9th Grade Cohort A & B - Themes We've Covered

Going into the last quarter of the year, it's important to reflect on some of the major ideas we have covered so far in the literature. Here's a list:

1) Patriarchy - "Father-chief" - Men run society.
- What drives patriarchal men? Status. The "top dog"/"alpha male" mentality.
- Examples: Ancient Greek society (namely the male Gods), George Hadley (from "The Veldt" - though he was a failed patriarch because he WANTED to be "top dog," but he lost power of his house to The Nursery), Equality/Prometheus (from Anthem, which some of you are reading/read), Harrison Bergeron (from the story by Kurt Vonnegut), and Mr. Fox (from The Fantastic Mr. Fox).

2) Environments - "natural" / "human-made" / "techno-vironments"
- Most dystopian stories focus on a conflict between two (or all) of these types of environments. Most often, the natural environment is conflicted with some human-made device or leadership, but sometimes these human-made conflicts turn into fully functional environments of their own (like the Nursery in "The Veldt"), which is an example of a "techno-vironment."
- Examples: The "natural" vs. human-made environment in the Veldt - natural African Veldtland (where humans once thrived at the beginning of humanity) was seen as a "problem" by a family that had gotten hooked on their human-made Happylife Home, which cooked, cleaned, bathed, and did everything for the family (obviously, not natural).

3) Objectivism - Ayn Rand's philosophy of anarchic moral selfishness.
- Concern for "the Collective" is a sin - people should just worry about themselves
- The government should not have a big role in people's lives, as people should be able to pursue their own happiness by their own means.
- Individualism is prized
- Notes from class: "being independent; making 'your own'; not being a follower - 'lead, don't follow'; self-interest; don't worry about others' problems"

4) Collectivism - "The Collective" / "One big happy family"
- "Shared living spaces, shared resources, shared expectations, shared problems, shared goals"
- Positive aspects: workload lightens - "many hands make light work"; everyone is supposed to care aobut others
- Negative aspects: No concern for the individual, only the group; the "whole" matters most; there is inherent exclusion of those who are not "in the whole"; no individual success/fame -- GROUPTHINK: people think the same way even they think it's bad or wrong (ex: The "Asch Experiment")