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Titel
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Brave New Worlds EKSAMEN
Course description:
This course explores dystopia in fiction. Dystopia comes from utopia, a term coined by Sir Thomas More from the Greek words meaning a happy place (eutopia) and no place or nowhere (outopia). Often utopias represent cultural protests against unjust institutions or policies and propose political or social reforms by offering an alternative; a better and brighter future. However, in recent years there has been more attention to the opposite of utopia: dystopia; dystopian visions of oppressive totalitarian regimes, environmental degradation, or technological oppression.
In 2008 The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins marked a new literary trend of young adult fiction (YA), set in a dystopian future where young protagonists struggle to survive. Dystopian fiction is not new, however, and we will go back in time and read other works of dystopian fiction, including Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” from 1948 and Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron” from 1961. We’ll use relevant terms relating to dystopian fiction to analyse and interpret these short stories and the various dystopian novels that you have selected to read and that you’ll be working with in groups.
Course materials:
Literary history and terms:
Abrams, M.H., “Utopia” in “A Glossary of Literary Terms”.
Abrams, M.H. “Science Fiction” in “A Glossary of Literary Terms”.
Adams, John Joseph, “Introduction” in “Brave New Worlds”, Night Shade Books, (San Francisco, 2011), pp. 1-2.
Fiction:
Shirley Jackson, “The Lottery” (1948), from “Wider Contexts”, ed. by Jonna Engberg-Pedersen et al. (Gyldendal, 2012), pp. 25-32. (short story)
”Automated Customer Service”, animated short film, from Love, Death and Robots, Netflix, 2nd season, 2021.
Vonnegut, Kurt, "Harrison Bergeron" (1961), “Brave New Worlds”, Night Shade Books, (San Francisco, 2011), pp. 369-374. (short story)
Tuttle, Chandler. 2081. Film adaptation of Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron" (short film):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEgOuZzjI8o
“Bad Peter”, short film directed by Zach Strauss (2018). (fiction, short film):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYxo-uymPUY
The Matrix, directed by Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski(1999) (fiction, film).
Literary circles on the following dystopian novels:
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451 (1953)
Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games (2008)
Orwell, George, Nineteen Eighty-four (1949)
Huxley, Aldous, Brave New World (1932)
Non-fiction:
Keumars Afifi-Sabet, “AI is entering an 'unprecedented regime.' Should we stop it — and can we — before it destroys us?”, published in LiveScience, August 1, 2025:
https://www.livescience.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/ai-is-entering-an-unprecedented-regime-should-we-stop-it-and-can-we-before-it-destroys-us
PauseAI:
https://pauseai.info/?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxNm0_JCdiQMVDJaDBx3gVBJVEAAYASAAEgIMUvD_BwE
Approximately 300-500 pages depending on the novel chosen.
Kernestof:
Shirley Jackson, “The Lottery”
Kurt Vonnegut, "Harrison Bergeron"
The dystopian novels
Det resterende udfør det supplerende materiale.
Faglige mål according to the “læreplan” English B:
- forstå mundtlige engelske tekster og samtaler af en vis længde om almene og faglige emner
- udtrykke sig sammenhængende og forholdsvis flydende, herunder formulere egne synspunkter, i præsentation, samtale og diskussion på engelsk om almene og faglige emner med en relativ høj grad af grammatisk korrekthed
- læse og forstå skrevne tekster på engelsk i forskellige genrer af en vis længde om almene og faglige emner
- skrive klare, detaljerede og sammenhængende tekster på engelsk med forskellige formål om almene og faglige emner med en relativ høj grad af grammatisk korrekthed
- gøre rede for indhold, synspunkter og sproglige særtræk i engelsksprogede tekster
- analysere og fortolke tekster med anvendelse af faglig terminologi og metode
Kernestof according to the “læreplan” English B:
̶ et genremæssigt varieret udvalg af primært nyere fiktive … tekster
̶ tekstanalytiske begreber og metoder til analyse af fiktive …. tekster
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