Brave New World

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. How did the interwar period’s rapid social and technological changes impact art, literature, and culture? What role did interwar anxieties play in shaping contemporary science fiction?

Teaching Suggestion: These questions work best with students who have studied the interwar period previously. For those who haven’t, exploring the attached resources may provide the knowledge needed for discussion.

• This Crash Course: European History video explains WWI’s lasting social, political, and technological impacts in Europe.
• This article from the International Encyclopedia of the First World War explores the role of the war in changing social values and norms.

Short Activity

Suppose you could modify a government or other social institution to focus on the core values you think are most important. What values should that institution have? Choose a set of 1-3 values, and then write a plan for the government or social institution to implement these values. Will the government or institution have to sacrifice anything to promote your core values? Is this sacrifice acceptable or unacceptable? Explain your reasoning.

Teaching Suggestion: Students who struggle with abstract thinking may benefit from a list of curated values. Students may also benefit from examples, such as Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness referred to in the Declaration of Independence becoming values planned for in the organization of the United States Constitution. This activity can work in an individual, paired, or small-group format. Sharing plans and discussing reflection questions as a class may extend the activity and offer opportunities for discussion and debate.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the text.

Why do you think books are banned? Does a robust history of censorship make you more or less interested in reading the novel? In your opinion, are there legitimate reasons for censorship? Why or why not? Explain your reasoning.

Teaching Suggestion: This activity can work as an individual, paired, or small group activity. Before the activity, consider reviewing school or class policies regarding controversial texts and reminding students that critical and public reception is part of the discourse surrounding a canonized work of literature.