I'm happy to say that last Thursday I handed in the final essay. This means I'm one step closer to the end of the fourth marking period. However, I have yet to complete my final project and make the presentation for it. Nothing's set in stone yet, but in my presentation I'll probably show a brief clip from 'V for Vandetta' to hook the class with a dystopian film relevant to my research. I'll then give each student a portion of the final product I'll be working on: a Utopian story of my own. Students will divide into groups and compare and contrast the two fictional worlds. Towards the end of the presentation, the class will come together and discuss their findings. I'll add the comparisons/contrasts that I've found and we'll see if they match.

Final week for the essay...

Last week went well. I'm just about finished with "Brave New World," and I have a solid introductory paragraph for my research paper. I discovered a bunch of additional materials in the back of the book that might help me write the essay. I haven't yet read this additional content, but I plan on scanning through it tonight to get an idea about what's there. Obviously, since the essay is due Friday, I plan on devoting all of my efforts (with the exception of Thursday's wiki) to finishing it. Hopefully, I'll have most of the body paragraphs done by Wednesday, so I'll have the final day to create a conclusion and edit everything.

This week...

By Friday, I'd like to have Brave New World finished. However, I'm going to start my research paper this week because I've gathered a couple criticisms and these combined with what I've read in the book so far should be enough information to get started on the essay. I won't be in class tomorrow because of the AP Exam, but I will continue to read that night. On Wednesday afternoon, I'm going to begin my research paper, and by Friday I should have a solid introductory paragraph. So for this week, there are two goals that I plan to have finished by Friday: finish Brave New World and have up to if not more than an introductory paragraph for the research paper.


Monday Night: Read.
Tuesday: AP Exam. Read.
Wednesday: Begin Research Paper. Read.
Thursday: Class wiki. Continue Research Paper. Continue reading.
Friday: Have at least an introductory paragraph. Finish Brave New World.

This week...

During the break, I went out and obtained a copy of Island and a copy of Brave New World, both by Aldous Huxley. I've begun reading Brave New World, which is all about a dystopian society. This week, I plan on reading and annotating Brave New World and brainstorming possible ways of connecting it with dystopian texts that I've read in the past such as 1984 and A Clockwork Orange. Using these connections, I'll begin my research paper. I already have three book sources. I still need a couple more. I'll probably find a criticism or two to support my essay.

This week:

-Continue reading Brave New World

-Brainstorm ideas for the research paper

-Find criticisms to support these ideas

-If I'm far enough into Brave New World, I will begin writing the paper. If not, next week I will be.

4th Marking Period Project: Utopian and Dystopian Fiction

I've pretty much decided that I'm going to create a unit based solely on utopian and dystopian fiction. Since I've already read 1984 and A Clockwork Orange, both classic novels about dystopian society, the unit will probably focus more on Utopias. In total, it marking period will comprise of two or three well-known novels in either field, relevant criticisms, poems, or any other applicable pieces of literature. This project is intended to provide a flexible, yet appropriate method of exploring and analyzing social and political structures within both genres of society. Though not yet set in stone, a final project will probably entail comparing and contrasting utopias and dystopia using the literature and external research/world history.

That's a basic prototype for the entire marking period. Along the way, ideas will be added and changed.

But for this week I plan to:

-Find an interesting novel to read that depicts a Utopia. With the help of a list that I found on wikipedia, this shouldn't be too hard.

-Scanning the internet for external sources and criticisms that could help bring about ideas for a research paper.

-Brainstorming historical governments and events that might be relevant to the content I'm studying.

-Immediately begin reading the book that I decide on.

Questions I have yet to answer:

-What percentage of the total work should be focused on the already studied dystopian fiction?

-What should be the first novel I start with?

Cultural Differences leading to Violence

It seems like with each passing day there is an exponential increase in reports of global terrorism and acts of violence in the name of one god or another. Hezbollah rockets falling into Israel, world-wide suicide bombings, the Janjaweed performing mass genocide in Sudan, Arab factions obliterating each other in civil war. These are only a few examples; the list goes on and on. With the way the world is going nowadays, global warming doesn't concern me. If there's anything bringing mankind closer and closer to it's demise, it's all of the hatred and intolerance.


It's not just today though. Terrorism dates back to biblical times; this kind of stuff has been going for years. The Crusades, the Holocaust, the mass genocide in Rwanda to name a few. Even our own country was founded on the very same principle we're talking down today: intolerance. The simple fact is we did not accept native American culture. We converted them, killed them, and took the land.


All of this ties into a theme captured in Things Fall Apart. Tensions build as the white colonialists begin converting the tribes of Umuofia to Christianity. Some accept this new set of beliefs. Others, such as Okonkwo, are outraged and rebel, leading to a church burning, a couple tribesmen getting beaten and insulted, and a missionary getting murdered. Obviously all of the horrible things listed in the above paragraphs are on a much greater scale, but the idea is the same. People are intolerant of each other's differences.


I think a portion of it is simply human nature. Competition is natural and it's understandable for similiar people to band together. Intolerance and hatred, however, are caused by corrupt and power-hungry leaders. Normal human beings are passive and try to avoid fighting. Genocide and war occurs when people are brainwashed. The situation seen in Things Fall Apart shows a sort of brainwash as well. The white colonialists are ignorant and think that their customs are superior to those of the African tribes, when they aren't: they're just different.