Teaching Dystopian Literature to a Consumer Class

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Teaching Dystopian Literature to a Consumer ClassAuthor(s): Rachel WilkinsonSource: The English Journal, Vol. 99, No. 3 (Jan., 2010), pp. 22-26Published by: National Council of Teachers of EnglishStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40503477 .

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Rachel Wilkinson

Teaching ystopian

Literatureo

a

Consumer

lass

Wilkinson eaches

BraveNew World nd

Feed to attune tudents'

sensibilities o consumerist

culture.

students

re

struggling

with

more

depression

nd

anxiety

han

ever

before. hese

are characteristic

dangers

f the consumer

lass

1.7

billion

people

worldwide

who are

character-

ized

by

diets

of

highly

processed

ood,

desire

for

bigger

houses,

more

nd

bigger

ars,

higher

evels

of

debt,

nd

lifestyles

evoted

o

the accumulation

of

non-essential

oods

Mayell).

Mindless

onsum-

erism

hreatens

hysical,

ocial,

and

psychological

health;

otal

bstinence,

n

the other

hand,

means

starvation. ow do we guide students o navigate

such

reacherous,

hifting

eas?

I

teach

dystopian

iterature,

hich

exagger-

ates

our

modern

ontext

o

thatwe can

challenge

it.

Providing

or

ts readers

glimpse

nto horri-

fying

ut

fully

possible

future,

Aldous

Huxley's

Brave

New

World

nd M. T.

Anderson's

eed how

howunrestrained

ndustry

ften

elies n

manipu-

lation

and

herd

mentality,

n

unspeakably

rim

encroachment

n

the

ndividual.

When

the

mpor-

tant

hing

s

selling

nd

buying,

he ndividual

e-

comes

nothing

more

than

consumer

or worker.

This iswhere tgetstricky: oung people ovead-

vertising,

onsuming,

ntertainment,

nd

technol-

ogy.

f

we

attack

hese

rappings

fmodern

ife,

we

risk

nurturing

efensiveness.

he

challenge

s

to

focus

n

the

dangers,

emands,

nd

opportunities

common

o

the

consumer

lass

without larm-

ism

difficult

errain o

navigate.

t's

a matter

f

human

nature,

ot stuff:

man n

using

his reason

to

create

he ultimate

ifeof

pleasure

has ceased

to

be

human

Greenblatt

7).

Dystopian

iterature

suchas Feed nd BraveNew World s to

consuming

as Frankenstein

s to

cloning

theoretical

xplora-

tion nd

warning.

Four

mportant

raits fmodern onsumerism

that

hese wo

novels ddress

re

powerful

dvertis-

ing

and

industry,

indless

onsumption

ased on

instant

ratification,

eliance n

technology,

nd

the

resulting trophy

f

anguage.

English

eachers

an

explore

these

mportant

oncepts

with their tu-

dents,

s I

explain

below.

Using

these

exts,

we can

meaningfully

iscuss

what t means o

be

responsi-

ble, aware, nowledgeable,nd moral onsumers.

Advertising

nd

Industry:

A

fantastic

denial

of

humanity

Industry

s driven

by

two

things: upply

nd de-

mand.

Huxley's

Brave

NewWorld

BNW)

explores

what

happens

when

the

supply

ide is sinister

nd

revered.God

has been

replaced

by

a

golden

dol,

Henry

ord,

who was

famously

o focused

n

profit

and

efficiency

hat

he

sacrificed

mpathy,

morality,

and the

health

nd

happiness

fhis workers.

nfor-

tunately,ursuing conomicwealth t theexpense

of

ethicalbehavior

s

today

real

occurrence,

s the

Enron

nd

Madoff candals

rove.

athers,mothers,

retirees

people

are reduced o

the roleof

dupable

consumer

s

captains

f

ndustry

hrive. ord's

most

important

ontribution

o

ndustry

s,

of

ourse,

he

production

ine.

Significantly,

he first

wo

chapters

of

BNW

take

place

entirely

n The

London

Hatchery

and

Conditioning

entrewhere the

principle

f

mass

production

is]

at

last

applied

to

biology

22

English

ournal

9.3

(2010):

22-26

This content downloaded from 196.21.233.64 on Sat, 12 Apr 2014 18:51:08 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions






Rachel

Wilkinson

(Huxley

).

