Select a prompt from the list below and write a 4-5 page essay comparing two of the following texts:

• H.G. Wells, The Time Machine
• E.M. Forster, "The Machine Stops"
• Fritz Lang, Metropolis
• Aldous Huxley, Brave New World (excerpt)
• George Orwell, 1984

1. Emotions, both positive and negative, play a central role in our readings. On the one hand, they are potentially liberating, but on the other, they can also serve to make the individual more dependent. Compare and contrast how two of the above authors conceptualize the power of emotion. Why are emotions so powerful? How do dystopic states try to harness or defuse their impact?

2. In The Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels argue that one of the dehumanizing effects of capitalism is that within its mode of production, the worker "becomes an appendage of the machine" (56). Compare and contrast how two of the above texts treat the way that humans become dependent on their technologies. Some questions you might consider include the following: Do the texts see the increased use of technology as leading to humans' dependency on it? Do they regard the process with the same unmitigated horror as Marx and Engels do the fate of the worker? Do they, perhaps, see advantages that offset the costs of this "dependency"?

3. From Kuno and Weena to the Maria-bot and Winston, the roles played by characters in our texts are often sharply divided along lines of sex and gender. Compare and contrast these portrayals in two of our works paying special attention to the ways in which gender roles are represented as inherent, incidental, or instrumental in these utopian or dystopian landscapes. How are relations between the genders, sexual and otherwise, important to the constitution of the worlds in these works? What does it mean to be a man or a woman within one of these new worlds?

4. In 1984, O'Brien tells Winston that "Reality is inside the skull." In many of the works we look at, psychological control is even more essential than physical management of the citizens of utopia. Write an essay examining the attempts to control or "guide" the thoughts and actions of society in two of the above texts. In developing your argument you might consider the following: What tactics have been used and why? In what ways is this phenomenon utopic and in what ways dystopic? Is mental slavery really freedom, as O'Brien argues?

Guidelines:

• Your essay should state a single thesis
• Be sure to define your terms, if necessary.
• Your argument should be based on textual analysis and evidence rather than on emotion or personal belief.
• You must use and cite specific examples from the text to illustrate and support your claims.
• Foreground your own insights and analysis of the texts beyond merely revisiting what was discussed in lectures and sections.
• Be sure to give your essay a title that conveys the essence of your argument.
• Please do not use any secondary sources for this essay.
• For quotes shorter than four lines, integrate them into your text and cite the quotation in parenthesis at the end of the sentence: "… dropped the book" (Stephenson 151). For longer quotes, indent the entire quote 1 inch and drop the quotation marks.
• Once you have finished the essay, be sure to include on the top of the page:

  • Your Name
  • IHUM 58-Section Name (Oceania, Eurasia, Eastasia)
  • Your TF's Name
  • The Question #

• 4-5 pages in length
• formatted with one-inch margins
• double-spaced
• printed in a standard font (i.e. 12-point Times New Roman)
• numbered on all pages
• stapled before you turn it in

Papers will be graded on the following elements:

• Strength and arguability of the thesis (i.e., the extent to which it constitutes an assertion that, far from self-evident, actually demands substantial argumentative proof), along with the persuasiveness of that argument;
• Depth and complexity of analysis, especially your use of textual evidence and your willingness, when appropriate, to incorporate and respond to textual evidence challenging your thesis;
• Organization; and
• Style, conciseness and clarity of prose.

Your essay is due at the beginning of lecture on Nov. 12th. Essays turned in after lecture starts will be considered LATE. Please also post your essay to Coursework before lecture.