Discussion Board Three: Blog Dive into Dystopia
Why do you feel dystopian novels (which envision a future where the world has gone wrong) are a trending genre in fiction? What are some other dystopian books you have read? In this short article found on NPR, what are some of the reasons teenagers find the dystopian genre captivating and what do brain experts have to say about it? https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/12/18/536007249/why-teens-find-the-end-of-the-world-so-appealing
At first I honestly really didn’t know why the dystopian novels amd genres were so popular. I did know why I really liked them and I realized I think it's because we as teenagers, who are usually casted or illustrated in the books as also teenagers are able to envision a different life and new fantasy where we are able to live during those times and go through these different life changing catastrophes. For example Divergent. Divergent is about a world where the people are split up into four different factions. And each of those fractions are unique to their own kind of lifestyle. Tris, who is the main character, is a teenage girl who is about to choose which fraction she is going to be a part of for the rest of her life. Most of the time kids choose to stay with their families but in the end it's their choice. Tris is special though, there is a test each person has to take to give them a better idea of where they would fit best and that would help them decide. But Tris didn’t get one, she got all four. This is called Divergent and the world they lived in feared people who were divergent, so this book explains and guides us through the journey Tris goes on to find her true self but also stay hidden. Us teenagers are able to envision ourselves in these characters and that’s why they are so popular. The article also agrees to some extent to what I said. The author stated, “When I ask the group why they think these types of books are so popular with teens, they tell me it has a lot to do with relatability”(Elissa Nadworny). Teenagers all feel a sense of hate towards the world or feeling the world is against us because that’s how we work and we can relate to these characters in the dystopian books.
HBO has already made a series on the novel (which is a little different from the book, er hum…) But without yet knowing what the novel is about what can you tell from this trailer? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPm52rq8CZA
I can tell that there is a life threatening virus going around and kind of like the pandemic during COVID the dad was stocking up on food and stuff because they wouldn't be allowed to leave because of the virus. I also can tell from the trailer that it gravely affects everyone and it had a real impact on the world, much worse than COVID did on us. People are going crazy and the world is crashing, what will be left? That’s what I am wondering?
I think this book connects with the dystopian themes because it includes the factors of the world constantly facing danger and people fearing the ending of the world, it also states that the world is falling asleep and It is kind of funny because I watched a movie that was about a world where a catastrophe hit but no one could fall asleep, sending the world into chaos. I wonder how the people will react to these different situations.
Read the first two chapters of Station Eleven and respond. The novel opens not with the pandemic (in this case it will be called The Georgian Flu), but with a theatrical production as the lead actor keels over on stage. Why do you think this scene opens the novel and what are your impressions so far of central characters? I think this scene opens the novel to unlock the emotional barrier right in the beginning leaving the audience confused and questioning what happened, saddened by the events which occurred, and guilt for the one who lay lifeless. And we also really get to know Jeevan who tried his best to save Arther but in the end wasn’t able to. He is filled with mixed and complicated emotions and we learn that his girlfriend is definitely not a supportive person in his life. I do wonder what the importance of Kirsten was in the first chapter, why did she just disappear and what did she have to do with the show?
In the second chapter, members of the crew meet at a bar. An ominous line ends the chapter. What do you want to know more about so far? I want to know how they all die? Why do they all die? And how come the bartender lasted the longest? Did the death of Arthur have anything to do with it or was that just coincidence? What happened to Jeevan, did he go back to his girlfriend, did he die?
Pull one quote from the novel to discuss and dialogue with in your reader’s journal. ‘“ to Arthur”, they said. They drank for a few more minutes and then went their separate ways in the storm”’(Mandel 15). I think this quote foreshadows what happened next because the next line states that they all die within three weeks. The bartender dies last out of all of them, making me think it had something to do with either Arthur or something they said or saw in the bar. I wonder if they are the first ones to die, and then the rest of the world becomes at risk because it seemed the whole world was in shock and going crazy during the trailer.
Comments
Post a Comment