LITR 5439 Literary & Historical Utopias
Final Exam Submission 2009
Mallory Rogers
Topic B1: Evaluate and revise a course objective
Objective 3
Course objective 3 is a broad, instructional objective that is comprehensive and takes an extensive approach to encompass both historical and cultural objectives. Through course readings, instructions, discussions, and presentations I have learned a wide-ranging amount of information regarding the historical and cultural aspects of Utopias in general; however, I feel like this course objective is too broad and covers so much that perhaps dividing objective three into two separate entities would work more effectively for a literature class. As I sat down to write my outline for this essay, the objective’s rather large scope was made even more apparent as the outline to encompass this objective seemed too lengthy for a single essay. As a result of this finding, it is reasonable that ‘Utopian culture’ and its effects on Western Civilization views deserve its own individual objective apart from its historical impact. To complete this objective, we should regard Utopian literature as a means to introduce new or alternative culture practices and as a means to identify and distinguish between what works best in Western Civilization and which of our customs need redefining or even change.
The revised objective and sub-objectives that should include:
3. To investigate attempts by “communes,” “intentional communities,” or nations to institutionalize or practice utopian ideals.
· 3a. To use Utopian literature’s cultures to expose/reinforce/frustrate social structures, units, or identities within Western Civilization.
· 3b. To identify Utopias that change, evolve, and adapt to the changes of movements while taking Western Civilization and its advances into account.
Objective 3 would serve as the ultimate goal of the objective because it explains precisely what the purpose of the objective will be: to study the distinct cultures of different utopian communities. This objective would effectively identify issues within utopian literature that pose set-backs and negative issues for societies, including that of our own civilization’s views. Likewise, this objective would serve as an overview about what utopian culture alternative practices work the best for the general population and offer the best results for the society.
3a. To use Utopian literature’s cultures to expose/reinforce/frustrate social structures, units, or identities within Western Civilization.
To begin with, Utopian communities have proven that they can expose and/or frustrate social structures, units, and identities, but it isn’t necessarily always in a negative light. We know that Utopias separate themselves from everyday, accepted society and serve as counter-culture options for those who prefer a different way rather than the social-norm. Utopias are each governed by their own rules and beliefs and everyone in that utopia forms a general consensus thereby creating their own distinct culture. For many Utopian literature pieces they reinforce the accepted social norms, but in some cases they expose issues and hypocrisy within our generally well-accepted Western Civilization norms. With this said, I noted that many times during class discussions, the actual movement stories stemmed from was only a quick touch point in the class discussions, whereas the majority of time was spent talking about each utopia’s culturally accepted beliefs and whether they went with or against views of Western Civilization.
Herland, for instance, was created as a response to the socialist movement but, the actual socialist movement as a historical aspect was barely touched upon in class discussions. The discussion points that came about were geared more about their ways of life—specifically their cultural beliefs. The fact that women created a system that was comprised by women for women, without concern or need for a man made the novel a successful addition to our class readings and discussions about negative issues within Western Civilization’s accepted norms. The idea that feminism and socialism could coexist by means of a congregation of athletic, smart and capable women who didn’t need or really want men for any reason was the focal point of many topics covered. As women were seen punishing children, thirsting for knowledge the same (if not more) as a man, and even controlling their male visitors, Herland essentially exposed a plethora of issues with assumptions that come directly from Western Civilization’s accepted gender roles that typically include women only as child-rearing stay-at-home moms and men as the educated, successful business stereotypes. In terms of discussion, Herland offered a way of life for us as students to embrace, that very much goes against Western Civilizations traditional views, but still works for us.
The undeniable thirst for knowledge (which we all generally like about Western Civilization) seen in Herland was reiterated in a utopia that reinforced another of today’s society’s view: education as both important in regards to society and worthwhile for the individual. Plato’s Republic introduced the idea that the building and educating of a society’s people will ultimately create the most just-full and respectable society possible. In Utopia, More utilized Plato’s idealism of the benefit of education within the culture through Raphael’s introduction which included the introduction of “new” authors and literature to Utopia’s people. The utopia’s constituents – who were both excited and eager to learn — parallel and reinforce Western Civilization’s need for knowledge (which was also seen in Herland’s alternate-society female characters).
This same idea that stimulates intelligent minds and strengthens society’s need for education can also be seen in Utopian literature as a means to show possible negative results of oppressing knowledge, including feelings of fear as seen in Anthem. In Anthem’s uniform society, the idea of knowledge being beneficial to all is refuted by idea that knowledge oppression should be practiced for the supposed good of the community. This is an example of a society where knowledge leads to fear, a polar opposite of our accepted society’s view that “knowledge is power”. An example of this fear is International’s discovery of Equality’s tunnel. Upon discovery, International was fearful about the council’s inevitable resentful reaction of his new knowledge, but he also was torn because he wanted to remain loyal to his friend. This indecisiveness caused knowledge to be seen as something negative instead of for good, denouncing Western Civilization’s approved practice of information sharing. Within Anthem, the society is only allowed to take what they are told as real truth. This practice created a society that was unable to think for themselves and in turn they essentially had no-life other than that of what they were allowed by the authorities, which was limited.
