spiritual rituals by the IndoAryan peoples of Central Asia,
about 4,000 years ago.
Leon Trotsky

Trotsky was a key figure in the
Bolshevik seizure of power in
Russia, second only to Vladimir
Lenin in the early stages of Soviet
communist rule. But he lost out to
Joseph Stalin in the power
struggle that followed Lenin's
death, and was assassinated
while in exile.
Utopia

Coined by Sir Thomas More, author of
Utopia, describes an ideal country. It is a
place of perfection especially in laws,
government, and social conditions. From
Greek, meaning “no place”
Dystopia

Often, what in conception was thought of
as a utopia, turns out horribly wrong. An
imaginary place where people lead
dehumanized and often fearful lives.