Create Your Own Utopia Brave New World Mini-Multigenre Project

Transcription

1 English, 10 th Grade Teacher, Brooke Carey, with Megan Erickson Create Your Own Utopia Brave New World Mini-Multigenre Project EQ: What leads individuals to attempt to create a utopia and what challenges do those who seek utopia face? As we ve discussed throughout this unit, a utopia is a vision of the perfect society. In our reading of Brave New World, we ve seen what can happen when the perfect society gets out of hand and becomes a nightmarish dystopia for some of its members. But what if achieving perfection were possible? Many groups of people throughout history and in fiction have tried to establish their own utopia. Sometimes utopian societies are based on religious beliefs (for example, the Amish community), and sometimes they re based on political beliefs, such as Communism. Often, they re simply organized around a common goal, such as peaceful coexistence, becoming one with nature, or rising above the challenges of the modern world. For this assignment, you will work with your group members to flesh out your own version of utopia in vivid detail. What would the perfect society look like to you? You can be as realistic or unrealistic as you like, as long as you can articulate the reasons for the choices you make. The goal for this assignment is to experiment with your ideas. That means: take chances! Make mistakes! And most importantly, be imaginative. In addition to collaborating with your peers to produce an example of three of the seven genres below, each group member will write her own one-page reflection. STEP ONE: DEVISE YOUR UTOPIA. Collecting & Gathering, Organizing As a group, brainstorm what the goal of your utopia will be, using any of the strategies we ve discussed so far this year. Then, write a paragraph describing your society and the people who live there. Here are some questions to get you started: What philosophy brought this group of people together? Do they have a common belief system or set of goals? How do people get around? What do they do all day? What are their jobs? How are their basic needs (food, shelter, clothing) provided for? How are they educated? What kind of technology is available to them? What are the laws that the people will live by, and how will those laws be enforced? What does it take for someone to be successful there? What sorts of expectations do they have?

2 STEP TWO: CHOOSE THREE OF SEVEN POSSIBLE GENRES BELOW. DECIDE WHICH GROUP MEMBER(S) WILL BE IN CHARGE OF EACH GENRE. Drafting, Revision, Editing and Publication Draw a map of your utopia Plan a yearly budget for the perfect society Construct a motto and set of laws for your society Depict and describe the technology in your society Write a short story about your society Write the Table of Contents for a magazine or newspaper that would be found in your society Create dictionary entries for five to ten words that would be used there (think BNW remember there were words that only made sense in the context of the World State) STEP THREE: REFLECT Each student is responsible for a reflection and should use the writing process to enhance her writing. A reflection is an informal response (yes, you may use I ) in which you think about how you think that means you re examining and elaborating on your own thoughts in order to get to deeper analysis. In your reflection, answer the following questions: Is your utopia attainable? What improvements have you made on Huxley s world? How would someone living in your utopia define freedom? Would she respect the right of the individual to make her own choices, as do Helmholtz and John, or the rights of the community, like Lenina and Mustapha Mond? OUTCOMES: Integrates and evaluates content presented in diverse formats and media, including visually and quantitatively, [orally, and] in words. (NY MS ES) Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. (NY MS ES) Produces clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (NY MS ES) Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on various topics, texts, and issues, building on others ideas and expressing her own clearly and persuasively. (NY MS ES)

3 Where in the World is Your Utopia? According to the canonical Irish writer Oscar Wilde, A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not even worth looking at. For this task you will create a map of your utopia. Label bodies of water and land: give the names of countries, cities, and/or states. Imagine three important landmarks (the Statue of Liberty, for example, is a famous New York City landmark) and label those as well. Use color to designate mountain ranges or forests, and include a key. Some examples for you to draw inspiration from: A map of Utopia from the 1600 s A map of the U.S. labeled with landmarks A map of New York City

4 Design a Budget for Your Utopia To help you decide how things like schools, transportation, and hospitals will be funded in your utopia, you will need to design a budget. A budget is a chart or organizer used to outline and keep track of the way money is spent. Budgets can be tiny or enormous, short-term or long-term. A person may use one to plan spending for a day, a week, or even a year. An individual budget might look something like this: INCOME (Money in) per month How much money do you predict you will spend on this category? How much money do you predict you will spend? How much money do you predict you will spend? EXPENSES per month (Money out) Home expenses Daily Living Entertainment ACTUAL (What did you actually spend) Rent, electricity, oil/gas, water, phone=$x Groceries, subway pass, school supplies, clothes, haircut=$x Movies, books, music, magazines=$x Countries such as the United States have a yearly budget that is used to determine how much money is spent on education, how much is spent on healthcare, how much is spent on the military, etc. Each year, the President writes a letter explaining why the money will be spent that way. The United States budget looks like this: To the Congress of the United States: This is a Nation ready to meet the challenges of this new age. This Budget is our plan for how to start accomplishing this in the coming year. As we look back on the progress of the past 12 months and look forward to the work ahead, I have every confidence that we can and will rise to the challenge that our people and our history set for us. These have been tough times, and there will be difficult months ahead. But the storms of the past are receding; the skies are brightening; and the horizon is beckoning once more. This Budget provides a blueprint for the work ahead. -Barack Obama, The White House, February 1, 2010 For your utopia, you will first need to brainstorm a list of things that the people of your utopia will spend their money on. You are shopping for your utopia so make it a good list! Then decide what percentage of the budget should be devoted to each item. Draw a graph or pie chart (like the one above) depicting your budget. Then write 2-3 sentences from the perspective of a leader or representative from your utopia whether it is a president, a monarch, a congressperson, or We the People explaining why you chose to spend the money as you did.

5 Construct a Motto and Set of Laws A motto is a saying or phrase that sums up a person or place, like a slogan. In the Brave New World, the planetary motto is Identity, Stability, Community, because the number one value of the World state is community, which leads to stability or security. Each character s identity is not unique, but instead comes from being a part of the community doing his or her job to make the society function as a whole. Think about the goal of your utopia (you may want to refer back to the paragraph you wrote in part one) and create a motto for your society based on that goal. Then make a list of at least ten laws that the people of your society must follow in order to achieve those goals. Write a 2-3 sentence explanation about how these laws will be enforced, or carried out.

6 Create a Dictionary Entry Write a 2-3 sentence explanation of why those words are necessary or useful for the people of your world to communicate.

7 Write the Table of Contents for a magazine that would be found in your utopia Here is an example that can be used as a guide, although you can also look at newspapers and other magazines you have. Think about what would be interesting or newsworthy in your utopia. What would the fashions be? What would the gossip be?

8 Write a story about your utopia Use your writing process to write a story that depicts your utopia. Be sure to include all of the ideas your group established as important for the utopia, through the plot, characters, themes, conflicts, etc. Your story should be 1-2 pages typed.

9 Depict and Describe an Invention from Your Society Often technology is invented to fill the needs or wants that arise in any society for example, in the World State, the feelies and soma were both created to provide the people of the Brave New World with a way to be happy all the time and escape reality, even when life is painful. Refer back to your collecting and gathering, and think about the basic needs and desires of the people who live in your society. What kinds of technology that they would invent to fill them? Now, draw your invention. Make sure you label all of the parts. Finally, write a 2-3 sentence explanation about how this technology should be used. Why is it especially handy or practical for the people living in your utopia? Here are some examples to get you started: This is a cart that the inventor made up to drive around the city. It includes a compass so she will know where she s going, an umbrella in case of rain, and a cage for her pet hamster. This is a bike with a lawnmower attached to the back, to make mowing the lawn easier and more enjoyable.