Sara J. Stevens

May 8, 2019

Essay 1: Genre?

     I was so excited last year when I had seen a class was going to be held on literary utopias.  At the time I thought the class would be learning about the genres of utopian and dystopian fiction.  I was unaware, in my opinion, genre is a very loose term when it comes to literary utopias.  There are as many similarities as there are differences in the utopic and dystopic texts, we have read this semester.  Dr. White’s “Homepage” was very informative, and without the links provided for conventions, genres, etc. I most likely would have been lost at sea.  From the very first text we read, Thomas More’s Utopia, I became aware that utopian and dystopian fiction are indeed a literature of ideas, and do not fit neatly into any one genre.

     According to Dr. White’s website, a literature of ideas can be defined as “an occasional, often casual critical phrase describing writing that serves thought more than pleasure, or content more than style” (Comparative Geeks).  I would argue that every text we read, from More’s Utopia to Atwood’s Oryx and Crake, serve more than one purpose, and at least one of the purposes is to provoke thought.  The last three novels we read: Le Guin’s The Dispossessed and Atwood’s Oryx and Crake and The Handmaid’s Tale, were especially intriguing.  Le Guin’s novel is considered science fiction, while both of Atwood’s novels are within the genre of speculative fiction.

     We had several discussions in class about what makes a text speculative fiction.  One of the main proponents of speculative fiction is elements of a text that do not exist in the real world.  I think there are elements in most of the texts we have read throughout this semester that would fit into this genre, particularly with the last three.  The Dispossessed, for instance, is based upon the journey of Shevek between Annares and Uras, two separate planets.  Although space travel is possible, we currently do not have the means to support life on other planets, nor are we currently aware of any populations of people residing on other planets.  Because this is not a possibility, and does not exist in our world, it fits into the category of speculative fiction.  Oryx and Crake, similarly can be considered speculative fiction, although I feel it its more along the lines of science fiction. 

     We are making great strides in Science as a society.  It is within our power to grow cells in a petri dish as well as to combine different species to create new ones.  Atwood’s novel does embellish these creations, i.e. pigoons and rakunks, we are currently far less advanced than that with crossing plants and the like.  Like the scientific possibilities offer by Atwood’s novel, corporations being at the top with the have-nots suffering in the Pleeblands, is also not a stretch from our reality.  Those in power, in reality, hold the cards and can make it difficult for those who do not have the capital or connections the corporations offer.  Because Atwood’s fiction does hold some semblance to reality, even though we may not be on that level yet, my conclusion is it fits more with the genre of science fiction.

     Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is confusing to me where genre is concerned.  Our society does not to the lengths the Republic of Gilead goes through to keep control and increase population; however, there are many within our society that have gone through great lengths to have children.  It is not strange to find a surrogate, compensate them, and pay for their medical expenses, for them to carry a child for a couple who either can’t or doesn’t want to carry their own child.  We are currently having great debates within our country right now on the right to life and the rights of an unborn child.  The women in the novel willingly place themselves into the service of having a child, not unlike our current society; making this more like science, rather than speculative fiction. 

     Utopian and dystopian fiction is truly all over the place where genre is concerned.  Many novels “labeled” as science fiction, fantasy, speculative fiction, etc. can also be utopian fiction.  What I have learned is to try and not take a novel at face value and to look within for the conventions as opposed to looking at the genre.  Popular conventions of utopian fiction that appear in many forms of fiction are: walls, population control, regulated systems of government, etc.  These conventions can be found in many different genres.  The only text that I could identify as utopian or dystopian right away was Ayn Rand’s Anthem.  Rand’s text was undoubtably a community working for the good of all, rather than the individual.  Unfortunately, the collective did not work and eventually the individual mind prevailed. 

     Learning about genre from the perspective of utopian and dystopian literature has left me confused.  My curiosity lies on why the term genre even exists.  Many good novels and texts contain elements or conventions of several different genres.  Literature of ideas, is a more encompassing dome, allowing for looking at a work of literature without preconceived notions or biases. 

Essay 2: Doomsday Preppers Revisited

     For my first research post in the utopia class, I chose to research doomsday preppers, to see if they meet the conventions of a utopian or intentional community.  The information I found was indeed interesting; however, I do not think I made any sort of coherent thesis or summary of the content I located.  For this last assignment I would like to attempt to revisit dooms day preppers.  My interest in this topic is somewhat personal, but rather silly.  I am an avid camper.  When I lived in North Dakota, the “camping crew” and I would discuss our zombie defense plan (ZDP).  Ours was a compound, I did not realize it until this class, but we were discussing our own utopian or intentional community. 

