8/21/2019 Reading Passage 12

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 Name ________________________________________________ Date ___________________ 

Reading Passage Questions

The topic of a dystopian society is one that isused frequently in literature. Authors often

utilize such situations in their writing to satirize

the society around them, or to provide a

warning against what may happen to the world.

Three of the most prominent dystopia literature

novels are Brave New orld !y Aldous

"u#ley, $%&' !y (eorge )rwell, and

*ahrenheit '+$ !y ay Brad!ury. -n each of 

these novels, the respective author is

attempting to accomplish a certain goal. -n

Brave New orld, "u#ley is warning society

a!out the dangers of !ecoming too hedonistic

and technologically advanced. "u#ley also

satirizes people who are constantly in pursuit of instant happiness. ith the writing of $%&',

(eorge )rwell is warning against leaders who

are hungry for power, who would not hesitate

to strip individuals of every freedom if it meant

 prolonging their control. astly, in *ahrenheit

'+$, ay Brad!ury was responding to

America/s cultural environment in the $%+0/s,

warning against e#treme censorship, the

disappearance of real relationships, and the

development of a very fast1paced society.2

As with most dystopian novels, the authorschose to include certain dystopian

characteristics in their writing. 3uch characters

and situations include powerful governing

 !odies, social classes, s4ewed relationships

 !etween individuals, a s4ewed sense of 

identity, censorship, technology, !rainwashing,and re!ellion !y certain characters. -n most

dystopian literature, the governing !ody e#erts

a great amount of control over the lives of the

 people, often controlling their very actions and

thoughts. The citizens are divided into distinct

social classes, and they have no control over the matter. )ftentimes, the government will

 predetermine the identity of an individual, and

emotionally, all su!5ects are identical. -n a

dystopian society, the government uses several

4ey methods in an attempt to control the lives

of individuals and to mandate the mere

identities of individuals. *or e#ample,

$. According to the passage, what is an author/smain o!5ective when writing a dystopian

society6

a. To foreshadow what society and

societal class hierarchies may !ecome

if nothing is done to prevent power1

hungry governments from attempting

to assume a!solute power.

 !. To predict the eventual class structure

of societies where citizens are made

to devoutly adhere to a set of

 principles that are set forth !y virtue

of ma5ority vote.

c. To downgrade the positive effect of

introducing technology to a societywhere people are !rainwashed and

where the government has a!solute

 power.

d. To influence current state and federal

government/s to relinquish their

incessant desire to mandate fiscal and

maritime laws.

e. To nauseate the readers of such novels

in an attempt to influence societies to

 !ecome agitated and choose to

overthrow their governments.

7. hich of the following topics could !e a valid

main idea for the ne#t paragraph in the essay6

a. An e#planation of technology and

how it has changed modern1day

societies.

 !. A discussion of the differences of the

use of literary techniques employed

 !y "u#ley, )rwell, and Brad!ury.

c. An e#planation of America/s cultural

environment in $%&'.

d. A discussion of a future dystopiannovel that is yet unpu!lished.

e. A discussion of the dangers of

 !ecoming hedonistic.

8. hich of the following can !e inferred from

8/21/2019 Reading Passage 12

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censorship is defined psychologically as the

9prevention of distur!ing or painful thoughts or 

feelings from reaching consciousness e#cept in

a disguised form,9 and in dystopian novels,

those people who have a!solute power claimthat censorship protects the people for their 

own good. "owever, dystopian rules also usecensorship to ensure that the supreme

leadership and dictatorship of the leading

quorum is maintained. 3imilarly, technology is

9the application of science, especially to

industrial or commercial o!5ectives,9 and it is

generally assumed that technology is crucial

for any powerful nation or state. "owever, in

dystopian societies, technology is used only to

further the goals of the government. astly,

 !rainwashing is 9the application of a

concentrated means of persuasion, such as an

advertising campaign or repeated suggestion, inorder to develop a specific !elief or 

motivation,9 and all citizens in a dystopian

society have had their minds molded through

the use of !rainwashing techniques.

the passage6

a. :itizens should !e divided into

separate classes so that there is no

communication !etween them.

 !. Technology should only !e used tohelp further the economic and socials

well1!eing of all people.c. (eorge )rwell was as ardent

advocate of "u#ley/s passionate

depiction censored societies.

d. Today/s social classes are at the

mercy of the government.

e. All mem!ers of a dystopian society

are free to choose to go wherever they

 please, !ut their mode of thought is

highly regulated.

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