As theDirector

ays

with

certain,

us-

tified

rrogance,

What s an ndividual? . . We

can

make new

one with he

greatest

fease as

many

as

we

like

148).

This s an attack n

Henry

ord's

mass-productionodel of consumerism.ndividu-

als are not

important

members f

oving

families,

but

they

re

prized

s consumers.

While

BNW

explores upply,

eed

explores

demand.

In

Andersons

dystopia, dvertising

s

rampant.

nd

t

sells

omething

amiliar:

oolness.

Apathetic

nd oblivious

o

the

world

round

him,

the

eenaged

itusheeds

hefeed's all: Sometimes

thatmade me feel

kind of tired.

t

was like

kept

buying

hese

hings

o be

cool,

but cool was

always

flying

ust

ahead of

me,

and

I

could

never

xactly

catch

up (Anderson

79).

Nor

does

he

possess

i-

ther he kills

r

thecharactero awaken o

reality.

Consuming goods

and entertainment

s

all

he

knows o

do. School™

doesn't

help;

t's subsidized

by corporations:

Some

of

the

big

media

congloms

got

together

nd

gave

all

this

money

nd

bought

the chools

o

that ll of them ould

have

comput-

ers

and

pizza

for unch

nd

stuff,

hich

they

ave

for

ree,

nd now

we do stuff

n classes bouthow to

work

technology

nd how

to find

bargains

nd

what's he

best

way

o

get

a

job

andhowto decorate

our bedroom

110).

Because

School™

is more

aboutmarketinghan ducational ffort,cademic

rigor

s less

mportant

han

onsuming.

This

is,

again,

not

pure

fantasy.

remember

the

faculty

meeting

t

a

school where used

to

teach:

We

were asked

by

our

principal

o

drink

Coke,

whichhad

just

helpedpay

for Scoreboard

for

he football

ield.

Certainly,

e do drinkCoke:

every ay

everalmachines

rovide

undreds f af-

feinated

odas,

purchased

y

tudents

ho will find

themselves,

ust

minutes

ater,

oo

restless owork

on

a research

aper.

t's not

ust

odas.

Many

drinks

sold

in

cafeterias

xacerbate

r

perhaps

ven cause

ADD andADHD, which s linked odifficultiesn

school

Berner).

Lately,

chool cafeteria

ood has

been

n the

headlines,

riticized

or

eing

fattening

and

enervating.

houldn't

he food

help

students

concentrate?

houldn't

t

be

nutritious?

hen

what

we sell

n

schools

eads

to

hyperactivity

nd

obesity,

what

messages

do

we

send about our educational

priorities?

n

another

xample,

NCTE

has

ong

op-

posed

the inclusion f Channel

One in the

class-

room because

of the intrusions f

commercial

television

dvertising.

et

Channel

One

remains.

As

these tories

rove,

xaggerating

chools

nto

n

economic nstead

f ntellectual

marketplace

s

just

that

exaggeration,

ot fiction.

Instant

Gratification:

A

hard

master

In

BNW,

those elements

hatmost

challenge

nd

define s have

been

extirpated; urpose

s

replaced

with

hedonism,

ubstancewith

rtifice,

nd

aware-

nesswith

blivion: One believes

hings

ecause ne

has

been

onditionedo

believe

hem

Huxley

34).

The

people

are

expected

o

have whatever

hey

want,

or,

more

precisely,

want

whatever

hey

have.

They

are

happy.

ut

they

aveno

Instant

gratification

thrives on

mindlessness.

choice:

theyget

what

they

want,

nd

they

never

wantwhat

hey

an't

get.

. .

They're

o

conditioned

that

they

practically

an't

help behaving

s

they

ought

o behave

220).

That'swhat

keeps

he con-

omy

trong:

Industrial ivilization

s

only

possible

when there's o self-denial.

elf-indulgence

p

to

the

very

imits

mposed y

hygiene

nd

economics.

Otherwise,

hewheels

top turning

237).

As a

re-

sult

of

his nstant

ratification,eople

reunable o

think or

hemselves,

ecause here's o timefor

e-

flectionndnothing ut desire.

Instant

ratification

hrives

n

mindlessness.

Anderson's

ystopia

nvisions hildren nd

adults

so

fully

ooked

up

that

nformationnd advertise-

ments

pour directly

nto theirbrains.

