Brave New World – Prompts and Rubric for Final Essay
Prompt 1:
Core Question: Have we become a trivial culture preoccupied with entertainment?
For this writing topic, we return to where we started with the quotations from Neil Postman’s book, Amusing Ourselves to Death. Here is
how this module began:
In the foreword to his 1985 book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, author Neil Postman notes that the year 1984 had come and gone
without a fulfillment of George Orwell’s dark, dystopian vision and that Americans felt satisfied that the “roots of liberal democracy had
held.” Big Brother was not watching, and Americans retained their autonomy, freedom, and history. The nightmare world of Big Brother
was just that: a nightmare.
However, he reminds us that alongside Orwell’s dark vision there was another—“slightly less well known, equally chilling: Aldous
Huxley’s Brave New World.” In Huxley’s vision, no force would be required to deprive people of their freedom. Instead, as Huxley saw it,
“people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.” Postman follows these
observations with a series of further oppositions comparing the two visions.
What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there
would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would
give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley
feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would
become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley
remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny “failed to take
into account man’s almost infinite appetite for distractions.” In 1984, Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New
World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love
will ruin us. (xix-xx)
Postman makes it clear that he thinks Huxley’s vision is coming true. Postman, however, blames television for most of the problem.
Today, over thirty years later, the Internet has more influence than television, and Postman’s arguments appear a bit dated. Have we
avoided Huxley’s vision too? Or has the Internet made Huxley’s, and Postman’s, vision even more likely?
After reading Brave New World, do you think that Postman was right? Is a constant barrage of entertainment making us passive and
self-centered? Are we being controlled and conditioned by pleasure as effectively as we would be by a secret police armed with guns
and nightsticks? In other words, how similar is our world to the World State depicted in Brave New World? And what is the trend? Are
we becoming, as Postman suggests, more like Brave New World or less?
In answering these questions, identify some important aspects of each society that you want to compare. Then, using your notes from
your reading to support your arguments, discuss the differences and similarities between Brave New World and our own society on each
of the aspects you have chosen. You may want to also draw some conclusions about what steps we should take to avoid problems in
the future.
Prompt 2:
Core Question: Is social stability worth the price?
The motto of the World State depicted on the “Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre” is “Community, Identity, Stability.” This
is a statement of values. Mustapha Mond says that sacrificing real feelings and emotional attachments is the price the society has to pay
for stability. Mond himself has made sacrifices for the sake of social stability and uses his power to place limits and controls on science
and the arts if instability might result. Individuals who threaten this stability are sent away to live on an island. What is the significance of
“community” and “identity” in this motto? And how are these related to the stability of the individual? Of society?
Do you think that the sacrifices that the World State requires of its citizens are a price worth paying to maintain social stability? To
answer this question, go through your reading notebook to find as much evidence as you can that the World State ensures that
individuals are happy, productive, and compliant. Analyze the positive and negative aspects of each of these practices. Then write an
essay arguing whether or not such social stability is worth the price the World State is paying. Support your arguments with details from
the book and examples from our own world.
REQUIREMENTS:
An introduction paragraph
A clear thesis, placed at the end of the introduction, that directly addresses the prompt. Remember that the thesis should state a
position that can be defended/justified.
4 body paragraphs
Direct quotes from the novel
Analysis that does not merely summarize what happens in the book
Counterargument and Refutation (i.e. acknowledge and address an alternative position)
Formal writing that follows academic mechanics, usage, and grammar (MUG)
MLA format
RUBRIC:
PTS
Category
Description
10
Claim
The text introduces a clear, arguable claim that can be supported by reasons and evidence.
30
Development
The text provides sufficient data and evidence to back up the claim as well as a conclusion that supports the argument.
30
Cohesion
The text uses words, phrases, and clauses to link the major sections of the text creates cohesion, and clarifies the relationships between
the claim and reasons, between reasons and evidence, and between claims and counterclaims.
20
Style & Conventions
The text presents a formal, objective tone that demonstrates standard English conventions of usage and mechanics along with MLA.
10
Audience
The text anticipates the audience’s knowledge level and concerns about the claim. The text addresses the specific audience’s needs.
100
TOTAL