Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

1. Brave New WorldbyAldous Huxley

2. Plan for class • Day 1 (Friday): • BNW Analytical Writing Practice (PPT Slide 3) – 3 highlighted passages (return the sheet) • HW: Re-read Foster Ch. 17 “Except Sex” and write a brief summary of key points to share AND read and annotate “Future Shock” • Day 2 (Monday): • 1. Review Foster’s main points from Ch. 17 • 2. PPT Slides 4-12: Orgy Porgy questions, sex in BNW, pneumatic slides + writing • 3. Start in class/finish as HW: hypnopaedia worksheet (odds or evens only on the front; all questions on the back – don’t write on the sheet – return it) • Day 3 (Tuesday): • Discussion and philosophical chairs

3. Novel Review • Brave New World is considered a Juvenalian satire of the systematic dehumanization inherent in contemporary consumer societies. • The goal is stability, and it is achieved through “happiness” (conditioning, soma, and no self-denial) and lack of emotional ties (sexual promiscuity is encouraged; no families; no viviparous reproduction – instead, babies are “decanted”)

4. Novel Review • Total govt. control (using science and technology) from birth to death • Social caste system (alphas, betas, etc.) mirrors the social distinctions in Huxley’s 19th century England. • Mass production and mass consumption

5. Novel Review • The cost of happiness? Art, science, religion, nobility, heroism, intelligence, and free will. Sound good? • “God isn’t compatible with machinery and scientific medicine and universal happiness. You must make your choice” (234). – Mustapha Mond

6. Analytical Paragraph Directions • Carefully read the highlighted quotations and develop an analytical paragraph for each that does the following: • 1. provides context for the quotation; • 2. addresses the theme(s) that Huxley is developing; and • 3. includes your opinion regarding whether the idea presented in this quotation is visible in our world today. In what way? Are we headed toward the brave new world in society today? • Be sure to back up your answers with evidence from the text. • HW due Monday: Re-Read/take notes Foster Ch. 17 and read/annotate “Future Shock” article

7. Opening Activity Day 2 • Take out your notes of Foster’s points in the chapter “… Except Sex” • Briefly share your key notes with your group to develop common ground for today’s discussion.

8. “Ford, we are twelve; oh, make us one, Like drops within the Social River; Oh, make us now together run As swiftly as thy shining Flivver.” “Come, Greater Being, Social Friend, Annihilating Twelve-in-One! We long to die, for when we end, Our larger life has but begun.” “Feel how the Greater being comes! Rejoice and, in rejoicing die! Melt in the music of the drums! For I am you and you are I.” “Orgy-porgy, Ford and fun, Kiss the girls and make them One. Boys at one with girls at peace; Orgy-porgy gives release.” Aside from all of the blasphemy in this song, what similarities can you see between this ritual and elements of Christianity? Why do you think Huxley combined Christianity with something so unchristian? What is the purpose of the sex in this scene? Why is promiscuity so imperative to this society? Orgy-Porgy (Ch. 5)

9. Sex in Brave New World • Children conditioned with “Ordinary Erotic Play” • Everyone belongs to every one else • Feelies • Malthusian drills (77) • Sex-hormone chewing gum (60) • “She was a popular girl and, at one time or another, had spent a night with almost all of them” (57). • Other examples?

10. Put it all together • Write an 8-minute analytical paragraph that explains the significance of sex in Brave New World?

11. Pneumatic? • Perhaps you noticed that the word pneumatic appears frequently in the novel. Turn to your neighbor and see if the two of you can figure out what it means and what things are described in that way.

12. Examples of “pneumatic” in the text. What does it mean? • “’Lenina Crowne?’ said Henry Foster […] ‘Oh, she’s a splendid girl. Wonderfully pneumatic. I’m surprised you haven’t had her’” (44). • “’Fanny Crowne’s a nice girl too […] ‘Not nearly so pneumatic as Lenina’” (48-49). • “When they had arrived and were comfortably stretched out on the pneumatic sofas in Bernard’s room, Helmholtz began again” (69). • “’Everyone says I’m awfully pneumatic,’ said Lenina reflectively, patting her own legs” (93).

13. Here is the definition • Pneu·mat·ic –adjective • 1. of or pertaining to air, gases, or wind. • 2. of or pertaining to pneumatics. • 3. operated by air or by the pressure or exhaustion of air: a pneumatic drill. • 4. filled with or containing compressed air, as a tire. • 5. equipped with pneumatic tires. • 6. Theology . of or pertaining to the spirit; spiritual. • 7. Zoology . containing air or air cavities.

14. Synthesis • With all of this being said, what is the significance of referring to women in the novel as “pneumatic” and how does it relate to the “sex” that Foster talks about?

15. Homework • Finish the handout on hypnopaedia – you will be assigned the “odds” or the “evens” + everyone should complete the back of the sheet.