Background Brave New World

Author/Novel Background Author: Aldous Huxley, an English author, who later relocated to the Untited States who investigated alternative ways of knowing—psychedelics, zen buddhism,  Written in 1931; published in 1932 and been banned or challenged throughout history Historical Events Surrounding BNW: The events of the Depression in Britain in 1931, with its mass unemployment and the abandonment of the gold currency standard, persuaded Huxley to assert that stability was the "primal and ultimate need" if civilisation was to survive the present crisis.[15] The Brave New World character Mustapha Mond, Resident World Controller of Western Europe, is named after Sir Alfred Mond. Shortly before writing the novel, Huxley visited Mond's technologically advanced plant near Billingham, north east England, and it made a great impression on him.[15] Huxley used the setting and characters in his science fiction novel to express widely held opinions, particularly the fear of losing individual identity in the fast-paced world of the future. An early trip to the United States gave Brave New World much of its character. Not only was Huxley outraged by the culture of youth, commercial cheeriness and sexual promiscuity, and the inward-looking nature of many Americans,[16] he had also found the book My Life and Work by Henry Ford on the boat to America, and he saw the book's principles applied in everything he encountered after leaving San Francisco.[17]  Genre: dystopian fiction

BNW Background Title: allusion from Miranda's speech in William Shakespeare's The Tempest, Act V, Scene I O wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in't. Setting: futuristic World State of genetically modified citizens and an intelligence-based social hierarchy in London, England  Focus: the novel anticipates huge scientific developments in reproductive technology, sleep- learning, psychological manipulation, and classical conditioning that are combined to make a utopian society that goes challenged only by a single outsider.  Acclaim: one of "the top 100 greatest novels of all time" as per The Observer

BNW Characters Bernard Marx John Helmholtz Watson Lenina Crowne Mustapha Mond Fanny Crowne Henry Foster Benito Hoover Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning (DHC) Linda Arch-Community Songster Warden Freemartins Pope Mitsima

BNW Basis Henry Ford Sigmund Freud H.G Wells Ivan Pavlov William Shakespeare Thomas Malthus Reuban Rabinovitch John Newman Alfred Mond

Fordism and Society The World State is built upon the principles of Henry Ford's assembly line: mass production, homogeneity, predictability, and consumption of disposable consumer goods. While the World State lacks any supernatural- based religions, Ford himself is revered as the creator of their society but not as a deity, and characters celebrate Ford Day and swear oaths by his name (e.g., "By Ford!"). In this sense, some fragments of traditional religion are present, such as Christian crosses, which had their tops cut off to be changed to a "T". In England, there is an Arch-Community-Songster of Canterbury, obviously continuing the Archbishop of Canterbury, and in America the Christian Science Monitor continues publication as The Fordian Science Monitor. The World State calendar numbers years in the "AF" era — "Anno Ford" — with the calendar beginning in AD 1908, the year in which Ford's first Model T rolled off his assembly line. The novel's Gregorian calendar year is AD 2540, but it is referred to in the book as AF 632.

Vocabulary Vocabulary: is extensive. It would benefit the comprehension of the novel to look up unfamiliar words to gain understanding. English spellings and connotations

Assignment: Reading the Novel and other complimentary material Reading Assignment: Week: chapters 1-9; Week 2: chapters 10-18 (about 1 ½ chapters per day) Reading Log: A reading log is your reaction to the text. Below is the format with questions to Review the Weebly on the entire background of the novel. This will be on the quiz. View any YouTube videos that might augment the novel.

Reading Log and Discussion Reading Log: A reading log is your reaction to the text. Below is the format with questions to answer and discuss within your group. Chapter 1 Title you would give the chapter:  Confusion:  Similar conditions today:  ? you’d like to discuss.  How does the description of the Hatchery establish the tone and feeling of the book?

Discussion Group Format You are to complete the required readings/logs by each Sunday night You are to meet with your partner and video your discussion. The logs are a basis for your discussion, although you are not limited to only the logs. Your video requirement is only 5 minutes, however, if you go longer than 5 minutes, that is fine. You may not have a discussion shorter, however. You are to upload the video to your YouTube account like you did for Public Speaking You are to send me the link by Wednesday noon. I may/or may not post the YouTube links on the Weebly.

Quizzes There will be a quiz from me after each weeks’ readings.

It is a Brave New World O wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in't.