Titus,

the

teenaged rotagonist,

s aimless nd

unintentional

in his

decisions,

waiting

for

nstructionsrom he

feed to tell

him

what to

say,

do,

and think:

[I]t

knows

everything ou

want and

hope

for,

ome-

timesbefore

ou

evenknowwhat

those

hings

re.

It

can tell

you

how to

get

them,

nd

help you

make

buying

ecisions

hat rehard.

verything

e

think

and feel s taken nbythecorporations.. all you

have o do is want

omething

nd there's chance

t

will

be

yours

48).

People

are so

dependent

n

these ransmissions

hat

ducation, wareness,

nd

languagedecay.

In

both

BNW

and

Feed,

t

s

nearly

mpossible

not to be assimilated ecause

no

space

ies between

wanting

nd

having.

There's

simply

no

time for

anything

o

deepen.Again,

his s not far

ry

rom

modern

ociety.

oncentration

s

getting

arder,

n

English

Journal 23







Teaching

Dystopian

Literature o

a Consumer

Class

part

due to the nternet.

he BBC

recentlyeported

that urattention

pans

an be as short

s nine ec-

onds

when

we're

urfing

he

Web

( Turning ).

We

skim

rather han

ead,

whichmirrors

ow

we think:

Inthe

uiet spaces pened

upbythe ustained,n-

distracted

eading

f

a

book,

or

by

any

other ct

of

contemplation,

or

hat

matter,

we

makeour own

associations,

raw

urown nferences

nd

analogies,

foster ur

own

deas.

Deep reading

.. is indistin-

guishable

rom

eepthinking

Carr).

Not

only

re

abilities

o read and

think

hanging,

ut

how

we

interact

ith each other

s,

too. Insteadof

waiting

days,

weeks,

r

months or

etters,

e are

updated

instantly

ith ext

messages.

tudents

eceive ount-

less

updates

n rumors

nd

relationshipsvery

our

on their ellphones. askedmy uniors

how

many

times

hey

heck

heir exts

uring

chool:

I

don't

think

you

can count

t. It's

11

a.m. and I've

al-

ready

hecked

t,

ike,

20

times.

Seriously,

uring

the

day,

t's ike a million

imes.

At

least

50,

60

timesa

day

that's

not an

exaggerated

umber.

My

school,

y

the

way,

as a no cell

phone olicy.

Reliance

on

Technology:

11

An

ever intenser

boredom

In

BNW,

people

are

generally

nable to

perform

even mall asks or hemselves.hey've iven hose

tasks

to

the machines.

John

the

Savage,

however,

maintains

is

independence

nd frees

imself

rom

the

oppressivelyhoughtless

ndhedonistic

ociety.

He

cannot ssimilate.Raised

in

a world without

machines,

where ife

s

hard nd

not

alwayspretty

and

where he value of

a man s

based

on

strength,

courage,

kill,

and othercharacteristicsbsent

n

his new

home,

John

refuses he ife

of

dleness

nd

pleasure.

his

young savage

ees theweakness

n-

herent n

the

ociety

where

nothing

osts

nough

(Huxley

239).

He

seeks

meaning

nd

depth

nd

fi-

nally retreats o a place outside the decadence:

After hose weeks of

idleness

n

London,

with

nothing

o

do,

whenever e wanted

nything,

ut

to

press

switch

r

turn

handle,

t

was

pure

de-

light

to

be

doing something

hat

demanded kill

and

patience

247).

He had

atrophied

n the and

of

easy

iving.Only

his outsider

tatus

llows

him

tounderstand hat he natives

ever

o.

Reliance

on

technology

s

typical

f modern

dystopias.

n

Feed,

itus cannot

magine

ifewith-

24

January

010

out

machinery.

When

a hacker

disrupts

Titus's

transmission,

e

panics

n his freedom.

e falls

nto

a coma

and,

when

he

awakens

n the

hospital,

is

reliance

n

thefeed

s so

strong

hat

t

is

his second

orthirdmpulse oopenhiseyes.First, e tries o

get

his

bearings

rom he

feed:

Everything

n

my

head

was

quiet.

t was

fucked

Anderson

4).

He's

like a boat

without

pilot,

the ails

were

up,

and

the rudder

was, well,

whatever

udders

re,

but

there

was no

one

on board

to look

at the

horizon

(49).

