Writing Fridays - Reading to Write

Activity 1:​ Many dystopias exaggerate societal issues (e.g. Standardised tests in that new
movie where you die if you fail naplan, reality TV in the hunger games, etc.). As a class, think of
some modern contemporary issues and exaggerate them in a dystopian story. Write the
orientation/first chapter to a story.

Activity 2:​ In the future, everyone downloads new skills straight into their brain. You have spent
weeks / months / years learning a new skill the old-fashioned way. Which skill have you learned
the old way and justify why.

Activity 3:

Activity 4: Write a description ‘showing not telling’ - setting and place - using the
following as a stimulus
Activity 5:
In the future, mobile phones have been replaced. Explain what they have been replaced with
and how this has changed society.

Activity 6:
“The beauty of dystopia is that it lets us vicariously experience future worlds - but we still have
the power to change our own.”​ - ​Ally Condie

Compose a Feature Article in response to the above quote. Consider the appropriate sources
and perspectives that could be included to support your response to the above. Ensure to
construct an argument that uses the ideas in the quote as a springboard to showcasing your
understanding of the concept of Dystopia.

Activity 7:
“​The life where nothing was ever unexpected. Or inconvenient. Or unusual. The life without
colour, pain or past.”​- Lois Lowry

A loss of freedom is at the core of Dystopian literature. Write a reflection which encapsulates a
response to the above quote and your understanding of how a restriction of freedom is
represented in the texts you have studied. Provide examples and analysis from your texts to
support your argument.

Activity 8:
Activity 9:

Write the next chapter to a dystopian story you have read, speculate what would happen next
and how this furthers the insight into the dystopian future created in the novel/story.

Ensure to employ narrative techniques, such as motif, narrative voice, imagery, dialogue,
description, etc.

Activity 10:

The Handmaid’s Tale​: The Handmaids revolt and take over the political authority in the text,
speculate the possibilities and alternative paths that the novel would take if this was the sequel.

The Road​: The Boy ends up being the disciple to a higher religious power and he only finds out
his divine status when he reaches his 18th birthday. Write up the situation in which he realises
he holds the power to change the course of the world as he knows it. Consider what he would
change first.

Ready, Player One​: Wade decides to create his own Easter Egg hunt, however his puzzles
revolve around the first two decades of the 2000s. Create a series of puzzles around pop
culture and that of the early 2000s. Write these up in a series of narrative extracts of
approximately 300 words each.

Activity 11:
In a critical response (speech, persuasive) , compare the links between reality TV and dystopian
concepts and society. Use examples of fictional and non-fiction texts and experiences to
support your ideas.

Activity 12:

Research the items, objects or concepts which were first invented in Science Fiction and are
now a real life thing (eg. The credit card, tablets). Explain the implication of these developments
in literature in terms of speculating about the future.

Activity 13:

Poetry: Using Eliot’s poetic style, write a poem for 2017 that represents dystopian concepts.

Create a tool-kit or manual for surviving a dystopian landscape from a text you have studied.
Compose a poem to represent this.

Activity 14:
Compose a narrative using both first and third person