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Dystopian Literature: Shmoopversations
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What stance does Utopia take on acts of war? What about acts of Shakespeare plays? Or random acts of kindness? This video will answer at least one...
What's the deal with religion in utopias? And why did we start this video description like Jerry Seinfeld? And why are we suddenly craving soup...?
What was life like during the writing of The Time Machine? What was Social Darwinism? Bet you weren't expecting that to be the follow-up question,...
Eloi and Morlocks...sounds like something out of Dungeons and Dragons. So...what are they? Or...who are they? Let's watch and find out.
How is the world created in The Time Machine considered a dystopia? And have you ever considered that if time travel is eventually invented, l...
What inspired George Orwell to write 1984? Spoiler alert: it wasn't a fear of rats.
Does 1984 reference any real world politics? We think it would've been cute had Big Brother played a sax, à la Bill Clinton, but no one asked us.
Who is Big Brother? What is Newspeak? What is doublethink? We hope you don't get these wrong...Big Brother is watching.
What does Plato say about justice in Republic? We're not quite sure...it was all Greek to us.
How does a class division form in a society? What's the highest position in a society? We know the answer to the second question: it's that wise ol...
According to Plato, who would be an ideal candidate for a leader, and what type of speech should be allowed in society? Man, this Plato dude was su...
According to Plato, how does a Utopia need to control sex and food? Spoiler alert: Plato isn't fun at parties.
According to Plato, what kind of rules does a Utopia need to control music and fitness? Clearly, Plato never listened to Gloria Estefan, who knew t...
What does Plato's Apology say about utopias? We hope it's all nice, otherwise he'll have to write an apology for his Apology.
How does Sir Thomas More's version of Utopia differ from Plato's? Why is More's vision of Utopia set on an island? Did he never see Gilligan's Isla...
What kind of political system does a utopia employ? We could give you the answer right now, but then we'd have made this video for nothing.
A utopia...with slaves...? Doesn't sound like a utopia for everyone, Sir Thomas More.
Can a utopia exist with prisoners, irrational people, and disabilities? We're glad you asked! No, really. We're glad you asked. Otherwise, we made...
What kind of government does More's utopia have? What's life like for men and women in this utopia? Can you have an infinite number of cats without...