After tackling the decline of democratic societies and the rise of authoritarianism in our last project, we will now be moving onto how dystopian fiction (or speculative fiction) functions as social criticism. This project is called Welcome to Gilead, referring to the fictional totalitarian state that takes over the former United States in the book The Handmaid’s Tale. It is a patriarchal society that strips women of their rights, enslaving them in a strict system with the goal of bearing children due to a decrease in birthrates.

After analyzing and expanding my knowledge of democracy, control, and moral choice, I truly feel that I will take away way more from reading this book, then if I were to read it before our last project. I now understand how powerful language is; It can be used to defend our freedoms through persuasive communication, a tool visible throughout history. Truly understanding the tactics of persuasive speech is a form of resistance, and Margaret Atwood displayed that beautifully in The Handmaids Tale. Reading it teaches me to follow in her footsteps of resistance.

By exploring the dangers of extreme ideologies, my awareness of manipulative rhetoric, historical patterns, and human behaviours has allowed me to read this book through a different lens. My perspective and knowledge has changed, helping me to recognize manipulation tactics and strategies to resist tyranny. Margaret Atwood speaks out against authoritarianism, encouraging us to do the same through her impactful writing skills. Those skills are what we are trying to develop now, by mixing our knowledge of authoritarianism and dystopian writing. We are challenged to not only analyze and understand, but to advocate, with a confidence, clarity, and creativity we will learn in this upcoming project. We will use our awareness of manipulative rhetoric to learn how to push back with messages that not only persuade, but uplift. Then we will carry this knowledge into our daily lives, through our educational development, and eventually into our careers and contributions to the world.

By analyzing The Handmaids Tale we will explore how dystopian literature provides us with insight into what could happen if current trends remain unchecked. We will be connecting the themes from our chosen novels to our current society. Once we pinpoint how our fictional novels relate to the real world we will be using that knowledge to write our own piece of “speculative fiction”. This short story will be used in our next project, where one student’s writing will be selected to be turned into a horror movie. Personally I am extremely excited for this project, I have always wanted to read The Handmaids Tale, and I love creative writing. I have been creative writing in and outside of school since my early elementary school days, so I know I will find this project enjoyable and fascinating. The driving question “How does dystopia function as social criticism?” excites me because I already know how I would answer that question, usually I don’t until the end of the project. But you will have to wait for my answer in my reflective blog after the project is over!

We kicked off this project by watching the movie: V is for Vendetta 🔪

We watched this dystopian movie to begin our understanding of what dystopia means. This movie reflects real issues in our modern day world, shedding light on them and using them as a warning sign. The movie is centred around the quote:

“People should not fear their governments, governments should fear their people”

Ideally, people should not fear their governments because governments are meant to exist in harmony with their people, who chose to put them in power in the first place. V for Vendetta taught me that dystopian movies often consist of citizens losing their voices and accepting control out of fear (obeying in advance). The movie shows how manipulation and constant surveillance can create obedience, but also how resistance can reclaim freedom. My hope for this project is that in dystopian text I will recognize the warning signs of authoritarianism, find more ways to spread awareness of modern issues, and learn more about the issues running rampant in the world today.

I want to be able to use my voice as a young writer hoping to later enter the political and legal framework of society, to make an impactful contribution to the world. After learning about the warning signs embedded in dystopian fiction I want to learn how to recognize and resist injustices, and teach others to do the same. As a member of society I feel that it is my duty to learn as much as I can in this project, then use that to help bring peace to the world in the future. I want to utilize this valuable opportunity for growth as a positive way to respond to the troubling global issues that shape our daily lives.

The main reason why I’m writing this pre-project blog is to set my learning intentions for this project. My intention statement is:

I plan to strengthen my Communication skills by providing evidence for my statements, analyzing text in depth to understand clearly, and learn how to persuade others in my writing. I will focus on Community to demonstrate a positive example for others to follow, and take responsibility for the impact of my words on others. I will also focus on Agency to recognize I am accountable for my learning, and seeking out opportunities and resources without waiting to be told them.

Strengthening my Communication skills ties in strongly to my Vision, Mission, and Values, which I set at the start of the year. In my VMV I wrote that I see myself graduating with the aim of “giving people a voice who haven’t found their own yet,” and “making a meaningful difference in the world, with passion, empathy, and determination.” To be successful in my goals, I must focus on my Communication skills, and this project will help me by teaching me the art of persuasion and articulation. To be able to stand up for what is right, I need to know when to stand up, and how to do it. Luckily that is exactly what this project (and the last one) allows me to practice. These goals and values truly shape who I am and are extremely evident in my personality. I already bring a passion into my community to make a difference, but now I will also bring the knowledge how.