Comments | prime_education: English Class: Utopia -- [OPEN]

dame_de_pique in prime_education

English Class: Utopia -- [OPEN]

Sep 24, 2007 19:03

"Good afternoon, I hope you're all ready to start a new unit today. If you've kept up with the reading or just skimmed over the course outline, you'll know that for the next little while, we're going to be studying utopian and dystopian fiction. There will be some in-class actives as well as an independent study component. I expect you to come ( Read more... )

open, njoki, class

Comments 7

1. bright_ephyra September 25 2007, 05:31:49 UTC

Clair's done this one before. I mean really. She's from Philligan.

"Technically, Utopia means 'nonexistant place.' I'm... pretty sure it's Greek. Thomas More coined it, the way we use it today, when we mean a paradise, and dystopia is based on his usage, to mean the antithesis to paradise, or... hell, kind of."

No. 2 dame_de_pique September 25 2007, 14:47:55 UTC

"Good, that's really good. So, if Utopia is perfect, can you think of any examples of a real Utopia in fiction?"

sarah_branigan September 26 2007, 00:26:37 UTC

Sarah doesn't normally stray far from her office or the infirmary, but this lecture caught her attention. She doesn't want to take away from any students who want to answer the questions on the board, so for now she simply looks over the books on Njoki's desk, in particular Orwell's 1984.

After class, she'll ask Njoki if she'd recommend any other books like that one, in particular ones that would spark some interest in a library formerly set in a dystopian city.

dame_de_pique September 27 2007, 19:23:55 UTC

What lecture on dystopian fiction would be complete without 1984?

"Let's see, what else would I suggest? What have you read and liked?"

1. myheadisnotbig September 27 2007, 04:16:10 UTC

"Uh... 'Utopia' is usually meant in conversation to mean an ideal state in society, and books and stuff that're utopian are supposed to be set in those kind of ideal states. 'Dystopia' would mean the opposite, a society that's flawed or imperfect... and it's kinda weird how the line between the two can blur, depending on what you read."

Re: 1. dame_de_pique September 27 2007, 19:24:56 UTC

"Good, can you think of any book that's set in a utopian society?"

3. myheadisnotbig September 29 2007, 02:02:14 UTC

"Huh? Uhm.... there's, uh... 'Utopia' of course, but I never really read that... lesse, what're some others?" He scratches his head; his hairspike wobbles.

"It's hard to tell, because what's utopia to one person isn't, to another. Or to anyone for that matter."