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

What is a utopia? How is utopian literature related to dystopian literature? What would a false utopia be?

Teaching Suggestion: Students are likely to be familiar with dystopian literature, but they may be unaware of its relationship to the ideas of utopia and false utopia. After establishing the meanings of each term, students may enjoy discussing examples of utopian and dystopian games, videos, or stories that they have already encountered. This can be a natural opportunity to reinforce how the three terms relate and overlap. Advanced students might also be ready to discuss why these terms overlap, due to the subjective nature of “perfection.” Consider accessing or sharing these or similar resources with students to help inform this work.

• This site offers a thorough explanation of the characteristics of utopias and dystopias.
• This 5-minute animated film from the Autodale series offers a great example for discussion of what constitutes utopia, false utopia, and dystopia. [Content Warning: Contains brief animated violence.]

Short Activity