Chrissie Johnston

I’ll teach it all!

          One thing I learned this semester is that utopian and dystopian novels share many of the same qualities (New obj.3). Both types of novels describe the advancements and/or improvements a society has made over a certain period of time. Both deal with social, political, and economical issues. The biggest difference is the position of the protagonist. This character either spends the novel trying to understand and accept the new society or “he” fights against it because “he” does not see it as perfect.  Both types of novels have viable teaching opportunities.  However, dystopian novels have been taught more over the years.  In fact, until this semester I had never read a utopian novel let alone taught one, and it turns out I like them just as much as the dystopian novels I grew up with. This had led me to ask “why can’t I teach both?”

          To find answers to my questions I first asked “why are dystopian novels so popular with young adult readers?” I found an abundance of research on this question. One of my sources said that the biggest achievement of “young adult utopias is their advancement of a particular type of utopian pedagogy, one in which political action is addressed within the developmental narrative of adolescence” (Hintz 254). We saw evidence of this when we read Anthem. The protagonist fights a system that limits his every move. They control his education, his employment, his sex life, and most importantly his identity.  This novel is so popular with young adult readers because the reader experiences basically the same things, and the issues unfold for them in an easy to recognize plot structure. For the first 18 years of a person’s life, their parents and school’s control everything they do and they have very little personal freedoms. By studying this novel, a teacher can capture their interest and gain the potential to motivate them to read similar texts. An instructor also gains the opportunity to use the students’ interest in the novel to take a deeper look at the issues the novel presents and connect them to real world examples (obj. 4a). The instructor could compare Anthem’s limited educational system to ours. As young adults, students do not often realize the freedoms they have to be whatever they want or that there are many people and organizations willing to help them achieve their dreams. Therefore, by studying the faults of Anthem’s utopian system they may gain a better idea of what they waiting for them.

          Studying utopias like Herland and Ecotopia also gives students a chance to examine a variety of issues that are in the world around them. During my research I tried to find out why these two novels are not currently on the high school read lists (at least not on the ones I could get access to). The conclusion I was able to reach is many of my fellow educators are not familiar with the texts, and teachers tend to teach what they were taught and what they liked.  In addition, I also discovered there is nothing in the state of Texas’s teaching standards (TEKS) that says they cannot be taught. Therefore, if I were able to teach Herland, I would have a novel were I could examine the gender roles presented and compare them to traditional American ones. The novel does an excellent job of presenting a feminist text that shows the control and power normally attributed to men and how it would work in a female controlled society; and yet, it does not alienate male readers.  I believe this is because of how the male and female characters work together to understand each other. There is a small amount of conflict with Terry, but to most readers, male and female; he is so comical that he does not offend anyone. He just provides an example of someone incapable of learning to adapt.  While Jeff is a little too adaptable, Van is the perfect example of someone who asks questions, tries to understand new things, and as a result of his journey, gains understanding and growth. This is exactly what literature teachers want students to accomplish by reading any novel.

          Teaching Ecotopia would be an amazing text to connect a novel with science (Obj. 4a). After reading about the biological and chemical advances this society was made in order to improve their environment, students could then examine what our scientists have or have not done to make similar advancements.  While today’s society is not as “big” on the environment as it once was or is in specific areas of the country, opening the students’ eyes to the concerns people have for improving and preserving our environment is important.

 Studying the novel could also provide and opportunity improve science and math TAKS scores, area students tend to struggle more in when compared to english/language arts scores. Science and math teaches could have the students perform experiments relating to events in the novel. For example, students could use math skills to build models of the extruded houses Will was so fascinated by. They could also perform chemistry experiments to see if they could make a solution similar to the one the Ecotopians have that dissolves plastics. By connecting the novel to other academic areas, students will not only maintain or gain interest in reading, they can use skills that have learned in math and science and possibly improve their abilities in those areas as well.

Capturing and maintaining a student’s interest is very hard to do these days. They are overstimulated and under motivated. However, with utopian and dystopian texts there is a chance for educators to use the “improvements” the novels’ societies have made in social, political and economic realms to pull students in and connect them to current and similar issues that will make them productive members of our society, a society they can improve if they wish.