Brave New World by Huxley

[Miss Marple]

I'm looking for a study guide from a Christian perspective for this book. Any ideas? I can get the Sparknotes, etc., but am hoping for something that looks at the book from a different viewpoint.

 

Thanks!

[Michelle in AL]

I use these study guides all the time for my co-op class. They are set up for a classroom, but can be adapted to homeschool. The set up of the guides also takes some getting used to. They're not Christian based, but they are moral based and focus on literature elements along with developing character. They really focus on critical thinking too. You can't see inside this one, but you see inside some others to get a sense of the style.

 

http://www.centerforlearning.org/ViewProductDetails.aspx?id=343&pid=571&sid=42

[HollyinNNV]

Have you read this book? I would be pretty surprised to find a study guide from a Christian perspective for that book. It has mature themes.

[Miss Marple]

I'm not looking for something that would, from a Christian perspective, advance the ideas of the book because it is in complete opposition to a Christian worldview. But I'm hoping for a guide that would look at the themes (moral, etc.) and juxtapose those ideas with the Christian worldview. Many of the Great Books we read (Confessions, etc.) do contain adult themes and I've found guides to go along with those (TheGreatBooks.com). I'm just hoping someone else has done the work for me...

 

I've only read/heard exerpts of the book and will be pre-reading it before putting it on our booklist. I'm hoping that the mature themes can be skipped or aren't too graphic. It includes aspects that I really want to cover next year. But it might not work.

[HollyinNNV]

I'm not looking for something that would, from a Christian perspective, advance the ideas of the book because it is in complete opposition to a Christian worldview. But I'm hoping for a guide that would look at the themes (moral, etc.) and juxtapose those ideas with the Christian worldview. Many of the Great Books we read (Confessions, etc.) do contain adult themes and I've found guides to go along with those (TheGreatBooks.com). I'm just hoping someone else has done the work for me...

 

I've only read/heard exerpts of the book and will be pre-reading it before putting it on our booklist. I'm hoping that the mature themes can be skipped or aren't too graphic. It includes aspects that I really want to cover next year. But it might not work.

 

Hehheh-I looked at the book last spring. I really wanted to include it because I kept seeing it on lots of reading lists. I'm not religious, although many of my students are. I couldn't find a way to use it. I would say that s*x is one of the main themes of the book.

 

If you are looking for something dystopian, you might try F451. I'm not sure exactly what theme you are trying to explore. There might be other books that could do the same job, more pleasantly. (As I read the book, I was cringing thinking of my students reading it.)

[Chris in VA]

Bouncing off of what Holly said, I also did not have ds read the book. We read Alas, Babylon and Lord of The Flies instead. I also could have gone with Farenheit 451 or even The Time Machine (sex in that one, too, tho). The Giver is an easy, Jr. Hi level book that some incorporate into high school dystopian studies, too. Depends on the themes you are going for, I suppose.

[forty-two]

I first read Brave New World in 9th grade; I love, love, love the book. Yes it has mature themes, but they are integral to the plot and, imo, the book is very relevant to our society today. There are several disturbing scenes of a sexual nature, but they are *meant* to be disturbing, and aren't particularly graphic. I plan to study it w/ my dc.

 

As far as a study guide from a Christian worldview, could you use a secular guide to help bring out the various themes of the book and then compare it to your church's theology yourself, as you go? So much of a "Christian" worldview differs depending on your denomination, anyway, that unless you found a guide written by someone of the same theological bent as you, you'd end up having to do a lot of analyzing and modifying, anyway.

[PollyOR]

Yep, I loved it when I read it in high school.

 

:iagree:I definitely would pre-read it.

[Miss Marple]

After reading some of this online, it looks like it won't work for my class. Since the class involves other people's kids, I need to be a bit more conservative than I might be for my own kids. Thanks for all your perspectives.

[Gwen in VA]

A related novel, The Lord of the FLies, ha a Christian study guide by Progeny Press.

 

I strongly recommend both the book and the study guide. I used them together with my older two and will be using them with ds2 starting next week!

 

lord of the flies is a horrible book but can be put within the Judeo-Christian framework. It is required reading in our high school.

[Miss Marple]

Gwen, some others have suggested this book, so I'll give it a look. Can you tell me who publishes the study guide you are recommending?

[Gwen in VA]

Progeny Press Study Guides

 

www.progenypress.com

[Lori D.]

In the middle of doing Brave New World (BNW) with our 10th gr. son right now, with 9th gr. son listening in. We're doing it aloud together -- reading and discussing -- and using the free online Sparknotes, although we often end up discussing themes and ideas in BNW not in the Sparknotes.

