Review for Exam I:

Your Sources:

Readings: A Canticle for Leibowitz, Hesiod, Vergil, and the Odyssey (Book 9)

Viewings: Serenity, Bread and Circuses, and select scenes from 2001: A Space Odyssey and Idiocracy

Exam Format:

The exam will consist of two parts:

10 short answer questions (worth 20% of your exam) and 1 essay question (worth 80% of your exam) based on class discussions, viewings, and readings.

Essay Questions: 

The literary and film versions of dystopia that we have looked at have indicated that perfection is not a reality. But what kind of hope, if any, do these dysfunctional views of the future offer for humankind? 

What role does technology play in the future?  Why do attempts to help humankind end up in disaster?

In several of the works we have looked at there has been debate about whether a society that is tightly controlled by one centralized government is better than a free republic. What do organizations like the Alliance (in Serenity) and the Roman Empire (in Vergil and the Star Trek episode “Bread and Circuses”) claim to offer humankind? Why do some factions always reject their attempts to bring everyone under their control?

Why are the humans depicted in these works incapable of creating a world without war, illness, or fear?