Discover Dystopias Through Short Stories

Dystopias have been a popular trend in culture and have found a home in the hearts of our teens. Books such as The Hunger Games and Divergent became the hallmarks of the genre and were even developed into films due to their popularity.  However, not all students are dedicated enough to read a full novel. Lucky for them, well-written short stories can have just as much punch as a full novel.

"Teens in dystopian novels get to perform ultimate acts of rebellion against authority, and that’s appealing. Conquering a dismal future is empowering, especially when the teens have to rely on themselves without having to answer to parents, teachers, or other authoritarian figures."
- Kendall, Jennifer. "The Appeal of Dystopian Novels for Teens." ThoughtCo, Feb. 16, 2021, thoughtco.com/dystopian-novels-and-teens-626666.

This course is ongoing so that students can join in and read the stories they are interested in.  Feel free to skip a week if they don't want to read that particular story or about that particular theme.

For each class, I will lead a discussion in which students will share their thoughts on the story we read that week. The discussion will be structured to allow for academic conversation but unstructured enough to allow students to easily share their opinions with their peers.

***Students should have read the short story BEFORE attending class.***


Schedule:

June - Week 1 - "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson
June - Week 2 - "We Ate the Children Last" by Yann Martel
June - Week 3 - "The Machine Stops" by E.M. Forster

July - Week 1 - "The Pedestrian" by Ray Bradbury
July - Week 2 - "The Minority Report" by Philip K. Dick
July - Week 3 - "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut

August - Week 1 - "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury
August - Week 2 - "Amaryllis" by Carrie Vaughn
August - Week 3 - "The Last Curioristy" by Lucy Tan

September - Week 1 - "All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury
September - Week 2 - "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula K. Le Guin
September - Week 3 - "Just Do It" by Heather Lindsley

October - Week 1 - "A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury
October - Week 2 - "Bloodchild" by Octavia E. Butler
October - Week 3 - "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street" by Rod Serling

November - Week 1 - "The Pendulum" by Ray Bradbury
November - Week 2 - "Test" by Theodore Thomas
November - Week 4 - "2 B R 0 2 B" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

December - Week 1 - "April 2005: Usher II" by Ray Bradbury
December - Week 2 - "Examination Day" by Henry Slesar
December - Week 3 - "Billennium" by James Graham Ballard

January - Week 1 - "Autumntime" by Anthony Lentini
January - Week 2 - "The Perfect Match" by Ken Liu
January - Week 3 - "Ten with a Flag" by Joseph Paul Haines

February - Week 1 - "Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman" by Harlan Ellison
February - Week 2 - "The Veldt" by Ray Bradbury
February - Week 3 - "Peter Skilling" by Alex Irvine