Choose ONE of the following questions for your
Final Paper:
1. While dystopian fiction is typically set in a future, it is also always a critique of the socialand/or political conditions of the world we know and live in. With reference to Octavia E. Butler’sParable of the Sower and two additional novels from our list (see list above), discuss how each text is such a critique and how it is relevant to our world today. Make sure you spend timeanalyzing evidence from the novels – do not focus only on parallels to today.
2. In addition to Parable of the Sower, choose two texts (see list above) that also have femalecharacters and compare these female characters. For example, you might compare I-330 fromWe, Julia from 1984, Moira from the Handmaid’s Tale, and Lauren from Parable of the Sower.There are some similarities and differences between I-330 and Julia in that they functionvis-à-vis a male protagonist, but Moira and Lauren (both written by female authors) seem to beoutliers in this context – their form of rebellion and self preservation, while defined by/restrictedwithin a patriarchy, is not dependent on a male protagonist. Also interesting is that in the Huluseries of The Handmaid’s Tale, Moira is black. How does foregrounding a black female narrativevoice and experience in Parable of the Sower contribute to our understanding or broaden ourperspective of literary representations of dystopia?