     My intention, and hopefully my redemption in this topic, will coincide with course objective 3a.  To review historical, nonfiction attempts by “communes,” “intentional communities,” nations, or cults to institutionalize or practice utopian ideals.  I am an avid reader of young adult dystopian fiction.  The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner and The Divergent Series are some of my favorites.  In each of these series of texts, a community or communities were created after some disaster.  I am also a huge fan of The Walking Dead television series.  Many of the authors texts we have read throughout this class focused on communities built in response to a disaster as well.  Calenbach’s Ecotopia was created in response to an ecological disaster; or at least what the residents of Ecotopia deemed it to be.  Perkins Gilman’s Herland, was formed post-war and natural disaster, while Atwood’s Qryx and Crake, the communities were created post flood.  I have learned that in literary fiction most of the post-millennium communities were built out of necessity or of pure reaction.

     In the case of doomsday preppers, they believe the end, or at least some sort of grave disaster, will occur.  Some of these “preppers” do so because they have religious beliefs that focus on an end of days event.  Others, can be considered paranoid.  The difference in these groups may come down to the conventions they base their post-millennium utopic community on.  At least one convention seems to be adopted in every type of community I have explored, or that we have discussed in class, a community of like-minded individuals. 

     Those who prepare and have plans to live in a survivalist community, from what I have found, find people who share their beliefs and values.  Survivalist communities generally rely upon agriculture and hunting to provide sustainability.  Preppers, according to Evan Osnos’s article “Doomsday Prep for the Super Rich,” is done by some of the wealthiest people in our country.  I have found that most of the prepper information I have found is within western civilization.  Many of the prepper, or survivalist communities are family based.  This is unlike historical utopias where the communities contain many different families.  What is not addressed is, if the ideal prepper utopia is family based, how is reproduction factored in?  In order for the species to survive, the communities will need more than basic necessities.

     Michele Moses’s article “What Drives Doomsday Preppers” discusses how one man began his journey for prepping.  Moses states “New York City firefighter named Jason Charles read the novel “One Second After,” by William R. Forstchen, and decided to change his life” (Moses, 2018).  In class, I remember discussing how people took ideas from fictional utopic texts and attempted to create real-world applications or communities from them.  This seems to be the case for at least one doomsday prepper; probably many others as well.  In addition to the relationship between utopian fiction and prepping, the article provides reasons behind prepping.

     As I previously stated, many intentional communities and works of literary fiction formed communities either, in preparation for or in response of some sort of disaster or millennium event.  Moses states

…many doomsday preppers’ fears are not based on speculative, sci-fi-style catastrophes but on disasters that have already happened. “Watch a documentary about Katrina. Look at something about Sandy, years afterwards. Look at Puerto Rico right now,” Scott Bounds, a member of N.Y.C. Preppers, says. “You have to realize that people are not going to come take care of you. You really have to be able to take care of yourself (Moses, 2018).

Moses’s discussed taking care of yourself.  This statement does not sound like the creation of a utopian or intentional community. 

     My final thoughts on the topic come from what I have learned throughout this class.  Doomsday preppers, although they may begin their prepping as an individual, tend to look for other like-minded individuals to band together with.  No one individual can survive on their own.  Preppers tend to look for areas away from the population majority, more specifically places they can defend or those with walls.  Preppers continue education of those within the communities to better their chances of survival.  They have many of the conventions of a utopian community and some of the ideas they have or intend to implement have come from reading utopian and dystopian fiction.  I believe future research into seeing just how much impact the literature of ideas has had on the real-world, would be very interesting and enlightening. 

Works Cited

Moses, Michele.  “What Drives Doomsday Preppers.” The New Yorker, 2018.  Retrieved from

          https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/what-drives-doomsday-preppers. 

Osnos, Evan.  “Doomsday Prep for the Super Rich.”  The New Yorker, 2017.  Retrieved from

          https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/01/30/doomsday-prep-for-the-super-rich. 

Essay 3: Learning from my Peers: How to Teach Utopias and Dystopias

     When I first began assignments for this class, I thought it strange to look at past students work to complete my own; it felt a bit like cheating or plagiarizing.  For my past assignments, I chose topic I felt would interest me to learn about.  For my final exam, I decided to look at posts from the perspective of fellow and past students who are, or at least focused their research on teaching utopias.  Melissa Bray’s 2019 midterm post, discussed the impact of utopias and dystopias on young adult readers, specifically secondary school children.  I looked back to Amy Sasser’s 2013 final exam for another insight into teaching utopias and dystopias as well as Amy Sidle’s 2009 midterm.  My intention, hopefully in the very near future, is to become a high school English teacher.  Looking at posts about teaching will give me ideas on how to approach the subject of utopias or dystopias within the classroom.

