1. Brave New World English 102

2. Reading Quiz As soon as you receive the quiz you may begin. It is a combination of multiple choice and short answer. Please read the question carefully before answering. Please turn in your quiz as soon as you finish it.

3. Small Group Discussions Today, we are going to focus on the technique of small group literature discussions. Many literature classes focus on small groups rather than large “lecture-style” settings. The small group method allows you to have a more focused conversation, and to be more specific in your analysis, reading, and examples. – Throughout the discussion, I will be either up front or moving back and forth between the groups discussions. Please stay on-task, as it will be more productive for you and your group. I will be listening to all the discussions in the room. If you have a question, please raise your hand.

4. Tips for Small Group Discussions Everyone has something worthwhile to add! Have your textbooks open and ready to do “close reading” of the text, or to respond to your classmates point with further evidence of their point or an alternative interpretation. – A “close reading” of a text is where you carefully and thoroughly read and analyze a short and specific part of the text, paying attention to word choice, tone, and the order in which words and ideas are revealed.

5. Tips for Small Group Discussion Use my questions as a starting point, but don’t be afraid to let the conversation move on to your own points, observations, and analysis. What do you find interesting, intriguing, and worth discussion? – As long as your discussion remains focused on the text it is ok. Watch yourselves, and don’t get distracted by off-topic chatting. We will have three different group discussion slides— you can focus on these questions for 10 minutes each. Please get into groups of 3 or 4. Choose your groups carefully!

6. Small Group Discussion 1: Contrasts and Intriguing Scenes (20 mins) Huxley draws a sharp contrast between the “civilized” world and the “savage” reservation. Given a choice between the two, which would you choose? Why? Take a moment and choose a scene from this first half of the novel that intrigued or interested you. Read it again carefully, and be ready to tell your group why the scene is so interesting (or disturbing, as the case may be) and how it fits in thematically with the rest of the novel.

7. Small Group Discussion 2: The “Brave New World” quotation evolves! At the end of Chapter Eight, John, the young man raised on the “savage” reservation, quotes the section from Shakespeare’s The Tempest that gives the novel its title. – Why is this quote significant? Other than the fact that it’s where the title comes from… In this second half of the book, John (“The Savage”) quotes the passage from The Tempest that gives the book its title several times. How does its significance/meaning evolve over time? See p. 160 and p. 210, and compare to John’s exuberant use of the quote on p. 139 while on the reservation. Did you notice any other particularly interesting uses of Shakespeare in this second half of the novel?

8. Small Group Discussion 3: Significant Scenes (20 mins) Choose one or two of the following significant scenes to discuss with your group. Discuss the significance of these scenes to the overall themes in the novel: John and Lenina go to the “feelies” (p. 166-171) Helmholtz shares his poetry and hears John read Shakespeare (p. 179-185) John and Lenina’s confrontation p. 190-197 Linda’s death (starts on p. 198) The Savage throws out the soma (p. 210) Conversation with The Controller (Ch. 16, p. 218 and Ch. 17, p. 230) The Savage runs away from Civilization (p. 243 onward.)

9. Some Questions to Wrap Up Brave New World Was John’s fate sealed the moment he came off the reservation and into “civilization”? Is there any way he could have been happy in the “civilized” world? (and what do you think of The Controller’s solution for people of intelligence?) Though this novel was written in 1932, do you find it to be relevant now? How?