Post-Apocalyptic Worlds: Surviving Together and Apart IWIS

Lesson Aims and Objectives: To explore three Post-apocalyptic and dystopian texts from North America Investigate the themes each text raises and the relevance to contemporary society Develop ways of taking the texts into the classroom to stimulate creative writing exercises

Definitions: Dystopian fiction: a work of fiction describing an imaginary place where life is extremely bad because of deprivation or oppression or terror Post-Apocalyptic fiction: a work of fiction set in a world or civilization after a potentially existential catastrophe or disaster

Introduction: moving beyond the disaster films trend in Young Adult fiction why? - escapism - moving away from issue-based fiction

Relationships the heart of dystopian / post-apocalyptic visions of the future the human element ways of commenting on the past whilst presenting a view of the future (memories and flashbacks are common narrative devices) our relationships juxtaposed with, and placed onto, new landscapes - how do we (humans) cope? - what has changed? - what boundaries have been blurred/crossed?

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins published 2008 first part of trilogy (Catching Fire – 2009 and Mockingjay – 2010) film adaptation – 2012 What relationships are explored in the extract?

Chapter 15: Family - memories (p.195) Children pitted against each other – comment on child soldiers - often nameless (p.196) - questioning allegiances – what is real? (p.197) - fight or flight? (p.197) – starting to view rivals as targets (p.206) Forming alliances (p.200) – friendships are reduced to allies and enemies - giving and taking (p.201) – helping each other / debts (p.206) - allows for stories of the other Districts to be told, not only to Katniss but to the reader (p.202) – blocked conversations from being heard (p.203) Fighting for affections (p.196/7) Peeta and Gale Acting (p. 206) – all part of the Games

How is The Hunger Games written? 1 st person, present tense – immediate allows for revelation of details / history suspicion / paranoia – keeps reader guessing

Lesson Plan 1: Show clips / read extract from Hunger Games split the class one half spends 10 minutes creating a new character (A3 paper) the other half spends 10 minutes designing a new deadly game (A3 paper) display the characters / games at the front of the class read another extract from the book Everyone has to choose a character and then place them in The Hunger Games by writing a short descriptive story What would their character do? How would they survive? Would they make allies with any of the other characters? Comment about the origins of the book, mentioning child soldiers. Ask them the question: How easy was it for you to enter into the ‘spirit’ of the Games?

Exercise 1: How would you bring The Hunger Games into the classroom? How could you explore some of the themes through writing? Recap of themes: memories / blood sports / children / friendship / enemies

The Road by Cormac McCarthy published 2006 awarded Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, 2009 film adaptation 2009 What relationships are explored in the extract?

The Road ‘He’ / ‘Papa’ / ‘the child’ / ‘the boy’ Bleakness of the landscape is a mirror for their loneliness – their relationship is all that is left: ‘each the other’s world entire’ (p.4) No other reason for living: ‘So I could be with you’ (p.9) Comment on our present (their past) – supermarket / Cola / newspapers: ‘It’s because I wont ever get to drink another one, isn’t it?’ (p.23) ‘Creedless shells of men’ (p.28)

How is The Road written? short sentences / paragraphs mirror the bleakness – pared down speech the poetic writing shows there’s can be beauty, if not in the landscape

Lesson Plan 2: Read extract from The Road demonstrating the relationships in the novel Spend some time creating characters that share a unique and powerful bond Read extracts from The Hunger Games and The Road showing contrasting images of the future Place the characters they have created in possible futures: one bleak, one affluent How do the characters interact with their environment? How does their outlook/attitude change? What is gained? What is lost?

Exercise 2: How would you bring The Road into the classroom? How could you explore some of the themes through writing? Recap of themes: memories / family / bleakness / past and present

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood published 1985 film adaptation 1990 What relationships are explored in the extract?

Chapter 8: Gender Treachery (p.53) Names – belonging Women as objects – music box (p.53) Roles in society (Econowives, Aunts, Handmaids, Wives) Treatment of handmaids (p.54) / (p.58) Up to the women to set the boundaries (p.55) Relationship with ‘the time before’ (p.55) – change of names, ‘she has become speechless’ (p. 56) ‘In this house we all envy each other something’ (p.57)

How is The Handmaid’s Tale written? 1 st person – questioning / memories unfolding of events – revelatory (showing, not telling) through Offred’s eyes we see the present and the past – comment on the political extremism of contemporary society still learning the rules of this new world through examining relationships memories of the time before (centred around relationships) woven carefully/seamlessly into new narrative

Lesson Plan 3: Read Chapter 8 together as a class Explore the themes of gender roles Re-write key moments from the perspective of Nick or the Commander. OR re-write a future where women are the ruling class and men are oppressed What happens to the narrative? What is gained / lost?

Exercise 3: How would you bring The Handmaid’s Tale into the classroom? How could you explore some of the themes through writing? Recap of themes: memories / gender roles / rules and customs / belonging