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The novel, 1984, was published in 1949 by English author, George Orwell. 1984 is a dystopian novel that takes place in the city of London, in the nation of Oceania. A totalitarian government called "The Party," with their all-knowing leader Big Brother, has taken control of language, rights, history, and human life in Oceania. The main character, Winston Smith, becomes frustrated with how controlled his life is and slowly begins to rebel against the Party and Big Brother. Winston works in the Ministry of Truth, which is one of the four ministries in Oceania. One day, Winston meets a woman, named Julia, who passes him a note, and they begin a secret relationship with one another since the Party does not allow love or intimacy between partners. The Thought Police are a police force under the Party that are sent out to arrest individuals who are caught committing thought crimes against the law. Winston and Julia fear the Thought Police and the Party finding out that they are committing thought crimes and love crimes. Winston and Julia seek to join the Brotherhood, an organization that resists the Party in hopes they can be protected from the Thought Police and the Party. This leads to a series of events that splits Winston and Julia apart and forces them to love Big Brother.

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To what extent does technology improve/harm people's lives?

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Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is a dystopian novel published in 1932. The story takes place in London controlled by a few elite in a world state approximately 600 years into the future. Humans are now categorized into a strict caste system from conception. In addition, humans are now created outside of the womb and are cloned in a lab. The human embryos are in incubators and are given different drugs and hormones to condition them into their classes in the system. A drug named "soma" is mass circulated to everyone as the "happy drug" that will make life enjoyable. In Brave New World, there are no romantic relationships or monogamy. The goal of the directors of the world state is to eliminate lovesickness, strong desires, and strong emotions. The main character, Bernard Marx, was conditioned to be an Alpha, which is the highest class in society. By some mischance, Bernard never grows to be as tall as the other alphas, has a heightened sense of self-awareness, and finds himself to be more emotional than intended. This leads Bernard to question the state of the world and wants things he cannot have. The Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning allows Bernard to go to a reservation where people of the world are "savage." This definition of savage means that the people on this reservation are not conditioned and are born and raised in the natural human way. Bernard is introduced to John, who was raised on the Indian reservation by his single mother Linda. Linda is a woman who was raised in the world state but was left on the Indian Reservation on a trip approximately 20 years prior. Since Linda was conditioned as an embryo and into the society of the world state, she and John were never able to it into the society of the Indian reservation. John is subsequently rejected by both the world state and the Indian reservation. Bernard takes an interest in John, as does the world state, and this leads to the tragic death of John as he becomes severely mentally unwell due to isolation and his misunderstanding of the world around him.

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Welcome to the Machine by Pink Floyd

Welcome my son
Welcome to the machine
Where have you been?
It's alright we know where you've been

You've been in the pipeline
Filling in time
Provided with toys and scouting for boys
You brought a guitar to punish your ma

And you didn't like school
And you know you're nobody's fool
So welcome to the machine

Welcome my son
Welcome to the machine
What did you dream?
It's alright we told you what to dream

You dreamed of a big star
He played a mean guitar
He always ate in the Steak Bar
He loved to drive in his Jaguar
So welcome to the machine

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Picture of Welcome to the Machine by Pink Floyd

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Picture of Welcome to the Machine by Pink Floyd

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Welcome to the Machine by Pink Floyd relates to 1984 by George Orwell as the lyrics expose a higher power for taking advantage of those not in power and making decisions for those not in power. The lines "Where have you been?
It's alright we know where you've been" are eerily reminiscent of how the Party watches over the citizens of Oceania and knows all about them. The lines "What did you dream? It's alright we told you what to dream" are connected to the idea that corrupt people in power tell people what they should be rather than allowing free choice. The machine is similar to the Party as it is a governing body that controls the outcome for human beings and thus makes them a cog in the machine.

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Ted Talk: The danger of a single story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

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Ted Talk: The danger of a single story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

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This Ted Talk is connected to 1984 by George Orwell as it shines a light on the danger of only hearing a single story. The basis of this Ted Talk is that hearing a single story and then only relying on that story as the story will lead to a misunderstanding. In 1984, citizens of Oceania rely on receiving information from the Party that is constantly fabricated and manipulated to keep their people under their control. Whatever information the Party releases to the public is law and must be followed. Chimamanda Ngoni Adichie touches on the danger of a single story while George Orwell shows an extreme example of all stories being manipulated by a single source.

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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story | TED

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Supplemental Text: The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

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Supplemental Text: The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

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The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is about a village where an annual lottery is drawn. However, the fate of the person who draws the ‘winning’ slip is only revealed at the end of the story in a dark twist.

"The Lottery" forces us to address some unpleasant aspects of human nature, such as people’s obedience to authority and tradition and their willingness to carry out evil acts in the name of superstition.

