Use the headings below to guide your analysis. Aim for depth and insight as your goal is to uncover what the poem is saying about us, and how dystopian fiction can reflect and exaggerate our flaws.

🧠 Real-World Concern
What issue or mindset from today’s world is Atwood critiquing through this theme? Think about human behaviour, systems, or values.

🌍 How Atwood Symbolises It
How is this theme represented in Time Capsule? Consider the structure of the “Ages”, language choices, or specific images. Include a relevant quote if you can.

🔄 Comparison to Another Dystopia
Where else have you seen this theme explored in dystopian fiction? You might refer to Gattaca, 1984, The Hunger Games, The Giver, Wall-E, Divergent, Maze Runner, Ready Player One or another dystopian text you know. What similarities or contrasts do you notice?

🎭 Symbolism Idea
What image or object could represent this theme in a dystopia of your own? Think metaphorically... what captures the deeper idea?

🛠 Future Thinking – Worldbuilding Spark
If you were to build a dystopian world that explores this theme, what would it look like? Describe a possible setting or society that reflects the same concern or warning.

real world concern:

the corruption of money

How Atwood Symbolises It: The third age is when we start to see more about their greed. They go from being religous to starting to make money and then to hoarding money.

from the poem: worshiping money

in other distopian texts: Thinking there is no life outside their world

if you don't have enough money you live in poverty.

with minimal money, you struggle to afford food

real world concern: inequality

how Atwood symbolizes it: it's like the humans worshiped money because it could get you anything, money somewhat took over humans. since you don't want to have a small amount of money because it makes it so you don't have what everyone else has

Atwood symbolizes greed by showing how people made the coin, and the coin became a god to them.

How Atwood symbolizes it: in the 2nd and 3rd stanza, Atwood describes how money has taken over things such as food, armies, cities, and ships.

comparison to another dystopia

How Atwood symbolises It: Atwood symbioses technological advancement as something which boosted the ending of the world.

Comparison to Another Dystopia: It is also normally po

comparison to another dystopia: the hunger games because in the film there isn't much of the colour green, the grass is brownish.

symbolism idea: desert, sand

Real-World Concern: Our belief that we can have everything.

How Atwood Symbolises It: The third age is when we start to see more about their greed. They go from being religous to starting to make money and then to hoarding money.

Comparison to Another Dystopia

Pomzi, 1984, Gattaca.

Symbolism Idea:

Money symbolizes the greed and want to always have more and never be proud of the things we already have.

Future Thinking:

A man who always wanted more he had everything anyone could ever wish for the best car, house, wardrobe, personal butler but he always wanted more and needed more to survive.

Attwood symbolizes it: in the second paragraph, she describes that if you had enough money, it was said that you could fly.

The real world concern is that the people who are rich can get all the control meanwhile the poor people cant do anything. The way Atwood symbolizes it I'm guessing is how money is a god and controls and can do anything.

Thinking about that reminds me of lots of dystopian texts which certain people are just better then other people cause they can do more things, like in the hunger games they are put into districts in varying level of poverty. I feel like a good object example for it is like the pyramids. They are in layers, the ones at the top are usually the most important. They're at the top and doesn't support the ones at the bottom.

How Atwood symbolises It: Atwood symbioses technological advancement as something which boosted the ending of the world.

Comparison to Another Dystopia: It is also normally the reason why the dystopia is able to do the things it can and the reason the worlds is like it is. Example, the hunger games due to technological advancement are able to host the games.

Symbolism Idea: I think a symbol the captures the idea of technological advancement is a motherboard; they don't look like much, but they have revolutionized the world around us.

Worldbuilding Spark: A world which due to technological advancement there is nothing to do. AI had long replaced every job leaving humans to do nothing but roam around the labyrinths that the AIs had created from them. Humanity had been replaced by them.

how does Atwood symbolize greed? The characters greed can lead to negative consequences

real world example: poverty