3. . "dangerous and alienating future societies"  - criticizing current trends in the author’s culture.  - possible deprivation, oppression, or terror  - Caution: Although these are common characteristics, dystopias are very different and often stray from these guidelines. Think about it as a form of protest, if you always protest in the same way then people stop listening to you.

4.  A futuristic, imagined universe in which op- pressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through cor-  porate, bureaucratic, technological, moral, or totalitarian control.  Dystopias, through an exaggerated worst-case scenario, make a criticism about a current trend, societal norm, or political system.

5.  Propaganda is used to control the citizens of society.  Information, independent thought, and freedom are restricted.  A figurehead or concept is worshipped by the citizens of the society.  Citizens are perceived to be under constant surveillance. 

6.  Citizens live in a dehumanized state. Citizens have a fear of the outside world.  The natural world is banished and distrusted.  Citizens conform to uniform expectations. Individuality and dissent are bad.  The society is an illusion of a perfect utopian world.

7.  Most dystopian works present a world in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through one or more of the following types of controls:  Corporate control : One or more large corporations control society through products, advertising, and/or the media. Examples include Minority Report and Running Man.

8.  Bureaucratic control : Society is controlled by a mindless bureaucracy through a tangle of red tape, relentless regulations, and incompetent government officials. Examples in film include Brazil.  Technological control : Society is controlled by technology—through computers, robots, and/or scientific means.

9.  Examples include The Matrix, The Terminator, and I, Robot.  Philosophical/religious control : Society is controlled by philosophical or religious ideology often enforced through a dictatorship or theocratic government. 

10. ► Back story:  war, destruction, revolution, uprising, over population, disaster ► Results:  shift from the good old days (often before industrialization) to corporations, totalitarian dictatorships, and bureaucracies

11.  Futuristic World ► Technology  Advanced technology that is controlled by those in power.  The oppressed have little control and use of technology.  Author's statement: ► We have gone too far with technology and it will destroy our world.

12. ► Degenerative Society  Lower standard of living than contemporary society for lower and middle class members.  As in most societies, the upper class has all of the control and enjoy a higher standard of living.

13.  often feels trapped and is struggling to escape.  questions the existing social and political systems.  believes or feels that something is terribly wrong with the society in which he or she lives.  helps the audience recognize the negative aspects of the dystopian world through his or her perspective. 

14. ► Unlike Utopias, the protagonist is often living within the system. ► Goal: escape or destruction of the social order ► Recognition of the negativity of development of society ► Break free from social restrictions

15. ► Success of the hero?  Often the story is unresolved and the changes that are desired are not achieved  Sometimes the hero even changes to conform to the society which they, themselves are trying to change.

16. ► Class is largely determined by:  Occupation  Education and qualifications  Income  Wealth or net worth ► Caste System:  “traditional,hereditary systems of social restriction and social stratification (being the arrangement of social classes enforced by law or common practice, based on endogamy, occupation, economic status, race and ethnicity.”

17. ► Upper Class:  Usually develop a lifestyle which further separates them from the lower classes through devices such as: ► Costume and grooming ► Manners and cultural refinement ► Political standing: church, government, social clubs, use of honorary titles ► language