-Dr. Oliver Tearle

"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson is similar to 1984 by George Orwell as both focus on mass conformity to power and what it may lead to. "The Lottery" can be looked at in a modern lens by considering how attached people have become to technology. Technology in 1984 is used by the Party to survey everything everyone does while the large majority of citizens of Oceania continue to obey the Party. The question is, will human obedience to authority and technology harm us in the future as it does in "The Lottery" and 1984?

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“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”

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“Where there is equality, there can be sanity.”

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“War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.”

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“One believes things because one has been conditioned to believe them.”

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“A really efficient totalitarian state would be one in which the all-powerful executive of political bosses and their army of managers control a population of slaves who do not have to be coerced, because they love their servitude.”

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“It isn’t only art that is incompatible with happiness, it’s also science. Science is dangerous, we have to keep it most carefully chained and muzzled.”

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"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas is a poem that can be interpreted to have the message that life is precious and we should face death without fear. Dylan Thomas and George Orwell would likely agree that human life is special and should be lived to the fullest every day. In the contemporary world, technology elevates human life with video games, enhanced movie editing, computers for work, electric cars, etc. At what point does technology consume human life? Will the majority of the human race let technology take authority over their lives? These are a couple questions to consider with pairing this poem with 1984 by George Orwell.

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Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning they

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright

Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,

And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight

Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,

Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Dylan Thomas, "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" from The Poems of Dylan Thomas. Copyright 1939, 1946 by New Directions Publishing Corporation. Reprinted with the permission of New Directions Publishing Corporation.

Source: The Collected Poems of Dylan Thomas (New Directions Publishing Corporation, 1957)

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Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan... | Poetry Foundation

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Supplemental Text: Someone Might Be Watching — An Introduction to Dystopian Fiction by Shelby Ostergaard

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Supplemental Text: Someone Might Be Watching — An Introduction to Dystopian Fiction by Shelby Ostergaard

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This is a great informational text on the dystopian genre. This text can be utilized as an introductory text on the dystopian genre before having students read 1984. Shelby Ostergaard's text explains the history and characteristics of dystopian novels and their connections to the real world. This supplemental text can help students understand what dystopian novels are, relate them to the contemporary world, and what their purposes are.

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Supplemental Text: 1984 film directed by: Michael Radford

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Supplemental Text: 1984 film directed by: Michael Radford

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I picked this film adaptation of 1984 because I found it to be the most novel-accurate and critically acclaimed. Having a film option to pair with a reading for students is always nice to have. Many students will be able to understand text at a higher level if they are able to have a visual representation of the text they have read or are currently reading. Also, having multiple forms of media for the same text is helpful for creating assignments/essays with comparison and pulling evidence from multiple sources.

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1. What is the future of A.I. and how will the use of A.I. technology help or harm human life?

2. The prevalence of dystopian societies in the real world.

3. Are we being watched through our own screens?

4. The benefits and drawbacks of technology.

5. The use of facial recognition technology and how pictures of our own faces are uploaded to databases.

6. What steps can humans take to prevent technology from taking authority over our lives?

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In most of the bubbles, I have included a little bit of a rationale for each text being included and how they connect to 1984.

The film 1984 directed by Michael Radford is the closest visual representation of the 1984 text I could find. I included this film specifically because I would like for the students to be able to visualize the text they had just read and then be able to compare and contrast the two in an assessment. Students learn in a variety of different ways and 1984 is a long text with so many terms being introduced and issues being addressed in the real world. I believe Michael Radford's film will help students visualize and conceptualize George Orwell's text to a higher degree.

"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson is a short story that can be examined in a day or two of class and really drives home the issue of people being obedient to authority to the point where humanity is lost. This is relevant because it is happening in 1984 and allows the students to think if this is something that is occurring in the real world to a lesser degree.

The companion poem focuses on how life is special and should be lived to the fullest. This pairs well with 1984 as Winston and Julia both fight back against the Party and live their lives how they want to. Tying in the real world, technology is something that consumes human life. Is technology enhancing our lives or harming them? Why or why not?

The Ted Talk focuses on the danger of a single story which is relevant for the 1984 text and the real world. In 1984, nearly everyone relies on the Party for all information and must obey them or else. In the real world, we often stick to one story, one rumor, or one online post to solidify our opinion or perspective on something.

I chose Shelby Ostergaard's text because I had not included anything that was purely informational. If my students are going to read 1984, I want them to be equipped with the knowledge of what a dystopia is and what characteristics a dystopian novel may have before diving into such a large text.

Welcome to the Machine by Pink Floyd is a personal favorite song of mine. This song always makes me think of dystopian novels and being a slave to the work, eat, and sleep process of life. A song is something quick but also effective for hammering home the idea that authority cannot always be moral and technology is used to survey us all the time.

Brave New World is a text that I find to be similar to 1984. Although very different, both novels take place in a dystopia with technology that has stripped humans of humanity. Authority leaders and most other humans believe the birthing technology and conditioning have helped humanity, but has it really? What technology in the real world is perceived to be helping humanity but may actually be harming it?