ToczekIndividualUnitPlan

Dystopian Societies Unit Plan
Any time a story involves some sort of **dystopian society** there is usually a strong message or warning about the current state of affairs, or a fear for the not-too distant future. Dystopias usually appear in novels and stories as societies with a vast amount of control or oppression by a strong governing power which tends to controls all aspects of that given society, which is also considered **__utopian__,** or perfect, by this higher power. Many dystopian societies appear in stories of the future or more science-fiction oriented novels that carry a strong focus on technology as a powerful that takes away human individuality, turning people into robotic machines themselves. Many science fiction stories implement dystopias as forewarnings of cultural, economic, or technological issues that may currently be going overlooked that may strongly affect or drastically change a given society’s values, moral, or ethical structures‍‍. ‍‍

In this unit, students will develop an understanding of what a dystopian society is and the literary effects of using dystopian societies in a story or novel. Students will read one dystopian novel, **//The Giver// by Lois Lowry** as well as three short stories, **“Winter Market,” “The Hinterlands” and “Burning Chrome,” by William Gibson**‍‍, ‍‍ which all portray some sort of dystopian/utopian society and analyze the shortcomings and problems of each. Some big questions will include: What is the reason the author chose to make this society like this? What is the author trying to say about current society‍‍? ‍‍ Since these dystopias are often times deemed as utopian in nature, students will also analyze what makes an effective, productive society. Is the idea of a perfect world actually possible? What would be included in your own utopia? What are the advantages/problems of utopian societies? Students will also analyze aspects of some commonalities between these stories including the roles of violence, censorship, technology, individuality, and the loss of nature‍‍. ‍‍

Ultimately this unit will help students analyze their own societies in which they live and help them determine the paths in which our society may be headed whether they believe it to be good or bad. It is important to not go through life following the motions without ever thinking why or how we are doing these things. ‍‍Students will engage in group discussion, debate and critical thinking through smaller writing projects leading up ‍‍ to a larger formal assessment in the form of a unit project critiquing a society from one of the stories and comparing and contrasting it to what they believe to be true about their own societ‍‍y. ‍‍ Other activities and projects will be included dealing with the impact of technology and ideas about the future. I think that students can connect to this unit because it will help them look at their society through a lens that they may have never considered before. Being young in a fast-paced, rapidly expanding, technology based society is something that has only occurred recently and this generation of students will be some of the first who cannot remember a time without computers and smartphones readily available in almost every setting. Students will be able to analyze what implications this “plugged-in” world may have for the future in which they will be a strong part‍‍. ‍‍ I think this unit would work well with 7th or 8th grade students who are just beginning to analyze their place in the world and the social implications of their actions‍‍. ‍‍

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