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Dystopian Literature

How can the techniques of dystopian fiction prompt people to question their perceptions of reality and open their eyes to problems they do not yet see?

A dark tower billowing smoke with sharp spires over a city landscape.

Creative Artifact

Students will craft a dystopian short story that uses vivid imagery and powerful storytelling to deliver a compelling social or political commentary on an issue they care about.

Written Commentary

Students complete a literary analysis of a peer’s dystopian narrative as well as a self analysis reflecting on their own work.

Exhibition

The exhibition begins with students leveraging art to teach the audience the essential features of dystopian literature. Audience members will then engage with students at their individual stations by reading excerpts of their stories and discussing how the features of the genre advance a commentary.

Implementation Notes

Credit Eligibility

  • ELA

Prerequisites Needed

We recommend that students entering HS have an ELA experience that introduces them to literary analysis and the basics of author’s craft before tackling this unit.

Modular Suggestions

A unit within a course tied to Genre Study/Author’s Craft or a Creative Writing course

TLE-Based Semester/Full-Year Course Suggestions

Genre Study/Author’s Craft:
Dystopian Literature,
My POV,
Slam Poetry

Contemporary Critiques:
Dystopian Literature,
Fake News,
Gentrification Photo Essay,
Slam Poetry

Standards Addressed

Literary Analysis

  • 11-12.RL.1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
  • 11-12.RL.2: Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
  • 11-12.RL.3: Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).
  • 11-12.RL.5: Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g. the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.

Narrative Writing

  • W.11-12.5: Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.
  • W.11-12.3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
    • W.11-12.3c: Use a variety of techniques to sequence events so that they build on one another to create a coherent whole and build toward a particular tone and outcome (e.g., a sense of mystery, suspense, growth, or resolution).
    • W.11-12.3d: Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting and/or characters.
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