Brave New World

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 6

Brave New World

Today

- What did you think?

- Discussion questions

- Assignment

- Check together

What did you think of this book?

What is the plot of this film?

Do you think books like this should be banned?
Why?

Yes

No

What is the perspective/point of view for this story?

Where and when does Brave New World take place?

The story opens in London  519 years in the future - 2539 AD, referred to in the novel as – 632 A.F.  632 years “After Ford,” meaning 632 years after the production of the first Model T car (1907)

Three places:

1. England  London

2. The Savage Reservation in New Mexico  a part of the earth that is allowed to remain as it were before the World State came to power.

Home of the Zuni Indians. It is a world away from civilized London: the Zunis are impoverished, dirty, ravaged by disease and old age, and still cling to their ancient religion.

The settings in Brave New World, then, seem to offer only the choice between civilized servitude and primitive ignorance and squalor. Are these the only choices available? One other is mentioned:

3. The islands of exile- Iceland and the Falkland Islands  where malcontents like Bernard Marx and Helmholtz Watson are sent.

The story opens in London  519 years in the future - 2539 AD, referred to in the novel as – 632 A.F.  632 years “After Ford,” meaning 632 years after the production of the first Model T car (1907)

Three places:

1. England  London

2. The Savage Reservation in New Mexico  a part of the earth that is allowed to remain as it were before the World State came to power.

Home of the Zuni Indians. The Zunis are impoverished, dirty, ravaged by disease and old age, and still cling to their ancient religion.

The settings in Brave New World, then, seem to offer only the choice between civilized servitude and primitive ignorance and squalor. Are these the only choices available? One other is mentioned:

3. The islands of exile- Iceland and the Falkland Islands  where malcontents like Bernard Marx and Helmholtz Watson are sent.

Now you! 

- Try and complete your assignment with a partner

- We will discuss this together in 30 min.

- You can use the internet! 

Themes?

COMMUNITY, IDENTITY, STABILITY- VERSUS INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM 

Community, Identity, Stability is the motto of the World State. It lists the Utopia's prime goals. Community is in part a result of identity and stability. dentity is in large part the result of genetic engineering. Society is divided into five classes or castes. Stability means minimizing conflict, risk, and change. 

I would prefer to live in the dystopian society of Brave New World

Agree

Disagree

SCIENCE AS A MEANS OF CONTROL 

Brave New World warns of the dangers of giving the state control over new and powerful technologies. 

1) the rigid control of reproduction through technological and medical intervention. 

2) the creation of complicated entertainment machines that generate both harmless leisure and the high levels of consumption and production that are the basis of the World State’s stability. 

3) Soma is a third example of the kind of medical, biological, and psychological technologies that Brave New World criticizes most sharply.

Using science in this way should be forbidden

Agree

Disagree

3. THE THREAT OF GENETIC ENGINEERING 

Genetic engineering is a term that has come into use in recent years as scientists have learned to manipulate RNA and DNA, the proteins in every cell that determine the basic inherited characteristics of life. Huxley didn't use the phrase but he describes genetic engineering when he explains how his new world breeds prescribed numbers of humans artificially for specified qualities. 

Genetic modification/engineering should be banned

agree

disagree

Other themes

- THE MISUSE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL CONDITIONING

-  THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS CARRIED TO AN EXTREME 

- THE CHEAPENING OF SEXUAL PLEASURE 

- THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS THROUGH DRUGS 

Our society is starting to look like the one in Brave New World

agree

Disagree

Title

O wonder!

How many goodly creatures are there here!

How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,

That has such people in't.

— William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act V, Scene I, ll. 203–206[9]

The title of Aldous Huxley's novel, Brave New World, refers to a poem within the novel itself. The poem, is speaking of beautiful things, when John first brings up the poem, he is speaking about Lenina. John and Lenina just met, and he is mesmerized. He thinks she is as beautiful as anything he has ever seen, which is why he quotes the poem.

John, "The Savage" says, "O brave new world!" multiple times throughout the novel. The first time John says. "O brave new world!" is on page 139, when John is quoting, Miranda, The Tempest, From Shakespeare. The last time John says, "O brave new world!" is on page 210, when the soma rations were being given out, at the end of the book. The first time was about Lenina being so incredibly beautiful to him, the last time, was when John, is saying that the beautiful world had been ruined, and that maybe by quoting the poem, he might be able to change the world.

The title, Brave New World, is referring to a wonderful new world, that is perfect, and undisturbed. However as the novel progresses, it is apparent, that the world is not so perfect after all, so the meaning changes into, a world that will hopefully change into a wonderful one.

The title of Aldous Huxley's novel, Brave New World, refers to a poem within the novel itself. The poem, is speaking of beautiful things, when John first brings up the poem, he is speaking about Lenina. John and Lenina just met, and he is mesmerized. He thinks she is as beautiful as anything he has ever seen, which is why he quotes the poem.

John, "The Savage" says, "O brave new world!" multiple times throughout the novel. The first time John says. "O brave new world!" is on page 139, when John is quoting, Miranda, The Tempest, From Shakespeare. The last time John says, "O brave new world!" is on page 210, when the soma rations were being given out, at the end of the book. The first time was about Lenina being so incredibly beautiful to him, the last time, was when John, is saying that the beautiful world had been ruined, and that maybe by quoting the poem, he might be able to change the world.

The title, Brave New World, is referring to a wonderful new world, that is perfect, and undisturbed. However as the novel progresses, it is apparent, that the world is not so perfect after all, so the meaning changes into, a world that will hopefully change into a wonderful one.

Exercise!

Which themes of the novel do you recognize in the 'Brave New World' song by Iron Maiden? Write down at least two examples.

Anything else?

Fact check test...

What is the name of the process that allows the Hatchery to produce many clones from a single egg?

1. The Podansky Process
2. The Trotsky Process
3. The Bokanovsky Process
4. Centrifugal Bumble-puppy

How are children in the Nursery conditioned to dislike books and flowers?

1. By preventing the children from ever seeing books or flowers
2. By using hypnopaedia to teach them that books and flowers are worthless
3. By spanking the children when they approach books ...
4. By shocking the children when they approach books ...

How does the Solidarity Service end?

1. With an Orgy
2. With singing and large doses of soma
3. With a sermon from the Community Songster
4. With a series of hypnopaedic lessons

Where is the Savage Reservation located?

1. Texas
2. New Mexico
3. Nevada
4. Arizona

Which one of the following World State sayings has to do with soma?

1. “Everyone is happy now”
2. “Progress is lovely”
3. “A gramme is better than a damn”
4. “Never put off till to-morrow the fun you can have to-day”

Why was Linda attacked by the other women of the village in the Reservation?

1. Because she slept with their husbands
2. Because she insulted them
3. Because she was from the Other Place
4. Because she did not speak their language

What was the first book that John read as a child?

1. Paradise Lost
2. 1984
3. The Chemical and Bacteriological Conditioning of the Embryo
4. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare

What is the lesson of the Cyprus experiment described by Mustapha Mond?

1. living in a reservate can delete all conditioning.
2. Soma is a necessary component of a stable society.
3. Happiness is the only criterion for the success of society.
4. A society of Alphas is unworkable.

Mustapha Mond tells John that civilizations have to choose between God and...

1. Machinery and medicine and happiness
2. Technology and Progress
3. Stability and strength
4. Soma