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Unit assignments:
- Daily Reading Assignments (one chapter due each class) and Reading Checks
- Five (5) Five-Paragraph Essays written at intervals of the novel
- The novel opens with a visit to the Central London
Hatchery and Conditioning Centre. What does the motto 'Community,
Identity, Stability' mean for all people in this society? Consider
chapters 1 and 2. How and why is the past, particularly parenting,
demeaned?
- What is the purpose of the games that are played in
this society? Refer in particular to the Director's statement at the
beginning of Chapter 3. Refer at least to the statements like
"Ending is better than mending. The more stitches, the less
riches..." Also consider Fanny's statement later in the same
chapter when she says "...one's got to play the game. After all,
everyone belongs to everyone else." To what extent in this novel
has this society reduced life to a series of clichés and sex to a game?
Remember to use sufficient evidence.
 Bernard Marx. Bernard is a major character in this
novel. He makes judgments of others and himself. "Idiots, swines!
Bernard was saying to himself..." "'Did you ever feel ...you
had something inside you ...a feeling that I've got something important
to say and the power to say it." "Odd, odd, odd, was Lenina's
verdict on Bernard Marx." It is Bernard who does take Lenina away
to a Reservation and meets up with John. How and why is Bernard
different? Also consider whether he really is different. Look at his
behavior when he returns from the Savage Reservation with John. Does he
not take advantage of all those things that he has missed out on before
and are not his motives and actions those of the rest of the members of
Brave New World? Consider this not just in terms of him in the context
of the storyline and his personal circumstances but also in terms of
Huxley's own need for Bernard as a major vehicle to show up the
inadequacies of this society and the consequences for individuals. Make
a study of Bernard's own inadequacies and the real reasons for their
existence. In other words do not just take the other characters'
explanation that it was too much alcohol in his birth surrogate.
Remember to use sufficient evidence.- You have examined how Bernard does not easily fit into
his society. Now it is time to examine how John, the Savage, fits into
the scheme of the novel. John frequently quotes Shakespeare. All of the
quotes in Chapter 8 are from Shakespearean plays. Yet it is obvious from
the text of the novel that he does not really understand the words,
"The strange words rolled through his mind..." So why has
Huxley included them within the experience of John? Look at his reaction
to the film Lenina is viewing in Chapter 9. How is John intellectually
different from the Alphas of civilized society'? In what ways is John
emotionally different from the Alphas? Why are the Shakespearean words
raised when he is thinking of Pope and Linda? (Note that there are the
two issues to be dealt with; his intellectual and his emotional
capacities. They are related.) These issues and the contrast between the
two societies as embodied in the various characters are a major part of
the theme of this novel.
- What meaning do you think that this novel should have
for present day readers? Find and discuss a connection to today's world.
Explore examples in current or recent news (1999 is your cutoff), local,
national or international (any combination is OK). Since this will be a
persuasive essay, you will need to use three other
resources to support your claim. You may use any electronic or
printed resources but when you paraphrase, summarize or quote from the
sources, you must cite them in your text and reference them in your
bibliography page.
- Written Exam
- Project
Essay Topics Fair Use, Adapted from: http://teachers.net/lessons/posts/2161.html
Image Fair Use: http://futuresteve.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/bravenewworld-heads.jpg
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