Like Anthem, Paradise negatively exposed Western Civilization’s societal issues of random violence through their cultural teachings. Ruby was an all black town that was patriotically controlled. The residents were both morally and racially pure—an ideal that Western Civilization applauds. Much like Western Civilization though, the claim to be pure and the right are two distinct and separate ideals. Any and all problems and issues that came about were blamed on a segregated population: the women of the convent. Eventually, without warning, residents ambushed the segregated convent and killed the unarmed women that were thought to be the cause of society’s issues. While the women were different, they were never accepted by society even from the beginning. This was apparent because the covenant was set at the outskirt of town. In Western Society, we see these outskirt populations as those problem areas and today we refer to them as “ghettos” or “wards”. Paradise exposes the negative way in which we (Western Civilization) segregate and stereotype populations who don’t work into society’s ‘normal’ classes.
3b. To identify Utopias that change, evolve, and adapt to the changes of movements while taking Western Civilization and its advances into account.
While Utopian literature exposes weak links in Western Civilizations views it can also serve as a means of strengthening our current society’s point of views. The fact that Utopias have the ability to change, evolve, and adapt quicker than any other society in general prove they are worthy of being an intricate part of Western Civilization’s thirst for knowledge. Like the Western Civilization, Utopian societies welcome new knowledge and take that knowledge in account in order to modify a culture or even create a way of life that is even more beneficial than what has been previously offered.
A prime example of an evolving, seemingly successful Utopia is Ecotopia, which is written as a counter-culture green movement. Ecotopia incorporates technology, lifestyle, and a new-found attitude. It is everything good about Western Civilization without the issues that are exploited because they ultimately don’t work—like gender roles for example. Ecotopia has a woman as President, they believe in sexual freedom, and the community has a large interest in energy conservation, as well as a new take on life, agriculture, and education. There isn’t any need for police because they don’t have any crime, and when there is tension between groups they hold war games to ease the tension. Ecotopia can be seen as the new age plea for society’s reformation. It addresses issues within civilization and offers an alternative society. The fact that it is a “green” society gives it a high class sense, taking into account issues Western Civilization is plagued with today (i.e. global warming, limited fossil fuels, etc.) and addresses them with solutions, not easy fix cover-ups. To even be able to recognize the need for a green society, the people of this utopia are educated on the issues surrounding it, giving education the emphasis Western Civilization has already deemed suitable. The community works as one, respecting life as well as things, and even more importantly they respect each other. The society is honest and doesn’t react emotionally—they are flexible depending on each situation and its circumstances (unlike societies such as Anthem where there are strict ways of life). Much like the views of the Indians in Chief Seattle’s Speech, Ecotopia’s community members loved their community and want to preserve it –land and air— first and foremost; sacrificing cars for bikes, as their vow to do their part. Here, for the first time, we are introduced to a society where the western civilization’s issues aren’t exploited, they are alternatively resolved.
3c. To use Utopian literature as persuasive rhetoric.
Former objective 3a states that it is fact that with the knowledge that utopian societies don’t work, it still doesn’t stop people from still imagining and attempting societies.
For my second research posting I researched an intentional community that was very much alive and thriving at one point. The Oneida community was an alternative society that lived off of its businesses of silverware, canned fruits, traveling bags, and sewing silk. They believed in capitalism, strong relationships and they also had a strong faith--three attributes that are all strong in Western Civilization and if you agreed with their beliefs they welcomed you to join them. The Oneida community initially believed in monogamy, but after that didn’t seem to be working out they adapted, introducing a new philosophy for relationships: “complex marriages”. This showed that while the original idea of monogamy didn’t work for them, they were able to introduce and accept a new way of life they were able to evolve to make their society stronger by accepting change. They showed that change could be good, someone just needs to think it up.
Utopian literature does just that—it evolves to make things work. By incorporating change, and offering alternative ways of life, the genre not only gives us a means to explore a substitute way of life, but it gives us a non-threatening way to introduce customs in which our society could possibly benefit or be made better. Through the use of the Socratic Method, students use Utopia literature to think critically and rationally. Within utopian literature, students are introduced to new concepts, explained rationale, and are then given an outlook to decide their own beliefs and opinions. Therefore, utopian literature can be called persuasive rhetoric, because it promotes change and makes you take a stand one way or the other.
