Summary of text: "Aldous Huxley's tour de force, Brave New World is a darkly satiric version of a "utopian" future--where humans are genetically bred and pharmaceutically anesthetized to passively serve a ruling order. A powerful work of speculative fiction that has enthralled and terrified readers for generations, it remains remarkably relevant to this day as both a warning to be heeded as we head into tomorrow and as thought-provoking, satisfying entertainment" (Summary on back of novel provided by HarperCollins Publishers)
Why it's included: Of the three novels fiction novels included in this text set, Brave New World is the odd ball in many ways. It is a relatively easy read, and it is easy because it is such a captivating, exciting novel. This novel tends to go over well amongst readers because it has the excitement of a futuristic, technological dystopia, as well as many other issues as well. As far as the imperialistic/colonialist discourses in this novel go, they are not nearly as obvious as some of the other texts that we will be reading in this unit. In Huxley's novel, the discourses of the imperialist attitudes are more subdued with the interactions between John, his mother, and Bernard and Lenina (among others). Because this is not as obvious as other texts in this set, I believe that putting this text first works well as an introduction into the topic of colonialism, while also serving as an interesting, exciting hook for the rest of the unit.
Use of text: This is going to be the introductory novel of the set. Because the examples of imperialism/colonialism are so focused in here, it gives us good, clear examples to work with in order to further our understanding of what these concepts are and how they affect the works that we read. I will also pair this reading up with a short essay by Edward Said, called "The Native Under Control." Through the use of literary analysis, it will help the students gain a better understanding of the novel itself. The concepts seen in this novel, while still abstract at this point, will become more explicit as we go into our next novels. As a teacher, this text is useful because it gets the kids interested while introducing the topic of this unit in a small, but meaningful way that will serve to set up future novels. It is also the perfect example of a text that has colonial aspects to it without that necessarily being the major focus of a story. We will come back to this idea of colonialism playing both major and minor roles in the novels and why that might be.
One thing that we will be doing throughout all of the texts in this set, that I will introduce with this reading, is a Setting Tracker. In their journals, the students will track the various settings in each text, as well as where the author is from, and then any mention of a foreign country or city. When we discuss this in class, we will add them to a Google Lit-Trip using Google Earth. Being able to track setting, or even mentions of foreign places, is a great way to identify colonial subtexts within the novels. I will also use a similar method throughout the unit to trace "Who is in control?" where the students sort out who is being controlled (who is subject) and who is the controller (has mastery over another).
Summary: This novel shows the clash of two cultures in 1920s British India, as an Indian Muslim doctor, Aziz, encounters and interacts with the British ruling class. This film is set right around the time of the British Raj and the Indian Independence Movement. Aziz meets Mrs. Moore, an older British woman who is accepting of the Indian culture. Aziz has never met a British person with the respect that she has, and he befriends her and her family/friends very quickly. Adela, a young girl and friend of Mrs. Moore, wants to experience the "real India" and begs Aziz to take her and her friends into the wild, untamed Marabar Caves. Once they reach the caves, the horrors of "real India" come alive and overcome Adela, resulting in trouble for Aziz.
Why it's included: This is a text that covers a historical period that is still relatively fresh in our recent history. It also very clearly shows the dichotomy of the native Indians and the British ruling class. It is a textbook, clear cut case of imperialism. The way that the book clearly divides the two worlds into "real India" and "British India" raises a lot of questions that can be discussed throughout class.
Use of the text: This is a fairly easy, yet lengthy read, and so I intend to read at least a good portion of this in class. The questions that we will focus on here will be "Who is telling the story and why is this significant?" "What are the differences between the "real India" and the British India?" "Why is Adela overcome with fear when she experiences the "real India"?" And "Can native Indian culture ever truly be accepted into the British imperial ideology?" In this case, the best way to put that in regards to this text is "Could Aziz and Mrs. Moore ever truly be friends, be equals?" This is a question that comes up quite a bit when reading this novel and will provide a lot of discussion. I intend to do a variety of discussion strategies with this text, as there are so many things for us to debate and discuss and figure out in regards to the power structures in this novel. That is a general theme about all of these novels; they all deal with power. We will continue to trace place and power throughout this text, and refer back to the "Native Under Control" reading introduced in the previous novel. The more that we use this secondary text by Said and the more we practice applying it to different texts, the better the understanding will be. In addition, we will watch the film version of this novel and discuss the differences between the novel and film, and why the director (David Lean) chose to write it the way he did. As a teacher, this text is useful because it really gets into the heart of what we're talking about in this unit, and it allows the students to build off of what they learned from Brave New World and apply it here. It also allows for many deep discussions and continues to build towards the final fiction novel in this unit, Heart of Darkness.
Summary of text: "One of the most influential works of the twentieth century, Conrad's haunting tale exposes the grim realities of imperialism and the tenuous fabric that holds civilization together. In Heart of Darkness, Marlow, a seaman and wanderer, recounts his physical and psychological journey to the center of the African continent in search of the dangerous and enigmatic trader Kurtz. While navigating the dark rivers of the Belgian Congo, Marlow witnesses the brutalization of the natives by white traders and struggles with what he discovers is the true heart of darkness" (Summary provided by Penguin Publishers).
Why it's included: Heart of Darkness is the novel when it comes to discussing imperialism in literature. It is at the center of the novel and no text set on this topic would be complete without it. It is an excellent book for answering the questions of "who gets to tell the story?" as well as looking at how native characters are depicted in the novel and how colonialism impacts the native subjects in the text.
Use of the text: Everything builds up to this text. Before reading Conrad's novel, we will discuss a brief history on the Scramble for Africa, as well as read another short Said essay on Heart of Darkness, which the students may then use to help read the novel. Heart of Darkness is a dense read. It can be challenging. And I will tell the students that I am in no way expecting them to understand everything completely in this novel; there's a lot to wrestle with. This novel will disorientate you and it is just as easy to get lost in the pages of Conrad's greatest work as it is to get lost in the murky jungles of the Congo. Students will continue to track place and power, as well as do brief character analysis for the various native characters that they encounter--how are they described? What do they wear? Do they speak? What do they say? How do they act? This novel is useful because pretty much every major question that we want to look at when it comes to this unit can be explored in Heart of Darkness. It's a relatively short read, but there is so much there to discuss, especially in regards to power and who is speaking. This is also the first novel in the set where we physically see the active process of imperialism take place. We progress from a novel where it is very latent, in Brave New World, to one where we physically encounter it happening. Combined with the two Said essays, as well as the historical background on European colonization of Africa, the students will have a good foundation for discussion and analysis of this text. Honestly, other than their place and power trackers, and their character depictions, I'm not going to ask the students to do that much during the reading. This is a book that is really easy to get into as a student, but also really easy to be intimidated by if it isn't gone about in the right way. For me as a student reading Heart of Darkness, I hated having to go through and answer worksheet questions on the text. But when I read it for enjoyment, I loved this novel and got a lot out of it because of that reason. I don't want the students to have to focus on specifics too much in this novel; I want them to read it for what it is, let them form their own thoughts, and take the discussion and analysis from there. This is a novel that can go off into many directions; I want the students to determine where they want to take this novel.
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