Cranston High School West Library: Ray - Brave New World

When Huxley wrote the novel Brave New World in 1931, he made predictions about how the world would be in the future. While his novel is set hundreds of years in the future, some of the predictions he made were true, some are partly true, some are completely untrue, and some are on their way to being true in our world.  Below are some features of Huxley’s society. This is only a partial list; there are many more.

Your assignment:  Choose a feature of Huxley’s society that you would like to research. You will write an essay (using quotes and paraphrases from your research) in which you explore different aspects of your topic in our world and the World State. You will need to include information about how and why your topic is featured in the novel, examples of its prominence, and what its prominence says about our society.

You will have time in both the library and the computer lab to do research, but any research you do not complete in that time will be your responsibility to complete on your own time.  

Brave New World Research Paper Prompts

What did Aldous Huxley correctly predict that is evident in our world today, and where did he miss the boat?

1. Eugenics – Define the aspects of  eugenics, investigate where and how the study began, who has used the ideas throughout history, and what part of it exists in society today? Find interesting LOGOS – facts, study results, and statistics, as well as PATHOS – anecdotes and real-life examples. Also be prepared to answer questions related to the book such as:

   1. Investigate the role eugenics plays in the novel, and what is its purpose?

   2. What is it called in the novel and how does it work?

   3. Why do you think Huxley chose this idea to center his novel around? What kind of message is he relaying?

2. Socialism – What is socialism and what is its intent? Where did it begin? How successful has it been? Has it transformed? Where does it still exist? Find interesting LOGOS – facts, study results, and statistics, as well as PATHOS – anecdotes and real-life examples. Also be prepared to answer questions related to the book such as:

   1. What elements of socialism exist in the novel?

   2. What conditions in the novel are necessary for socialism to work in the new world?

   3. What is Huxley’s message about socialism?

3. Communism - What is communism and what is its intent? Where did it begin? How successful has it been? What is the difference between communism and socialism? Democracy? Where does it still exist? Find interesting LOGOS – facts, study results, and statistics, as well as PATHOS – anecdotes and real-life examples. Also be prepared to answer questions related to the book such as:

   1. What elements of communism do you see in the novel?

   2. What elements of democracy do you see in the novel?

   3. What is Huxley’s message about communism?

4. Utopia– What is Utopia? Where did this idea come from and how has it been used in history? What is the difference between Utopia and dystopia? Where do we still see elements of Utopian thought in our society today? Find interesting LOGOS – facts, study results, and statistics, as well as PATHOS – anecdotes and real-life examples. Also be prepared to answer questions related to the book such as:

   1. Why is Brave New World a dystopian novel instead of a utopian one?

   2. What does Mustopha Mond say about why his “utopia” works? Do you agree?

   3. What is Huxley’s message about “utopia?”

5. Bioengineering – Where is the field of bioengineering today? At what stage of  development was bioengineering when Huxley wrote this book? What technology has been a game-changer in bioengineering, what can we potentially do in the future? Find interesting LOGOS – facts, study results, and statistics, as well as PATHOS – anecdotes and real-life examples. Also be prepared to answer questions related to the book such as:

   1. What role does bioengineering play in the novel?

   2. What did Huxley accurately and/or inaccurately predict about our bioengineering abilities?\What is Huxley’s message about bioengineering?

6. Legal and illegal drug use/abuse – What illegal drugs are most popular today, and which economic/social classes are most likely to take these drugs? What are they used for? Same questions for legal drugs. Who abuses them and how? Find interesting LOGOS – facts, study results, and statistics, as well as PATHOS – anecdotes and real-life examples. Also be prepared to answer questions related to the book such as:

   1. How are drugs use portrayed in the novel?

   2. If soma were real, what type of drug would it be most like?

   3. What is Huxley’s message about drug use?

   4. Why would Soma be considered a designer drug?

   5. What are the similarities between what we call designer drugs today, and soma?

   6. What message does Huxley intend to convey through the addition of soma in the novel?

7. Aldous Huxley – What was his life like? Timeline? What experiences in his life are evident, or influences his writing, especially of Brave New World? Find interesting LOGOS – facts, study results, and statistics, as well as PATHOS – anecdotes and real-life examples. Also be prepared to answer questions related to the book such as:

   1. What parallels do you see between events in Huxley’s life and the novel?

   2. Where did Huxley get the desire to create a dystopian novel?

   3. Do any characters of settings come from his life and if so, how does he use them in the novel?

8. Present-day propaganda and subliminal messages – Research what today’s advertising uses to convince us to consume and conform, and what government uses to control us. Find interesting LOGOS – facts, study results, and statistics, as well as PATHOS – anecdotes and real-life examples. Also be prepared to answer questions related to the book such as:

   1. What subliminal messages were present in the novel?

   2. How were characters manipulated by propaganda and messages?

   3. What role does consumerism have in the novel, and what is Huxley’s message about it?

9. Economic and social caste systems – What is a caste system and which countries have had these systems, or still do have them? What does the economic and social classes look like presently in the United States? How has our democratic, capitalist society developed into a sort of caste system? How are the castes/classes maintained in this country?  Find interesting LOGOS – facts, study results, and statistics, as well as PATHOS – anecdotes and real-life examples. Also be prepared to answer questions related to the book such as:

   1. How is the idea of a caste system used in the novel?

   2. How do the people in the new world identify members of castes?

   3. Having been a Brit, what was Huxley’s message about castes, at least when he wrote it?

   4. What would he say about our society today?

Requirements:

• Paper length: 4-5 pages

• Sources: 3 sources

• Notes: to be reviewed during “check-in” conference--see date below

• Annotated Bibliography: summary and analysis of each source with an explanation of how you will use it in your paper and an accurate MLA citation

• Outline: format to be discussed in class

• Rough draft available on specified date for peer editing

• Important dates:

** there will be additional classwork assignments that will support this unit-- to be collected each week

Research Requirements

• The paper you produce must have 3 secondary sources plus the primary one—Brave New World  for a total of 4 sources minimum.

• All sources must be authoritative; that is, they MUST be scholarly. You may not use sources outside of the library databases or library books unless approved by the teacher in writing.

• You may not use anything from Wikipedia or any encyclopedia. You may not use any material from Spark Notes, Cliff’s Notes, Pink Monkey, or any other commercially prepared study guide of that nature. Other unacceptable sources include plot summaries such as Bloom’s “Plot Summary,” Foster Masterplots, and Schmoop.com.

• Your final essay must be at least 4 full pages typed, not including the Works Cited page which should be the last page of your paper.

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Off campus? Email sevje@cpsed.net for password.

No login needed from school. Off campus? Email sevje@cpsed.net for password.