Eden C. Stein
At this point in the unit it will be a refreshing break to delve into some short fiction and literary analysis. As many students will have read some dystopian fiction already, we will again being by brainstorming the attributes of dystopian literature with an emphasis on the following attributes: the government is typically an oligarchy, people are fearful, knowledge from the past is banned, conformity is valued to the point where nonconformity is criminal, and the government projects a utopian image.33 More importantly, a list of topics covered by dystopian literature including surveillance, the elimination of disease and suffering, perils of misinformation, disintegration of individuality,34 and especially, fears about and dangers of new technology. As a whole class we will read and analyze “The Veldt”35 by Ray Bradbury, emphasizing the role of technology and evaluating how realistic it is compared to today’s society and what message the author is trying to convey. Again, we will focus on the role of technology in this dystopia. Students will then select an additional short story or novel of choice to conduct an independent literary analysis of. As the students analyze dystopian literature, they will answer the essential questions: How does the society created by this author meet the criteria we have established for a utopia? What are the negative aspects of the society which are caused by the use or overuse of digital social media?
