Reasoning
& Writing in the College: CAS 105
Summer 2001
Dystopia: Prophecy or Paranoia?
Instructor: Betsy Huang, Department of English
MWR 9:00 - 12:10 CRN 10138
Murderous androids running amok in a perpetually rainy metropolis. Social
hierarchies ordered by genetic superiority or inferiority. Streets ruled by
ultra-violent teens. Women forced to function only as childbearers. A world
devastated by the work of terrorist radicals. Are these dystopic portraits
of the future compelling prophecies or exaggerated paranoia? We will critique,
through discussions and extensive writing, select works of writers and filmmakers
whose pessimistic visions of the present impelled them to create such bleak
futures. We'll identify the social and political causes for their apprehensions,
and critically assess the potential for the realization of their fears. Our
investigations will be guided by the purpose of developing your ability to
compose persuasive, well-organized, and well-informed (i.e., well-researched)
analyses. You will write response papers and several longer papers, conduct
extensive research, give a class presentation, and participate in peer review
sessions and in-class writing exercises. Your writings will be published on
a web site designed by you and your classmates in a collaborative final project.
Texts include H. G. Wells's The Time Machine, Anthony Burgess's A
Clockwork Orange, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Ridley
Scott's Blade Runner, Andrew Niccol's Gattaca, Terry Gilliam's 12 Monkeys and Brazil, Andy and Larry Wachowski's The Matrix,
and Woody Allen's Sleeper.
Last
updated
January 8, 2003
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