 

Yes, there adult themes, with sex being one of them -- but they are handled very carefully and very NON-graphically/exploitively. While author Huxley was not a Christian, the book is an excellent springboard for discussing Christian worldview. I believe Huxley's point was show a world which, in desperation for economic stability, sacrifices anything of real extremes or passions. Sexuality and relationships cause passion, longing and instability, and so the World State (a totalitarian entity) has managed to completely invert the society's ethics so that promiscuous sex -- and really it is not at all "sexy" (just constant "hooking up" in order to satisfy biological urges and because it is your duty since "everyone belongs to everyone else") -- is considered moral and normal because it keeps the population emotionally infantile and stable. The word "mother" is considered indecent in the extreme, as all people are conceived and developed in test tubes and conditioned/raised by the World State for the sole purpose of being factory workers and consumers -- which is what maintains economic stability, the aim of the World State. That is definitely a theme we are able to discuss and contrast with Christian worldview.

 

 

DS is very interested in worldviews, having attended Worldview Academy this past summer. We are reading Brave New World as part of 10th gr. literature which we created ourselves this year: "Worldviews in Sci-Fi and Gothic Lit". We are tracing the changing worldviews of our modern culture through modern literature. This has been excellent preparation for doing BNW -- seeing it in the context of these other works and in context of the social-political times in which it was written, along with the worldview of the author. It REALLY helped that we had just previously done "The Giver" by Lois Lowry -- also a dystopian work, but much gentler, in which the community is stable because it has given up individuality and carries no memories of the past (and therefore is unaware that their culture (or lack of culture!) could be different than what it is). We carried over many of the themes discussed in the Sparknotes guide on "The Giver" into our conversations about BNW. We also have covered "The Time Machine" (socialism and evolution) and "Animal Farm" (communism) -- both of which have also greatly contributed to our discussions and understanding of the World State in BNW. Farenheit 451 is next on our list.

 

 

No, I wouldn't do this with a class of other people's children unless every parent had read and understood the book and had given their "okay" on it. I think a lot of people miss Huxley's point (he was NOT writing to affirm a promiscuous society!), and I think Christians need a little background in worldview to be able to discuss this work -- God is not in the world of BNW, but for Christians that is exactly the point -- a world without the Lord is one without hope -- and BNW is an incredible picture of a world without hope, in which man is willing to settle for the shallow "happiness" that entertainment, science, and economic stability offer -- that those things are even worth the loss of individuality and a soul. Those are pretty hefty themes!

 

 

Lord of the Flies is also a "backdoor" way of discussing Christian worldview. Like BNW, it is not a hopeful book nor does it show redemption, but rather the point is to show us our spiritual need for the Lord by focusing on that inborn sinful nature of mankind -- here, at work within shipwrecked children who, rather than building some sort of society and working to prepare for rescue, revert to basic tribal/instinctual levels and end up hunting one another. There is a Christian perspective lit. guide from Progeny Press to guide you through this one. We'll be doing Lord of the Flies the year we do British Lit.; although it would certainly have worked in with the themes we are covering this year, there were so many great sci-fi works to cover, that I decided to lump Lord of the Flies in with British Lit. and we'll come back to those themes of worldview when we do it then.

 

BEST of luck, whatever you go with Cynthia! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited March 12, 2009 by Lori D.
added info

[FloridaLisa]

Cynthia,

 

I've enjoyed both The Giver and Farenheit 451 with my older kids. The Giver is an easy read, but is great fodder for discussion. F451 is interesting and intriguing. I would have loved to have been in a book club with this one, but ds and I did it together.

 

Here's a blurb about F451 from a search:

 

Unlike “1984″ or “Brave New World,†“451″ doesn’t speak politically against the left or the right politically, but speaks against the dumbing down of society, specifically on how Hollywood pop culture slush and TV entertainment can create an entire nation of people who are not only incapable of fighting for their rights, but who don’t even realize the importance of doing so. This is a brilliant novel that shows Guy going from soldier of the state to an independent free thinker who must go on the run to survive.

 

More food for thought!

Lisa

[Miss Marple]

Lori, thank you so much for this! While I'm not afraid to tackle this type of literature with my kids who have had years of worldview discussion I know that some parents won't understand. The themes in BNW seem so relevant to today that I wanted to include it. But I think I'll just do it with my own kids instead. I've taught this class of kids for 3 years now using various world view programs (meshed together) and this coming year will be our last due to graduation. But my sons are younger and I will have them for another couple of years so BNW will probably work in later.

 

Thanks again for the discussion and other options.

[Miss Marple]

I'll take a look at The Giver. F451 is the novel these kids will read in Freshman Comp. I hesitate to use it because they will be seeing it again, but, on the other hand, maybe it would be good to go through it with a Christian perspective before they approach it on the secular level....hmmm...more ideas.

 

Thanks for the ideas

[Lori D.]