The

expulsion

oes

not

ast

ong.

He is

quickly

reassimilated,

ependent

nce

again

on

his feed

or

information,

nderstanding,

nd

desire.

Again,

this s

not

merely

cience

fiction.

n

his

article Is

Google

Making

Us

Stupid?

Nicholas

Carr

notes,

Over

he

past

few

years

've

had an

un-

comfortable

ensethat

omeone,

r

something,

as

been

tinkering

ith

my

brain,

emapping

he

neu-

ral

circuitry,eprogramming

he

memory.

. .

I'm

not

thinking

he

way

used

to

think.

he

article

cites

the evidence

hat

thought

s

being

traded

or

efficiency:

When

we read

online

.

.

,

we tend

to

become

mere

decoders f

nformation.'

ur

ability

to

interpret

ext,

o

make

the richmental

onnec-

tions

that

form

when we

read

deeply

nd

without

distraction,

emains

argely

isengaged.

We've

all

seen

ndications

hat tudents'

ives are

dominated

bytechnology.ne student aid to me years go,

when

challenged

im

to

turn ff

is

television,

If

there

were

no

TV,

whatwould

do

with

my

ime?

I'm

not

suggesting

hatwe are so

fully

ssimilated

by technology

hat we cannot

operate

without

t,

but

we

certainly

ould not

recognize

ur ives

de-

void of

t.

Atrophy

f

Language:

11

Always

diminishing

Although

NW does not

directly

ddress

anguage

entropy,eed uestions echnology'smpact n in-

dependent

thought.

George

Orwell

investigated

how

language

affects

hought

n Nineteen

ighty-

Four.

n The

Principles

f

Newspeak,

history

f

Oceania

notesthat the

expression

f unorthodox

opinions,

bove

very

ow

evel,

was

well-nigh

m-

possible.

..

It

would

have been

possible,

for

x-

ample,

to

say Big

Brother

s

ungood.

But

this

statement,

hich to

an

orthodox

ar

merely

on-

veyed

self-evident

bsurdity,

ouldnot

have

been







Rachel

Wilkinson

sustained

y

reasoned

rgument,

ecause heneces-

sary

wordswerenot

vailable

Orwell

309;

empha-

sis

in

original).

Tve been astonished verthe

years

to earn hat

many

tudents ee

this

ype

fmalevo-

lentgovernmentalontrol s laughable comically

evil.

They

doubt

an outsideforce ould wield

this

kindof ontrol.

Theymay

be on to

something.

n

Feed,

he an-

guage

trophies

s

a result f aziness

nd

gnorance,

not

by

fiat. ike

BNWs

John

he

avage,

itus

girl-

friend iolet s not ssimilated.

he understands

hat

when

you

have hefeed

ll

your

ife,

ou're

rought

up

to not

hink bout

hings.

. .

Because

f he

feed,

we're

raising

nation f idiots.

gnorant,

elf-cen-

tered diots

Anderson

13).

One

symptom

f

Ti-

tuss

gnorance

s thathe cannot

indwords

orwhat

he

wants o

say.

As a

result,

e knows

nly

o articu-

late

whathe wants o

buy,

wear,

rwatch ecause

he

feed

s focused

olely

n

advertising,

ntertainment,

and

consumption.

onsequently,

itus both

con-

sumes nd s consumed.

Fortunately,

don't

think

anguage

entropy

happens

xactly

s Anderson

redicted.

ut

it

hap-

pens.

Writing

or

The

Atlantic,

arr

findshimself

thinking

ifferently

ecause

media

are not

just

passive

channels

f

information.

hey

supply

the

stuff

f

thought,

ut

they

lso

shape

the

process

f

thought.And what the Net seemsto be doingis

chipping

way

my capacity

or oncentration

nd

contemplation.

he

immediate

ccessof

nforma-

tion on

the

nternet

educes

he need

to seek

and

delve.

Everything

s

available:

blogs,

rticles,

ov-

els,

studyguides

all

without

rimacy

nd

with-

out

hierarchy.

n

the

Internet,

nformation o

longer

as to

wend ts

waypast

editors

nto

book

or

ournal,

o students

on't

lways

nderstand

hat

an

article

n a database

yields

more

ualitative

n-

formation

han

a

plot

summary

n

SparkNotes.

