It was almost December, and Mr. Jonas was beginning to be frightened. “No. Wrong word,” Mr Jonas thought. Frightened meant that deep, sickening feeling of something terrible about to happen. Frightened was the way he had felt a year ago when an unidentified administrator had popped in to his classroom twice. If only he had really good Giver lesson plans that day, he thought.
Well, I can’t go back in time and help Mr. Jonas with these Giver lesson plans for middle school (or high school), but I can help you.
My Favorite Giver Lesson Plan
I like to sooth my ego and tell myself you’re here to read my beautiful prose, but…
You’re here for a lesson plan.
And I am here for you: Dystopian Fiction Lesson Plan in The Giver.
Now that you’re all settled with your lesson plan for elements of dystopian literature in The Giver, let’s take a look at these elements and how they might apply to a classroom discussion.
Classroom Application
*Note: I am writing this post during the Covid-19 panic, so the application of these concepts may or may not relate to the infringement on individual rights and the use of fear to control society. If you’re reading this a few years down the road, hopefully these days of gloom and doom are a distant memory.
Characteristics of a Dystopian Society
- Propaganda replaces education and is used to control citizens.
- Information, independent thought, and freedom are restricted.
- Citizens are perceived to be under constant surveillance.
- Citizens have a fear of the outside world.
- Citizens live in a dehumanized state.
- The natural world is banished and distrusted
- Citizens conform to uniform expectations. Individuality and dissent are bad.
You may use these links above to show how and why a community like the Giver’s can develop. Or you can play it safe and just teach a darn good novel.
Types of Dystopian Controls
Most dystopian works present a world in which oppressive control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through one of the following:
- Corporate control: One or more large corporations control society through products, advertising, and/or the media.
- Bureaucratic control: Society is controlled by a mindless bureaucracy and a tangle of red tape, relentless regulations, and power-hungry government officials.
- Technological control: Society is controlled by technology—through computers, robots, and/or scientific means.
- Philosophical/religious control: Society is controlled by philosophical or religious ideology, often enforced through a dictatorship or theocratic government.
Traits of Dystopian Fiction
Films and literature featuring dystopian societies exhibit the following traits:
- The illusion of a perfect world
- A selectively told back story of a war, revolution, uprising, spike in overpopulation, natural disaster or other event that results in dramatic changes to
- A standard of living among the lower and middle class that is worse than in contemporary society.
- The protagonist feels trapped, is struggling to escape, questions the social and political systems, believes or feels that something is terribly wrong
- A shift of control to corporations, autocratic cliques, or bureaucracies
- Advanced technology
It is not enough to show people living in a society that seems pleasant. The society must have echoes of today, of the reader’s own experience. If the reader can identify the patterns or trends that would lead to the dystopia, it becomes a more involving and effective experience. Authors can use a dystopia effectively to highlight their own concerns about societal trends.
Other Dystopian Novels or Short Stories
This lesson plan for The Giver can be used with other works of dystopian fiction. These works include but are not limited to the following:
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Welcome to a world where books are illegal and intelligent thought is nigh impossible.
- 1984 by George Orwell. In the year 1984–OK, not exactly the future–and the government controls everything. Let’s see what happens when a regular guy like Winston Smith decides to rebel.
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. This is just like 1984, except the opposite, and not as good.
- “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut. It’s the year 2084 and everybody is finally equal. Of course, making everyone equal involves constant surveillance and unlimited handicapping.
Last Updated on April 10, 2020 by Trenton Lorcher
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