Mallory Rogers
Topic A3 : Teaching Utopia
Objective 5
In general, utopian literature is complex, but the genre overall includes two standard conventions (objective 1a: the genre's standard features). First of all, utopia literature often stimulates internal conflict for the reader by means of focusing on characters’ ways of speaking, their characterizations, and their feelings. Next, there are two types of utopia literature that exists: utopian literature--societies who almost get it right-- and dystopian literature-- those with flawed societies (objective 2: stories that rise from or fit the description of an ideal or dystopian community). Both types of communities are taught in school curricula today and both types bring knowledge to their readers but use different techniques. Teaching utopian literature comes with few risks because it is cut and dry, while teaching dystopian literature can be risky, because it evokes critical thinking and brings about more complex issues that the stories themselves don’t explain.
As you grow up, reading and English teachers traditionally expose younger students to utopian stories, those societies who have everything right and there is no real sense of conflict is found anywhere. Utopian stories are structured and include a distinctive beginning, middle, and (generally) a happily ever after ending. Often, these stories focus on cooperation, family, and responsibility. Life in a utopian novel isn’t ever questioned because essentially there is nothing wrong or bad that can come of it. Within utopian societies the information about cultural practices and beliefs are black and white, where nothing is done without a specific reasoning leaving little to argue or dispute. For these reasons, utopian literature is most likely reserved for younger students who are more often than not less aware of their individuality (opposed to an older student who is very aware) and who are more likely to go with the flow. Scenes such as those More wrote about in Utopia (the group eating and socializing in the garden) show the pleasantness of Utopias, but in turn it causes them to lack any sort of interesting or vivid story line. But we should note that utopian characters nonetheless seem life-like and the scenes descriptions are simple scenes that are easily made to come to life.
Utopian literature stories do offer a pretty package for young students to comprehend, but they also present educators with the opportunities to teach valuable lessons aside from that of individuality. A significant feature to note of utopian literature is that it uses the Socratic Method which gives the basis for a logical debate (dealing with rationale and reasoning) between students and their peers as well as student and teachers. While some utopian texts give enough information to explain their ideals, most often the problems within utopian societies are so dispersed that it makes it hard to pin-point the issues easily or even at all. With that said the Socratic Method evokes even younger students to think critically and to use what they already know about society and its issues to connect their vision of what reality is to that of the text. Because students studying utopian literature must relate issues to their current or past experiences in order to criticize them, the technique requires a student to pull information from knowledge and experience from life in general, and thus moves into a more cross curricula approach that essentially blurs subject lines including history, economics, sociology, philosophy, and the economy.
Although no utopian society has actually ever got everything right and flourished, there is an apparent need for them as we continue to find these alternative societies popping up all around us. While we could cast them off as “castles in the sky”, as educators we shouldn’t. Instead, we should utilize them as educational tools that can offer students in secondary schools especially the chance to use their imaginations to determine their own take on social issues and their own identity based on what issues are most important to them and the issues they are currently facing (objective 5a: a seminar classroom serving as a microcosm, model, or alternative for American culture).
Dystopian literature, on the other hand, not only encourages individualism but, it also teaches one that thinking outside of the box is optimal and that as an individual you are entitled to your own thoughts, ideas, and views of what constitutes the “pursuit of happiness”. Introductions to dystopian literature allow older secondary students the ability to empower themselves to think individually and respond to the text based on their more experienced personal feelings and views.
For older students, individuality is merely a way of life. This helps when teaching dystopian literature. Adolescents roll through their primary school years and are pushed to find their own voice and their own opinions, which inevitably leads them to a stronger sense of individualism than those of the younger school-agers. Dystopian novels portray this sense of individuality and are both intense and private that older students can handle. The harsh language and syntax can influence issues that have already been brought to the attention of the older students (such as those subjects where parents have already voiced opposition). A down side to this though, is touching on sensitive subjects or those where you find students who want to go against the grain. In these instances, as an educator you run the risk of introducing an emotionally-charged subject where a student may get offended or feel oppressed because they don’t agree with the majority.
While dystopian literature shows an unrealistic view of society, it gives the means to offer the truths of life and society’s issues in a safe, non-threatening manner. It offers those who seek questions about accepted norms the chance to talk issues out. Because dystopian literature lacks the strong sense of structure that utopian literature possesses, it offers students a way to rationalize what could possibly work instead of us (the educators) always telling them what they should do and why(objective 5c: To evaluate teaching and learning methods for special course content). The dystopian stories give students a way to pick our problems and shows why “quick fixes” can’t work.
While there are two different approaches that can be used to teach utopian literature, the two combined offer educators a means of motivating students through the use of critical thinking and analysis. While I do believe that dystopian texts work better for older students, I believe that younger students can benefit from the introduction of utopian novels early in their classrooms. Though the two types of utopia literature are different, in regards to teaching, they are equal tools that students of all ages can benefit and grow from.