This results

n students

sking

why hey

an't

ust

read he parkNotesnstead f he ssignednovel.

concede:

f ll the tudents

re

getting

rom

eading

is

plot

and theme

and not

the subtle

forceof

beautiful

rose

they

ave

point.

For nother

x-

ample

of

language

losing power

and

reliability,

challenge

tudents

o

delete

ike

from heir

ocabu-

lary.

ome

find

t

impossible

o

speak.

They

cannot

find he

words

o

say

exactly

what

they

mean.Like

allows

themto launch

theirwords

near a

target

without ven

hoping

for

bull's-eye.

nexact,

un-

trustworthy,

nd flaccid

anguage

fails

o form nd

inform nternal

andscapes.

Approximate

ecomes

like,

good enough.

Discussion Starters

Dystopian

visions can

help

studentsdeconstruct

their

ontexts,

hich s crucialnow

more

han

ver.

Unrestrained,

he worst of

the consumer lass

habits devastate the

environment,

eter critical

thinking,

isable

anguage,

and,

ome

ay,

ontributeo

terrorism

in

developing

countries

Diamond ).

The

BBC's

documentaryhopol-

ogyhighlights

ome addi-

tional truths about our

consumerist,

leasure-seek-

ing society.

he documen-

tary

otes hat

what

we

buy

defines

how we see our-

selves,

our

lifestyles,

ur

peergroups,

nd ourmoods

The immediate ccess of

informationn the

Internet educes he need

to seek and delve.

Everythings available:

blogs,

articles, ovels,

studyguides-

all

without

rimacy

nd

without

hierarchy.

(Shah).

n a

real

way,

onsumerismffects ow we

see

and interactwiththeworld.As

educators,

we

should

help

tudents

uestion

nd

challenge

he o-

cial forces

hat

re

nforming

heir

abits, ecisions,

andpersonalities.

I

use

a

variety

fdiscussion

tarterso

get

stu-

dents

hinking

boutconsumerist

ulture efore e

read

BNW and Feed:

1

Is life

asy

for s

today?

s

it

too

easy?

2.

Give

examples

fhow

peopleescape

from

everyday

ife. s

it

necessary

o do so?

Why

or

why

not?

3. Is ournation oo focused

n consumerism?

Explain.

4. What have

you bought

hisweek?

Why?

Do

you

needthese

hings?

5. Do youownany lothes, lectronics,tc. that

you rarely

r never se?

Why?

6. Read and

respond

o

HillaryMayell's

As

Consumerism

preads,

arth

uffers,

tudy

Says.

What,

f

nything,urprised

ou?

How

might

we solve omeofthese

ssues?

Are

you

concerned?

Why

or

why

not?

During

he

reading,

bring

n

current

ongs

r

satiric

mock ds from dbusters

agazine

o ensure

that lassdiscussionsre

ively;

elevision

rograms,

English

ournal 25







Teaching Dystopian

Literature

o a Consumer Class

such as

Family

Guy

and The

Simpsons,

hich

will

need to be

previewed

or

ppropriate

ontent;

nd

documentaries,

uch s

Super

ize Meand The

Corpo-

ration. o

me,

this

s more

than

ust

pedagogy,

o

I've also started dailycarbonemissionswebsite

with a

blog

that ddresses

onsumernd environ-

mental ssues

http://www.salamanderpoints.com).

I

also

assign

meaningful

ritings:

Walk

out-

side

at

night

owatch the starsfor

n

hour;

write

about

t. Walk around

he

mall and

people-watch;

don't

buy

anything.

earn bout

propaganda

ech-

niques

and

analyze

ommercials;

hat are

they

e-

ally selling?

The

list is almost

endless,

but the

important

hing

s

to

identify

hallenges

nd look

for olutions

o life

n

the consumer

lass.

Do

not

simply

ondemnmodern

ife. tudents

re

eager

o

make n

impact;

we should all on them

o act.

be

savior.

or

his

part,

Anderson

ntroduced

is

YA

satire

with he

poem

Anthem

or t.

Cecilia's

Day

from

W.

H.

Auden

that

speaks

adly

of

children,

so

gay

against

the

greater

ilences

/ Of

dreadful

thingsyoudid ... Bothauthorswarnus against

ourselves.

Ultimately,

s

teachers,

e must

model

for tudents

ivesthat

re not

merely

atiated

but

wildly

meaningful.

