Literature and Information

Introduction

I Look at the World

By: Langston Hughes

I look at the world

From awakening eyes in a black face—

And this is what I see:

This fenced-off narrow space 

Assigned to me.

I look then at the silly walls

Through dark eyes in a dark face—

And this is what I know:

That all these walls oppression builds

Will have to go!

I look at my own body 

With eyes no longer blind—

And I see that my own hands can make

The world that's in my mind.

Then let us hurry, comrades,

The road to find. ¹

-Langston Hughes

Twentieth and twenty-first century philosophers, movie producers, novelists, and poets have created an upsurge of utopian thought the world has seldom seen or read before. Sometimes I wonder what deceased, world-renowned authors like Langston Hughes would make of the recent expansion in dystopian literature and films. While their visions have influenced authors and audiences across the world to enjoy this literary subgenre, the true purpose of their works may have been to emphasize the need for a utopian escape, as evidenced in Langston Hughes’ last stanza of I Look at the World². Works such as this, make us question; could it be that we can achieve freedom from oppression and control if we just “find the road”? Could it be that an alternative ideal society grounded in equality and liberty is achievable? Could it be that there is a possibility for a true utopia in a dark, dystopian world?

As an English teacher, I want my students to become analyzers of dystopian themes in literature and the society in which they live in order to explore the answers to the aforementioned questions. As they begin to view the world through the lens of a philosopher, movie producer, poet, novelist, and most importantly, a learner, they will begin to understand that a dystopia isn’t a future to be diverted; it is unfortunately what is already happening in the world they inhabit. Hopefully, their new understanding of the world will enlighten them to the shortcomings of our society and the potential for our world to shift towards its undeniable destiny – a true utopia.

POLYTECH High School is the only K-12 school in POLYTECH School District. In addition, it has multiple feeder schools. This is because our comprehensive high school serves all of the middle schools in our county, by law. We receive roughly 300 students from 11 middle schools in Kent County, Delaware with different educational needs, disabilities, strengths, weaknesses, learning styles, and socioeconomic backgrounds. While our population of entering ninth graders is diverse, overtime, I have noticed a general decline in students with adequate reading abilities and motivation for reading literature.

Therefore, throughout my unit I will address the Common Core State Standards for ninth grade English Language Arts with special focus on reading literature with connected nonfiction texts. My unit’s lessons are planned for daily 85-minute periods as a part of our block-scheduling model. The students to whom this unit is directed are ninth grade students who read on grade level or slightly above or below grade level. The class comes to approximately 50-55% female and 45-50% male. The class size varies but is typically around 22-25 students.

The Dystopian Literature Unit will be the second unit out of six taught this upcoming school year to my English I classes. They will be Literary Texts and Poetry, Dystopian Literature, Informational Texts, Argument and Persuasion, Shakespearian Drama, and APA Research. Each of these units will address skills from the Common Core State Standards that students need to learn by the end of ninth grade. The texts I will be using in the Dystopian Literature Unit are: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Maze Runner by James Dashner, Divergent by Veronica Roth, The Giver by Lois Lowry, and Matched by Ally Condie.