What image(s) is depicted on the covers? What year was your cover used for the book?  Do you think the year of publication has any relationship to the style or content of the image? What do you think the novel might be about, based on the cover images? What themes, or big ideas, do you think will be explored in the novel? 

First edition, 1932, by Leslie Holland BNW as pulp novel: Bantam Giant, 1952, Charles Binger

Penguin Modern Classics, 1971 Harper Perennial Classics, 1998

 

   

HarperCollins, 2004 Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2005

Harper Perennial, 2006, by Greg Kulick Vintage Classics, 2007

Penguin Readers, 2008Everbind, 2009, by Harold Shull “My son Kevin posed for me for this cover.”

Brave New 

by Aldous Huxley

World

uto·pia noun \yu�-ˈtō-pē-ə\

Definition of UTOPIA1

: an imaginary and indefinitely remote place

2

often capitalized : a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions

3

: an impractical scheme for social improvement

Examples of UTOPIA

The town's founders wanted to create a Christian utopia.

It's a nice place to live, but it's no Utopia.

Origin of UTOPIAUtopia, imaginary and ideal country in Utopia (1516) by Sir Thomas More, from Greek ou not, no + topos placeFirst Known Use: 1597

                                                                                                                                  1: an imaginary and indefinitely remote place2often capitalized : a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions3: an impractical scheme for social improvementExamples of UTOPIA

The town's founders wanted to create a Christian utopia. It's a nice place to live, but it's no Utopia.

Origin of UTOPIAUtopia, imaginary and ideal country in Utopia (1516) by Sir Thomas More, from Greek ou not, no

+ topos placeFirst Known Use: 1597

dys·to·pia noun \(ˌ)dis-ˈtō-pē-ə\

Definition of DYSTOPIA  an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives2: anti-utopia 2— dys·to·pi·an adjectiveOrigin of DYSTOPIANew Latin, from dys- + -topia (as in utopia)First Known Use: circa 1950

science fiction noun

definition of SCIENCE FICTION : fiction dealing principally with the impact of actual or imagined science on society or individuals or having a scientific factor as an essential orienting component— sci·ence–fic·tion·al adjectiveExamples of SCIENCE FICTION

Time travel exists only in the realm of science fiction.First Known Use of SCIENCE FICTION1851

Speculative fiction - DefinitionSpeculative fiction is an all-encompassing term which includes science fiction, alternative history (fiction), horror and fantasy.The term is often used among writers and publishers who wish to break out of what is commonly called the "sci-fi ghetto". There is an unfortunate tendency, among both many publishers and a large segment of the reading public, to expect only science fiction stories from a person who has once written science fiction. Writers such as Harlan Ellison (an outspoken advocate of the term) have deliberately rejected identification as a science fiction writer for precisely such reasons; they don't reject the science fiction genre (in which Ellison, for example, still participates) but they do reject pigeonholing their work.The abbreviation "sf" (usually spelled in lowercase, but occasionally uppercase) is often used to indicate either speculative fiction or what is traditionally known as "science fiction".This term is coming into more frequent usage among younger fans who wish to break down the literary barriers between the horror, fantasy, and science fiction genres.The term is also sometimes used without any implication of breaking down barriers or breaking out of the ghetto, simply as a convenient shorthand way to refer to multiple genres at once.See also: Internet Speculative Fiction DataBase

Source: http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Speculative_fiction

Some common themes of dystopian fiction:• authority (who has it? who should have it?)• technology (is it always good?)• advertising/propaganda • the individual vs. the group (privacy, conformity)• the individual vs. government or society (the

conflict between the right of the individual citizen to freedom versus citizens' function in or responsibility to society)  

• Sometimes an author will write dystopian fiction in order to critique aspects of his/her current (contemporary) government, political system, or society. (Why might an author do this--what is to be gained by setting a work in the future, rather than in the present or past?) 

 Brainstorm some examples of contemporary dystopian or science fiction movies and/or

television shows.

What are some other examples of contemporary dystopian, science, or

speculative fiction?

"Fresh Hell: What's behind the boom in dystopian fiction for young readers?" by Laura Miller for The New Yorker

 "And, of course, most American schoolchildren are at some point also assigned to read one of the twentieth century’s dystopian classics for adults, such as Brave New World or 1984...Sambell argues that 'the narrative closure of the protagonist’s final defeat and failure is absolutely crucial to the admonitory impulse of the classic adult dystopia'... Sambell’s observation implies that dystopian stories for adults and children have essentially the same purpose—to warn us about the dangers of some current trend. That’s certainly true of books like 1984 and Brave New World; they detail the consequences of political authoritarianism and feckless hedonism. This is what will happen if we don’t turn back now, they scold, and scolding makes sense when your readers have a shot at getting their hands on the wheel."

"If, on the other hand, you consider [current YA dystopian literature an] allegory of the adolescent social experience, they become perfectly intelligible.  Adults dump teen-agers into the viper pit of high school, spouting a lot of sentimental drivel about what a wonderful stage of life it's supposed to be.  The rules are arbitrary, unfathomable, and subject to sudden change.  A brutal social hierarchy prevails, with the rich, the good-looking, and the athletic lording their advantages over everyone else.  To survive you have to be totally fake.  Adults don't seem to understand how high the stakes are; your whole life could be over, and they act like it's just some 'phase'!  Everyone's always watching you, scrutinizing your clothes, or your friends and obsessing over whether you're having sex or taking drugs or getting good grades, but no one cares who you really are or how you really feel about anything."

Contemporary young adult dystopian fiction...

"Children, however, don’t run the world, and teen-agers, especially, feel the sting of this... [YA dystopian fiction] operates like a fable or a myth, a story in which outlandish and extravagant figures and events serve as conduits for universal experiences... It’s not about persuading the reader to stop something terrible from happening—it’s about what’s happening, right this minute, in the stormy psyche of the adolescent reader. 'The success of Uglies,' Westerfeld once wrote in his blog, 'is partly thanks to high school being a dystopia.'"

"The typical arc of the dystopian narrative mirrors the course of adolescent disaffection."

"Then somebody new, a misfit, turns up, or stumbles on an incongruity.  A crack opens in the facade.  If the society is a false utopia, the hero discovers the lie at its very foundation...If society is frankly miserable or oppressive, the hero will learn that, contrary to what he's been told, there may be an alternative out there, somewhere."

"The part about the world being broken or intolerable, about the need to sweep away the past to make room for the new?  That part never gets old."

Read more: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2010/06/14/100614crat_atlarge_miller#ixzz15yHCsETP

Your Homework    

Please answer the following questions:

What do you imagine the future will be like?  (Think about technological advancements, way of life, etc.)

What are the current problems in society/ the world?  How do you see these problems evolving or developing in the future?