The apocalypse has come and gone. The world has ended… or has it?

In the aftermath of a cataclysmic event, society has begun rebuilding. Things aren’t the same as they were before the apocalypse. Culture has changed. Technology has changed. People have changed. Are these changes for the better or the worse? Only you can decide.

In this writing class, students collaborate to imagine the apocalyptic event that wiped out the world. Did we start a war that all sides lost? Were we attacked by sinister beings from another planet or dimension? Were we careless with science or the environment? During the first class, we will determine what ended life as we know it and sent us rocketing into a post-apocalyptic future. After collaborative classwork designing the apocalypse, students will independently write a short story about their own vision for that future: a dystopia, a utopia, or something in between. 

Students do not need any prior formal writing instruction, though familiarity with literary terms and vocabulary is helpful. Weekly homework includes completing assigned writing and reading classmates' posted works. Classwork includes both collaborative and independent work. 

Working from prompts and with specific guidelines, students will write about their world as it recovers from the apocalypse. They can write in any genre and create any kind of post-apocalyptic future they can imagine, as blatantly bleak as The Maze Runner or as subtly sinister as The Giver. Their future world may even be a true utopia, where humans live in balance with nature, technology, and each other. 

Class 1: The End is the Beginning – Students work together during class time to create their apocalyptic event, focusing on establishing setting and perspective. Collaboration and compromise are key! We’ll discuss dystopias and utopias in fiction. Students will learn how to give productive, constructive feedback on others’ writing. 

Class 2: Early Days – What happens in those first days, weeks, and years following the apocalyptic event? How does humanity eke out a living in this new world? Students will share portions of their homework during class time for constructive feedback on worldbuilding, pacing, and tone

Class 3: The World We Build – Now that a new society has been established, what is life like for the people living there? How do you recognize a dystopia or utopia? Students will share portions of their homework during class time for constructive feedback on descriptive language and using active voice in writing. 

Class 4: What’s Next? – The world is constantly changing. No future is set in stone. How will this new society shape the future of humanity? Students will share portions of their homework during class time for constructive feedback on narrative structure. 

When our four weeks come to their end, students will each have a complete post-apocalyptic short story to share with family and friends!