LITR 4632: Literature of the Future

Sample Student final exams 2007

Excerpts for Topic 1 / Part 1

Emily Sevier

Maybe the Amish Have it All Figured Out

So many times when I read science fiction I stop and scream, “Almost!!  They almost had it!  It could have been a perfect world!”  Unfortunately, “almost” only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades.  A utopian society is something that mankind has sought since our Plummet from Grace and something that we have never been able to achieve. Some of the problems with a utopia are that they would require too many sacrifices for most people to make it work, or they start with good intentions, but we all know where that road leads.  Until I took this class I didn’t think that a utopia could exist, or at least be created without turning into a dystopia.

In many of the stories that we have encountered this semester, dystopias revolve around high tech civilizations.  . . .

From the readings it seems that the only way a utopian society can exist is if we keep it simple.  The people of the Paleolithic Age and of Chocco have shown us that humans can exist without hair dryers and air conditioners.  They live happier lives when they live together, without weapons or prejudice of those who are different.    Pryor, Pearl, and the farmer illustrate the problems that come with allowing technology to take over our lives and our humanity.  To live in a machine or to be solely dependent on them, not remembering the tangible things that make us “real” and human, only leaves us isolated, miserable and lost in a dystopian world.