Works Cited

Anderson,

. T. Feed.

002.

Cambridge:

andlewick,

004.

Print.

Berner,

aren.

ADHD:

7

Suspect

Food

Additives.

The

Daily

Green.

2

Sept.

2007.

Web.

4

Oct.

2008.

<

ht

p:

/

ww. hedai

ygreen

om/heal

hy-eat

ng/eat

-safe/639O>.

Carr,

Nicholas.

Is

Google

Making

Us

Stupid?

he

Atlan-

tic.July/Aug.008. Web. 27 Mar.2009. <http://

www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google>.

Diamond,

ared.

What's

our

Consumption

actor?

ew

York imes.

Jan.

2008.

Web.

6

Jan.

2008.

<http://

www.nytimes.com/2008/01/02/opinion/02diamond

.html?_r=

&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all>

Greenblatt,

Stephen

Jay.

Three

Modern Satirists:

Waugh,

Orwellnd

Huxley.

ondon:

ale

UP,

1965.

75-117.

Print.

Huxley,

ldous. rave ew

World

932.

New

York:

Harper,

1998.

Print.

Mayell,

Hillary.

As Consumerism

preads,

arth

uffers,

Study

ays.

National

eographic.

2

Jan.

004.

Web.

31

Mar.

2009.

<http://news.nationalgeographic.com/

news/2004/01/01

1_0401

_consumerism.html

.

Montagu,Ashley. ntroduction,raveNew World. y

Aldous

Huxlev.

Avon:

Cardavon,

974.

Print.

NCTE. NCTE

Position

Statement:

esolution

n Ad-

vertising

n the Classroom.

992.

Web.

24

Mar.

2009.

<http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/

advertisingclassroom>

Orwell,

George.

The

Principles

f

Newspeak.

Nineteen

Eighty

our.

949.

New

York:

ignet,

977.

Print.

Shah,

Anup.

Creating

he

Consumer.

Global

ssues.

4

May

2003.

Web.

30

Mar.

2009.

<http://www.global

issues.org/article/236/creating-the-consumer>.

Turning

nto

Digital

Goldfish.

BCNews.

2 Feb.

2002.

Web.

31

Mar.

2009.

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/

science/nature/

34682

stm

Conclusion

Teaching

BNW and Feed s

my

favorite

art

of

the

year

ecause

get

a

chance

o

talk o

students

bout

their eal ives

nd how

they

an

make

meaningful

changes.

These

dystopias

re

not

just

science

fic-

tion;

Huxley

was

a

satirist,

nd he took

eriously

is

duty

of

reflecting

he

flaws nd

imperfections

f

a

society

eset

by

ndustrialization.

n

his

biography

ofHuxley, tephenJayGreenblattwrote hat the

novel is

primarily

oncerned

ot

with

what will

happen

n

the

future ut

what s

happening

oman-

kindnow

(96).

Huxley

was

attacking present,

immediate

anger

of

overdependence

n technol-

ogy

and consumerism

n

the

hope

that

by

height-

ening

ur

wareness

f hedemonic

ircles

n

which

we

ourselves re

trapped

Greenblatt

17),

we

can

become more

fully

human.

He felt he

was

only

moralwhen

he wrote

Montagu

vi),

attacking

oci-

ety's

ices

nd

paths

with

he enderness

f would-

26

January

2010

Rachel Wilkinson ¡s a teacherat LoyolaBlakefieldHighSchool and at theUniversityfMaryland-Baltimoreounty. he also

blogs regularly

bout

sustainability,

onsumerism,

nd

the new local

movement

on

salamanderpoints.com.

he

may

be reached

at

[email protected].

READWRITETHINK CONNECTION

Lisa

Storm

inkr

WT

Decoding

The

Matrix:

Exploring

ystopian

haracteristics

hrough

ilm urther

xplores

ystopian

works.

At ts ore The Matrix

s a

dystopian

work

with

many

f the same

characteristics

ound

n

dystopian

ovels uch

as Fahrenheit

51, 1984,

and

BraveNew

World.

n this

esson,

tudents

re

introduced

o thedefinition

nd

characteristicsf a

dystopian

work

by

watching

ideo

clips

from

he

Matrix nd other

ystopian

ilms,

ttp://

www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=926





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Teaching Dystopian Literature to a Consumer Class