List all of the books, movies, tv shows, and video

games that you can think of that have futuristic

settings.
•Books:
•Movies:
•TV Shows:
•Video Games:
• What is a common topic/theme you see
among the stories you’ve discussed?
• Why do you think there are many more
negative futuristic stories than positive ones?
• What does this say about our culture?
• The world can be a scary place. Every generation
notices things that need to be changed – devastation
of the environment; pervasive poverty; continual
prejudice and discrimination. But hope seems to be
a human quality that keeps us going.
• Some authors have explored the world of the
future and have tried to imagine what could cause
a major change and what the results of that
change may be.
• For instance, some writers consider a natural
disaster that topples cities and ruins
infrastructures, which once supported
communication, transportation and distribution of
basics like food and water. Survival of the fittest
takes over.
• Other authors consider how political issues
polarize a country and cause civil war. Who
wins? How are laws and governments
reorganized? How can one group of citizens
be “losers” to the other and still live side by
side?
• Will a catastrophe unify us as “citizens of planet
Earth,” or will an apocalypse forever alter the world
as we know it?
• Who will survive?
• What will be left to sustain life?
• What parts of human nature will survive and gain
control – competition and fear, or compassion and
humanity?
• These are the questions that authors of
dystopian novels ponder.
• This word was coined in Greek by Sir Thomas
More for his 1516 book , ______ describing a
fictional island society in the Atlantic Ocean.
• ____ is a term for an ideal society.
• One could also say that ______is a perfect
"place" that has been designed so there are
no problems. An example is heaven.
• This word was coined in Greek by Sir Thomas
More for his 1516 book , Utopia describing a
fictional island society in the Atlantic Ocean.
• Utopia is a term for an ideal society.
• One could also say that Utopia is a perfect
"place" that has been designed so there are
no problems. An example is heaven.
Write a paragraph describing your utopia.
(Utopia is a perfect "place" that has been designed so there are no
problems.)

- Think about a prevalent problem in current

society and how it can be solved
- How would you enforce your solution to the
society? To whom would your society be an
ideal place and how?
• Dystopia: is the vision of a society (usually
futuristic, imagined) that is the opposite of
ideal. A dystopian society is a state in which
the conditions of life are extremely bad,
characterized by human misery, poverty,
oppression, violence, disease, and/or
pollution.
• Dystopias, through an exaggerated worst-case
scenario, make a criticism about a current
trend, societal norm, or political system.
• The setting of a dystopian novel usually
includes mass poverty, warfare, or a militaristic
police force. Quite often young people are
targets – either they are used by adults or are
expendable in order to conserve resources. At
the same time, young people often become
symbols of hope and change; their negative
experiences have driven them to protest the
status quo and seek a new order.
• ¤ C O N T R O L – Information, ideas, choices, & freedoms are restricted or
removed.
• ¤ S U R V E I L L A N C E – Citizens are constantly monitored & watched by
those in control.
• ¤ DEHUMANIZATION – Citizens are forced to live in a “dehumanized” or
animalistic state.
• ¤ C O N F O R M I T Y – Uniformity is expected. All citizens are alike and the
same. Individuality is BAD!
• ¤ LIMITED WORLD VIEW – Citizens have a lack of knowledge & fear of the
“outside” world.
• ¤ P R O P A G A N D A – Messages designed to influence & control the
attitude of citizens toward some cause, belief, or
• position by presenting only one side of an argument.
• ¤ CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT – Elements of the natural world is banished,
removed, & distrusted.
• ¤ PERFECT WORLD – Citizens believe they are living in a perfect world – a
utopian society. They don’t want or see a need for change.
•A catastrophe – either natural or manmade –has altered the world and its citizens
•Science and technology have “perfected” humans, but unnaturally so to the point where
humans are more machine-like and heartless than their ancestors.
•Futuristic or technical terminology
•Generation gaps between young and old – elders who survived the catastrophic change
and agreed to a controlled system to avoid fatal errors from the past; the next generation
of youth who question the status quo and resist rules, seek change, or take over power
•A quest – to travel through unsafe settings, to deliver information or something
valuable, to incite others to rebel, etc.
•A coming-of-age theme – a young person matures quickly and learns his/her place in the
order of things or a mission in life
•Antagonists – a government that has taken all individual rights and decision-making
away from the people; a police force of bullies who abuse power; neighbor versus
neighbor, turning each other in to the authorities out of fear or for personal gain.
• feel trapped and struggle for
change or escape.
• question the existing social and
political order.
• sense that something is
fundamentally wrong with their
society.
• help readers recognize negative
aspects of their society through
their perspective.
• The danger of a particular type of government
• The importance of knowledge and truth
• The danger of a particular policy
• The danger of allowing one group too much power
• The importance of free will & individuality
• The danger of technology
• The danger of desensitization
• The importance of humanity
• The danger of human nature
1. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells (1895)
2. 1984 by George Orwell (1949)
3. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985)
4. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932)
5. The Passion of New Eve by Angela Carter (1977)
6. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953)
7. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (2008)
8. The Giver by Lois Lowry (1993)
9. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (1954)
10. V For Vendetta by Alan Moore (1982-1989)
11. The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2006)
12. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (1963)
13. Logan's Run By William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson (1967)
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