Ms. Nedescu's ENG 4U0
Independent Study Essay on Utopia/Dystopia
The Assignment
Your Challenge:
To write a 1000 word (4-5 pages) critical analysis essay on one significant aspect of the utopia/dystopia depicted in three primary sources.
The following is a list of possible topics:
· government / political culture
· law and order / justice
· work / economy
· science / technology
· family / relationships / gender roles
· nature / environment / ecology
· education
· religion / philosophy
· the arts / culture
· human nature
Stage One: To select three primary sources consisting of:
- a novel depicting a utopian/dystopian world (list of approved titles provided);
- a film depicting a utopian/dystopian world which can be connected to the novel (list of titles provided);
- an article/essay about the world today which can be connected to both the novel and the film (you will be responsible for finding a suitable third source).
No secondary sources are to be used.
You must read/view, analyze and write notes on the three primary sources (a minimum of 10 pages of notes is required).
Instructions on How to Proceed through Stage One
I - Read the Novel
Once you have signed up for a novel, you will read it, making notes which attempt to analyze the utopian/dystopian world depicted in the novel based upon the topics listed above. Include quotations/ page references.
You must then select a topic upon which to focus your critical analysis essay. The most logical choice would be the topic that generated the most significant notes, both in quantity and quality.
II – View the Film
Once you have chosen a specific topic focus, you must select a film from the assigned list which also considers that topic. You may have to view more than one film in order to find one that connects to your novel in a meaningful way.
Make notes on what the film conveys about your topic and any connections to your novel. Record specific scene references.
III – Select a 3rd Source
The 3rd primary source must be either an article or an essay on the same topic related to the real world today. You need to choose an article/essay which connects to both your novel and film in a meaningful way. Make notes on what the 3rd source conveys about your topic and any connections to the novel and the film. Include specific quotations.
IV—Submit Your Notes
The notes should be handwritten, not word processed. One page of notes is considered to be two sides of a sheet of “8½ by 11” paper, double-spaced.
You must provide a copy of the 3rd source when you submit your notes to be evaluated.
Stage Two: To conference with the teacher:
- notes on the three primary sources must be completed;
- an inquiry question(s) based upon the topic must be written;
- a thesis statement(s) resulting from the inquiry question(s) must be written
Instructions on How to Proceed through Stage Two
I – Formulate inquiry question on the topic.
Inquiry questions are questions which attempt to synthesize (to process separate ideas into a connected whole) what you have learned about your topic from the three primary sources.
II – Write a thesis statement which answers your inquiry question.
Keeping in mind that both your inquiry question and its answer (thesis statement) should be related to an analysis of either a utopia or a dystopia, write a completed thesis statement as it would appear in the introductory paragraph of your ISU essay.
III – Conference with your teacher
You must be prepared with a copy of the novel, your notes, a copy of the 3rd primary source, your inquiry question and your thesis statement. You should be prepared to discuss your essay topic/thesis.
Conference Date/Time: ________________________________________________
Stage Three: To write the essay:
- all steps of the ISU process must be completed;
- a completed draft must be ready for in-class peer editing workshop(s) prior to the
absolute due date;
the final draft must be word processed according to proper MLA format;
- the final draft must be submitted to www.turnitin.com and a turnitin receipt recording the final draft must be printed;
- all process work, including notes, a copy of the 3rd primary source, rough drafts, editing sheets, as well as a hard copy of the official turnitin receipt must be submitted along with one copy of the final draft of your essay on the due date. Unless you have submitted notes on all three primary sources and have undergone a student-teacher conference, your essay will NOT be accepted. You will not be allowed to participate in the oral component of the ISU without having completed the written component.
ISU EVALUATION:
Conference Notes: 5%
Essay: 5%
Oral Presentation: 5%
ISU Essay Due Date: _______________________________________
This is an absolute deadline.
Step One - Reading the Novel
Step Two - Watching the Film
Ai Wei Wei: Never Sorry (YouTube)
Against a backdrop of strict censorship and an unresponsive legal system, this artist expresses himself and organizes people through art and social media. In response, Chinese authorities have shut down his blog, beat him up, bulldozed his newly built studio, and held him in secret detention.
Animal Farm *
The animals of a farm revolt against their human owner.
Avatar
Humans colonize the lush tribal world of Pandora to serve their own greedy purposes.
