Multigenre Dystopian Invention

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Assignment by Christopher Peace, Bedford New Scholar 2020

During the Bedford New Scholars Summit, each member presented an assignment that had proven successful or innovative in their classroom. 

Christopher: The Multigenre Dystopian Project is a multigenre project that asks students to invent a dystopian society through the creation of multiple genres. A dystopia is often characterized by an authoritarian or totalitarian form of governing and normalized social control of space, with seen or unseen intentions. It suggests different kinds of repressive social control systems, a lack or total absence of individual freedoms and expressions, and a state of constant warfare or violence. In this multigenre project, students create an original (as possible) dystopian society using written and visual genres. They come up with a fictional (or twistedly realistic) place that is intended to be perfect but has gone wrong due to some external reasons. Students invent social media, medical, and legal genres that express tension between the governing body and protesting citizens. This project aims to connect rhetoric of place and space with genres of writing, power, and control. I like this project because students combine rhetoric, creative writing, and literature together in a way that is unlike the standard essay—students are usually excited to be as multimodal as possible when creating different genres for their dystopias.

A dystopia is a vision, of an often-futuristic society, which has developed into an inversion of Utopia (perfect society). A dystopia is often characterized by an authoritarian or totalitarian form of governing and normalized social control of space, with seen or unseen intentions. It suggests different kinds of repressive social control systems, a lack or total absence of individual freedoms and expressions and a state of constant warfare or violence.

In a multi-genre project, you will create an original dystopian society through written and visual genres. Be creative and innovative when coming up with a fictional (or twistedly realistic) place that was intended to be perfect but has gone wrong. The “wrong” event has committed by a governing body that exhibits social control and has affected the community at large, or the governing body is perpetuating social control for whatever reason. There are genres that you must create that express tension between the governing body/idea and protesting citizens. This project aims to connect ideas of place and space with genres of writing and power/control.

Project Requirements: 1) Multigenre Invention, 2) Reflection, 3) Presentation

Multigenre Invention 

The purpose of inventing genres of writing is to reflect ways in which a governing body/idea controls through written communication and through controlling social space. Think about world building techniques when constructing a central narrative for your dystopia. Along with the introduction, you will invent six genres of writing, with an emphasis on visual communication.

Introduction/Letter to the Reader: The letter to the reader of this project includes two major points:

1. Backstory: Create a name for the society. A dystopian story has a backstory: a war, natural disaster, an alien invasion, or other terrifying event is introduced early on in the story to set the stage. Describe the backstory for your dystopia. What rights do the citizens have? What restrictions? This could include a creative timeline.
2. Setting: Describe the setting of your place. This could be a physical place “dystopianized” or it could be totally made up. What does the place look like where your citizens live? What year is it? Is there is a major symbol that community uses? How does the place/space help define citizenship? The setting should include visuals: images or map.

Creating the genres of your dystopia: All the genres must connect to the backstory and setting of your dystopia. The genres must include text/words. Some should include visuals:

1. Propagandist Advertisement: An informational text expressing social control of the governing body in your society. What kind of government exists? Who is in charge? Is there a national or unifying anthem that the government promotes? Suggested genres: meme, brochure, political cartoon, flyer, commercial, magazine page
2. Spatial Control/ Restriction: This genre expresses spatial control in the government in your dystopia. Suggested genres: governmental decree, multiple KEEP OUT/ DO NOT ENTER/NO [ACTION] Signs, letters of restriction
3. Infraction Genres: What happens to citizens who do not obey the government? How is punishment institutionalized? Create a genre that represents the transference of punishment and control. Suggested genres: law document, ticket, citation/violation notice
4. Social Media Genre of Citizen Protest (or agreement): Using a social media platform (Suggested genres: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, QQ, Sports article comment section), make a post expressing citizen protest again governmental regulation. This post may have an original post of some type of protest along with others in the society “commenting” on the post, whether their comments is in support of or against the post.
5. Medical/End of Life Genres: Create a genre that expresses how the society deals with human bodies through healing or disease. This genre can be a medical document or funerary. How is health treated in general? How are bodies kept or discarded after life? Which genres help or hinder citizen’s health? Suggested genres: medical form, patient medical history form, obituary, morgue tag
6. Religious Genre: Is there a religion in your dystopia that helps the ruling body maintain control? Is there a religion that is against the ruling body/idea? Create a genre that reflects the religious or spiritual practices within your dystopia. Suggested genres: new bible/scriptures, religious decree, religious poem or song, religious artifacts/items like talisman or clothes

Reflection

(700 words minimum) This reflection will explain the workings of your dystopian invention and collaboration. Reflect on and address the following points:

• How does your use of multiple genres in unison demonstrate your knowledge of place, space, and control when it comes to genres of writing? (Thinking about the whole project, how well do the genres work together to present your dystopia)
• Explain how the genres you created (individually) leads to social action for the people of your dystopia.
• Describe your process. How did you narrow come up with your dystopian backstory? What kind of planning did you do? What steps did you go through? What changes did you make along the way? What challenging decisions (difficult or simple) did you face? How did you make those decisions? Which part of the project would you change, add, or take away if you were to do it again?
• Describe your genres. What specific decisions did you make about the genre’s structure, content, style (color, font, tone, etc.)? What influenced those decisions? What did you decide NOT to do in your genre and why?

Presentation

(5- to 7-minute presentation) You should create a Loom that screen records your face while you explain your dystopian project. You may choose to use a PowerPoint or Prezi presentation for your presentation. If you do not choose to create a PPT presentation, you will be responsible for creating another type of visual aid to represent your dystopia (one that can be screen recorded on your computer).

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