Lisa Lampert-Weissig, LTWL 87 Spring 2018
Dystopia in Literature and Film www.talesofthenight.org

etiam si omnes — ego non

Week 1. Introduction  (4/4)

Week 2: Presentation on dystopian fiction (4/11)

Week 3:   Ursula K. Le Guin, “The Ones who Walk Away from Omelas”  (1973)  (4/18)

Thinksheet:  “Would you walk away from Omelas?”  Why or why not?  Please answer this question in ½ to 1 page double-spaced typed.

Week 4: George Orwell, 1984  (1949) (4/25)

Thinksheet: 
This is a disquieting and disturbing novel.  Which aspect of the society described in 1984 seems the most troubling to you? Why?  Answer in 1/2 to one page doublespaced typed.

Week 5: The Handmaid’s Tale, 2017 Hulu adaption of Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel (5/2) 

Watch episodes 1 “Offred” and 2.  “Birth Day.”  Available streaming through multiple sources.

Thinksheet:  Pick one scene from the episodes we viewed and discuss HOW the creators the series show us how terrifying Gilead is.  Filmic elements to consider would be lighting, camera angle, sound, scene composition, color, costuming.  How do the creators show us this world?

Week 6: Hunger Games  2012 film adaption of Suzanne Collin’s novel (2008) (5/9)
Available for viewing in Geisel library or on-demand through Amazon

Thinksheet:  Why do you think the Hunger Games has been so popular? What chord does this dystopia strike for readers/viewers?

Week 7:  Black Mirror 3:1 “Nosedive” and 3:6 “Hated in the Nation” (5/16)
BBC television series streaming on netflix

Thinksheet:  Do you see any similarities between the worlds depicted in these episodes and the world of 1984?  Pick one of the two episodes of Black Mirror you viewed and discuss in one half to one full page double spaced typed.  

Week 8: Wrap-up discussion (5/23)  Make up thinksheet question (if needed) TBA