Beach,The (Netflix) (YouTube)
A beach paradise is threatened by outsiders.
Bladerunner *
In the future, androids are considered a threat to human survival.
Capitalism, a Love Story (Learn 360)
A documentary exploring the “evils” of capitalism.
Children of Men, The * (YouTube)
It is the year 2021; the last recorded birth on earth is 1995 when miraculously a woman becomes pregnant.
Clockwork Orange, A* (YouTube)
A juvenile delinquent is subjected to experimental therapy to control his violent behaviour.
Corporation, The * (YouTube)
A look at the role corporations play in today's world.
Detropia (Netflix) (YouTube)
A documentary exploring the downfall of the city of Detroit; what happens when manufacturing moves overseas and local workers are left jobless? Tensions between workers and corporate profit run high.
Devil's Playground *
A documentary examining the Amish rite of passage of “rumspringa” (running around) where Amish youth must choose between the sheltered world in which they have been raised and the outside world.
Divergent
A society divided into five factions, each representing a different virtue.
Equilibrium * (YouTube)
In a future where emotions are illegal, a man rebels against the system.
Fahrenheit 451 * (YouTube)
In the future, books are considered a threat and a fireman's job is to burn them.
Food Inc. (Learn 360) (YouTube)
An eco-documentary examining the costs of putting value and convenience over nutrition and environmental impact.
Gattaca * (YouTube)
A genetically inferior man schemes to become one of a group of genetically enhanced human beings.
Handmaid's Tale *
In a post-apocalyptic world where fertility is rare, fertile women are forced to become sex slaves.
I Am Legend (Netflix) (Learn 360) (YouTube)
After a plague kills most of humanity, a lone survivor in New York City struggles to find a cure.
Inconvenient Truth, An * (Learn 360) (YouTube)
A documentary about the looming crisis of global warming featuring former Democratic Vice-President Al Gore.
In Time (YouTube)
In a future where people stop aging at 25, but are engineered to live only one more year, having the means to buy your way out of the situation is a shot at immortal youth.
I, Robot * (YouTube)
A technophobic cop investigates a crime that may have been committed by a robot.
Island, The* (YouTube – English subtitles)
Clones become aware that their sole purpose in life is as replacement organs for the wealthy.
Lego Movie, The (Netflix)
An ordinary Lego construction worker, thought to be prophesized “Special”, is recruited to join a quest to stop an evil tyrant from gluing the Lego universe into eternal stasis.
Lives of Others, The
Before the fall of the Berlin wall, East Germany's secret police listened to your secrets.
Logan's Run *
In the future, life is perfect under the dome, but only until you reach the age of 30.
Lorax, The (YouTube)
In the walled city of Thneed-Ville, where everything is artificial and even the air is a commodity, a boy tries to undo the process by which a town’s greed for profits has devastated the land.
Lost Horizon
A plane crash delivers a group of people to the secluded paradise of ShangriLa.
Mad Max (YouTube – 1979 version)
Max is a policeman, the last guardian of civilization and order in a future world reduced to chaos.
Minority Report* (Netflix) (YouTube)
In the future, criminals are caught before they commit the crime.
Mosquito Coast, The * (YouTube)
An American father transports his family to Central America in an attempt to create his own utopia.
Net, The *
A young woman's life is destroyed when she becomes a victim of computer crime.
Omega Man, The * (YouTube)
Due to an experimental vaccine, a doctor becomes the only survivor of an apocalyptic war.
On the Beach (YouTube)
After a global nuclear war, survivors must face the reality that all life will be destroyed in a matter of months.
Pleasantville (YouTube)
Two teenagers are transported into a 1950s television series where their influence changes the seemingly “perfect” black and white world of the sitcom.
Planet of the Apes, The (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Netflix)
An astronaut crew crash-lands on a planet where intelligent apes are the dominant species.
Postman, The *
In a post-apocalyptic America, one man tries to rebuild civilization by resuming the postal service.
The Road (Learn 360) (YouTube)
In post-apocalyptic America, a father and his young son struggle to survive.
Rollerball *
In a corporate controlled future, an athlete in an ultra-violent sport defies those who want him out of the game.
Running Man, The (YouTube)
In the future, executions are turned into television shows.
