Download Dystopia - WordPress.com

A dystopia (from the Greek δυσ- and τόπος, alternatively, cacotopia,[1] kakotopia, or simply antiutopia) is a community or society that is undesirable or frightening.[2][3] It is translated as "not-good
place", an antonym of utopia, a term that was coined by Sir Thomas More and figures as the title of
his best known work, Utopia (the blueprint for an ideal society with minimal crime, violence and
poverty). The novel Utopia was written in the Latin language and English versions are translations of
the original piece. The term dystopia is an ironic modern offshoot because it often is used to
describe futuristic societies which systematically suppress language and knowledge.
Dystopian societies appear in many artistic works, particularly in stories set in the future. Some of
the most famous examples are George Orwell's 1984 and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.
Dystopias are often characterized by dehumanization,[2] totalitarian governments, environmental
disaster,[3] or other characteristics associated with a cataclysmic decline in society. Dystopian
societies appear in many sub-genres of fiction and are often used to draw attention to real-world
issues regarding society, environment, politics, economics, religion, psychology, ethics, science,
and/or technology. However, some authors also use the term to refer to actually-existing societies,
many of which are or have been totalitarian states, or societies in an advanced state of collapse and
disintegration. An attempt to draw together and compare both the fictional and real dystopias has
been made in Gregory Claeys's Dystopia: A Natural History (Oxford University Press, 2016).
1. Who is Thomas More? (Online research: Provide at least one quote from a source)
2. What did More hope to accomplish in writing Utopia? (Quote from the text above.)
3. What do dystopian societies in fiction often suppress? (Quote from the text above.)
4. What is a Totalitarian Government? (Quote from online research.)