Transcript Utopia and Dystopia - Welcome to Ms. Chapman's Class

UTOPIA AND DYSTOPIA
DYSTOPIA AND UTOPIA
dystopia (n.)
"imaginary bad place," 1868, apparently coined by J.S. Mill ("Hansard
Commons"), from Greek dys- "bad, abnormal, difficult" (see dys-)
+ utopia. Related: Dystopian.
utopia (n.)
1551, from Modern Latin Utopia, literally "nowhere," coined by Thomas
More (and used as title of his book, 1516, about an imaginary
island enjoying the utmost perfection in legal, social, and political
systems), from Greek ou "not" + topos "place"
Source: http://www.etymonline.com/
VIDEO CLIP
UTOPIAN CONCEPTS
A beautiful society with a general pacifistic attitude
Poverty and misery are removed
Very few laws are necessary
Money is not necessary
People do only work that they enjoy and which benefits the common
good
RELATED IDEAS: SCIENCE
Advanced science and technology will abolish suffering and death
DYSTOPIA
The antonym of utopia
An imaginary place where people lead dehumanised and often
fearful lives
DYTSTOPIAN CONCEPTS
Totalitarian dictatorship
Glorification and justification of violence
Technology replaces humanity
Negative social trends are taken to nightmarish extremes
CHARACTERISTICS OF DYSTOPIAN
LITERATURE
Fictional and futuristic
Dystopias serve as warnings to comtemporary people
Comment on our own current society
DYSTOPIA IN THE MAKING
WHAT IF. . .
No one had to go to school?
You could have an iPod in your brain?
Your computer could read your thoughts?
No one had to pay taxes?
Everyone had plastic surgery?
Babies were scientifically created?
Utopian and dystopian societies are often present in science fiction
literature.
A utopia refers to a perfect society that does not exist or can never exist
 Star Trek is an example of a utopian society because humankind has overcome sickness,
racism, poverty, and warfare
A dystopia is the opposite of a utopia and is usually
characterized by a totalitarian society.
What does totalitarian mean?
 In short, it refers to a society in which nearly every aspect of public and private behavior is
regulated by the state.
Characteristics of a dystopian society:
 A poor standard of living among the lower and middle classes
 A protagonist that questions the society
 Set in the future but resembles contemporary society
 A current example is The Hunger Games.
Character Development
Examples of how society is a utopia or dystopia
Foreshadowing
Important Plot Events
Symbolism
Important Theme Development
Quotable Quotes
UTOPIAN/DYSTOPIAN NOVELS UNIT
*You will read The Giver as a class and complete discussions and
activities on the novel.
*You will read one more novel of the same genre from the list and
discuss the novel with your literature circle.
*You will need to bring your novel to class each Tuesday for
discussion.
*Upon completing the activities for both novels, you will work in a
group of your choice to complete a project in which you will design a
Utopian society. The guidelines are very specific and you must
complete all aspects of the society and present it to the class to get
credit.