     Looking back at my time I high school, I remember reading several dystopian texts; George Orwell’s Animal Farm and William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, to name a few.  I was not introduced to the novels as dystopian texts.  Honestly, I was never introduced to the literature of ideas until taking Dr. White’s utopia course.  Knowing now that I have read, and enjoyed many novels considered utopian or dystopian, I wanted to look into those who teach the genre to see how they introduce it.  Amy Sasser in her post “It is Known: Teaching Utopias and Dystopias in Today’s Schools,” discusses maintaining interest.  Sasser talks about the curriculum and why we often find more dystopian texts rather than utopian.  Sasser is right that students may find texts like Thomas More’s Utopia not very intriguing or exciting.  Sasser does offer suggestions on how to teach utopias through the use of dystopias. 

     Sasser suggests by having students read dystopian fiction, and then questioning them, and having them look at the “flipside” (Sasser, 2013).  Sasser also mentions, to keep students interested in the utopian genre, teachers may want to find inventive ways to present the material.  When I entered the utopian class, learning the conventions of what a utopian society was or locating certain conventions within a text was tedious work at first.  As a graduate student, I have learned to find value in everything I read, even if it is boring.  Secondary students may need more than internal motivation to connect with material.  Sasser suggests having students discuss what their ideal society would look like.  By eliciting a student’s prior knowledge and interests make the learning more meaningful.  I know when I am personally engaged with a subject, I get more out of it.  I, like many other people who are concerned with the education of students, believe teaching utopic and dystopic literature has value.

     Learning about utopic and dystopic literature makes students think and question how can we make our society better.  Ernest Calenbach’s Ecotopia, made me think if it was really possible to make a self-sustainable community.  Of course, like all utopias both literary and historical, there are always some sort of downfall.  Amy Sidle’s midterm post “Utopia and Dystopia: Education’s Role” discusses some of the utopian downfalls and the importance of teaching them.  Sidle states “…this genre of literature introduces to students, or reiterates, the cruel facts of reality: the separations of class, race, and sex. As one educator states, “by presenting the truth in a safe environment [students may] react calmly, analytically and with some disbelief about the books” (Sidle, 2009).  I previously mentioned Calenbach’s Ecotopia, this is a good example of the separation of race within a utopian community.  Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Herland, is a community of women only.  By teaching students about this particular genre and looking at some of the reasons they are not feasible, and how small their world views are regarding class, gender, race, etc. we can help them come up with ideas more conducive to a community where these ideals of separation are not important. 

     What is important, according to Sidle, is in most historical utopic communities, as well as fictional literary utopias, the one constant that seems to work is education.  Sidle references Gilman’s Herland as an example of education, specifically the education of the visiting males to the community.  Education is an important part of any society, for a society to thrive and grow, they need to have some sort of education in place.  This brings me to my last, but most current review. 

     Melissa Bray’s midterm post “Crawling Before Walking, Learning Before Teaching: Utopian Edition” mainly deals with learning the conventions and learning from a diverse selection of utopian and dystopian literature.  The thing the attracted me to Bray’s post was the title.  I felt like this was me on during the first few weeks into my utopia class.  The first few texts we read; More’s Utopia, Gilman’s Herland, were not the most interesting, but I learned a lot about utopian communities from them.  Knowing the history of utopic literature and historical utopian communities are important to know before teaching the material to others.

     Bray, in the final paragraph of her post, stated “I have come to the conclusion that utopian literature serves as a guide to history and issues our world has dealt with in the past, but these authors are also serving as guides, activists, and educators about possible ways to create a better future for ourselves. …I think it is crucial to expose students to this kind of literature and lessons so that they can carry on and make changes in the “real world” after they graduate” (Bray, 2019).  Using literature as a way of promoting change and encouraging students to think about and actively seek change can promote a better future for all.  Change begins with an idea, what better place to start, “the literature of ideas.” 

     I learned a lot from Bray, Sidle, and Sasser.  All three focused on an aspect of teaching utopian and dystopian literature.  Their views were as diverse as the literature itself.  What I learned was utopian fiction is just as important, even if not as exciting, as dystopian fiction.  Aside from learning for learning’s sake, utopian fiction holds real world applications and can encourage “real thought” and change within our current society.  Being knowledgeable about the conventions and looking for those within literature, not outright presented within the genre of utopic/dystopic literature, you may find works that fit and offer new ideas.  I look forward to applying what I have learned from this web review tin my future classroom.