I'd love to hear your literature lists from the classes you've taught and what worldview programs you've used!! We are having such a *great* literature year here, I really want to continue it into next year when we do American Literature, and following year with British Lit. -- plus we're also doing a secondary literature course elective we call "The Great Books" to get to all those wonderful books that don't quite make it into one of the standard categories. So I'd love to hear what books you've covered, and what resources you've used.

 

 

Still thinking about other options in place of BNW -- are you looking for something specifically to counter current culture? Just for your own interest, check out the Wikipedia article on BNW -- fascinating! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_New_World

 

1984 (Orwell) -- haven't read this one, so you'll need to preview

Classic dystopian novel, follows a seemingly insignificant man assigned the task of perpetuating the repressive, totalitarian regime's propaganda by falsifying records and political literature. Smith grows disillusioned and begins a rebellion against the system that leads to his arrest and torture. The novel is famous for its portrayal of pervasive government surveillance and control, and government's increasing encroachment on the rights of the individual.

 

This would be the BNW substitute if you're wanting to explore a dystopia and repressive/totalitarian regimes. (In contrast the dystopian World State government in BNW so conditions everyone from birth and removes all uncomfortableness, that no one feels repressed or wants to rebel.)

 

 

Farenheit 451 (Bradbury)

Loved FloridaLisa's summary of key themes:

 

... speaks against the dumbing down of society, specifically on how Hollywood pop culture slush and TV entertainment can create an entire nation of people who are not only incapable of fighting for their rights, but who don’t even realize the importance of doing so. This is a brilliant novel that shows Guy going from soldier of the state to an independent free thinker who must go on the run to survive.

 

This would be the BNW substitute if you're looking to comment on aspects of our culture such such as lose of literacy, rise of entertainment, moral relativism, willingness to give up individuality for comfort, etc. Also check out Neil Postman's non-fictional work, "Amusing Ourselves to Death."

 

 

The Giver (Lowry)

Memories give us context and background knowledge which allows us to have wisdom to determine a course of action when confronted with an unprecedented experience. The setting of The Giver is a "utopian" or "socialist" society in which most things are pre-determined for the individual -- although based on an individual's abilities and natural interests -- and great stress is placed on "sameness". Much of the individuality of people, along with all the memories (and knowledge) of the past have been given up, and only the Giver and the Receiver of Memories hold all the memories of the past in case the community runs into an unprecedented situation. (We used both the Sparknotes free online guide and the Garlic Press publishers guide for this one.)

 

This would be the BNW substitute if you want to explore the themes of a "gentle dystopias" -- i.e., a totalitarian state that is not oppressive/torturing -- and that the "soul" or the individual is sacrificed for stability of the whole community (or world).

 

 

Animal Farm (Orwell)

A great -- and biting -- satire of ANY socio-political system (communist or capitalist) in which an elite group enjoys the majority of benefits and goods, while repressing, oppressing, and exploiting the labor and ignorance of the masses. Some very specific allusions to some events and leaders in the Russian Revolution and early Communist Russia days.

 

This one is so short, you might want to include it as a great introduction to totalitarian states and their worldviews, whatever you go with in place of BNW. We used the Sparknotes free online guide for this one.

 

 

 

Also, I don't know how much time you have, or how interested you'd be in including films and discussing them from a worldview point of view, but perhaps think about The Truman Show, Quiz Show, or Gattica in relationship to BNW.

 

The Truman Show (very mild swearing in 1-2 places)

Truman, from the moment of birth, lives in an artificial world solely constructed for him, which thousands of cameras to broadcast his every move and word as an entertainment show to the world. When he slowly becomes aware of his situation, will he choose to stay in his stable, pleasant, every-need-met-but-artificial environment, or choose the real world which includes suffering and difficulties?

 

Quiz Show (some swearing)

Based on true events; do you choose to do the hard but right thing, or fall and take the money?

 

Gattica (one (discreetly handled) scene of sexual intimacy; and one tastefully handled nude shot)

Genetic engineering makes a future, classed society in which those who are not genetic engineered ("invalids") can only get the worst of jobs. What happens when a very bright and very motivated "invalid" wants to make the most of himself and reach for the stars by "borrowing" (with consent) the background of a genetically perfect young man who doesn't want to go on living now that he is confined to a wheelchair. The value of suffering and hard work in helping us achieve more and overcome weaknesses vs. having it all (genetically speaking) and unable to persevere when difficulties come our way.

 

I'd love to teach a film class (film history/film analysis and worldview in film), but -- like you, in what books you can teach in your co-op classes -- what movies will be acceptable to all the families is so dicey, I've held off on it. Maybe next year I'll just go for it! :001_smile:

 

 

BEST of luck -- and I'd love to hear what you finally go with for your reading list and resources! Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

 

PS -- LOVE your TARDIS avatar! ;)