Silent Running*
A crew member of a spaceship harbouring Earth's last nature reserves becomes a renegade.
Soylent Green*
In an overpopulated future, food is scarce.
Stand, The *
After the world is decimated by a man-made plague, a battle ensues between the survivors.
Standard Operating Procedure (Netflix)
Documentary examining the incidents of abuse and torture of suspected terrorists at the hands of U.S. forces at the Abu Ghraib prison.
Stepford Wives, The* (Learn 360) (YouTube)
Advanced technology enables the men of Stepford to create a utopia for themselves.
Terminator 2 – Judgment Day (Netflix) (YouTube)
In the future, a dwindling number of humans wage war against the machines who have assumed control on Earth.
Terms and Conditions May Apply (YouTube)
A documentary that exposes what corporations and governments learn about people through Internet and cell phone usage, and what can be done about it ... if anything.
Testament *
In the aftermath of a nuclear attack, an American family struggles to survive.
THX 1138 * (YouTube)
A dystopian vision of a world where technology is the ultimate dictator.
Tron (Tron Legacy – Netflix)
A hacker is abducted into the computer world and forced to participate in gladiator games.
V for Vendetta *(Netflix) (Learn 360)
A shadowy freedom fighter uses terrorist tactics to overthrow a totalitarian regime
Village, The * (YouTube)
Isolated villagers are threatened by mysterious creatures in the woods surrounding their community.
Wall-e
Animated look at the legacy of years of environmental degradation and thoughtless consumerism.
Wall Street (1987) (Netflix)
A young and impatient stockbroker is willing to do anything to get to the top, including trading on illegal inside information taken through a ruthless and greedy corporate raider.
War, Inc. * (YouTube)
A political satire set in Turaqistan, a fictional country run by an American private corporation.
Waterworld (YouTube)
In a future where the polar ice caps have melted and the Earth is submerged, mariners fight amongst themselves in an attempt to find dry land.
Step Three - Finding Your 3rd Source
Accessing the Databases
- Canadian Points of View
- Canada in Context
- Global Issues in Context
- Explora
These databases have been specifically selected for you for this assignment because they will have the most relevant information for what you are looking for. They are better than a random search on a website because you can find a lot of information here that has been written by experts in the field. You should not have to use Google for any of your research for this assignment. The databases will have what you need to get your work done! All of these databases will allow you to restrict your search to primary sources only and that should make things easier. Please keep in mind that you cannot click the links below to get to the databases.
To Google or not to Google.....that is the question!
You may want to check out some websites for your research. However, you need to make sure those sites are not biased and have been created by reputable sources. So you will need to put them through the CRAAP test! CRAAP stands for Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy and Purpose. Below is a worksheet that will help you determine if the website that you are choosing to use passes the CRAAP test:
MLA 8 - The New Way to Cite Your Work
As you may or may not know, citing work in MLA format has recently been updated. When you go to college or university, the expectation will be that you will know how to do your citations correctly in the new format. The following video breaks down how to cite your work in MLA 8 format.
Creating a Works Cited Page in MLA 8 Format
MLA 8 was designed to simplify the process, helping writers accurately and intuitively cite sources more easily, requiring that every source type follow the same format. This means that books, websites, periodicals, videos, photographs, and all other types of sources now use this same standard format.
MLA 8 requires researchers to locate the same “core elements” from their sources and place them in a standard order in order to create their citations.
The “Core Elements” of an MLA 8 citation, along with their corresponding punctuation marks, include the following (in this order):
1. Authors.
2. Title of the source.
3. Title of container,
4. Other contributors,
5. Version,
6. Numbers,
7. Publisher,
8. Publication date,
9. Location.
The appropriate punctuation mark will follow each core element, unless it is the final piece. In this case, the punctuation mark would be a period.
Example of an MLA Eighth Edition Works Cited Page:
Patterson, James, and Chris Grabenstein. House of Robots. Little, Brown and Co., 2014.
Patterson, James, and Chris Tebbetts. Middle School: Get Me Out of Here. Little, Brown and Co., 2012.
Sparks, Nicholas. Dear John. Grand Central, 2007, p. 82.
– – – . A Walk to Remember. Warner, 1999.
Twenty-Eight Days Later. Directed by Danny Boyle, produced by Alex Garland, Fox
Searchlight Pictures, 2002.