Search Our Essay Database

Dystopian Essays and Research Papers

Instructions for Dystopian College Essay Examples

Title: Individualism within Utopian and Dystopian Novels

Total Pages: 2 Words: 675 Bibliography: 2 Citation Style: APA Document Type: Essay

Essay Instructions: Although both utopian and dystopian works necessarily examine the functioning of a society as a whole, all the information we receive about those societies come through the eyes of individuals, some who fit in with society and some who rebel against it. What roles does individuality play in the utopian novel titled Utopia by Thomas More and the dystopian novel titled Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury? And how do these roles impact our understanding of the society?

Excerpt From Essay:

Title: film exam questions

Total Pages: 3 Words: 901 Sources: 2 Citation Style: MLA Document Type: Research Paper

Essay Instructions: hi,
A? am sending you 2 questions in two different orders. and these will be my exam questions. A? am also sending the syllabus for our lesson and you can also see the readings according to topics. please, do it carefully and read about the readings, research the topic and please watch the film according to each question. because it is my exam questions the point that I will take is very important for me .

the exam question is;
2) Discuss the representation of the city of Paris in Mathieu Kassovitz’s La Haine in relation to the concept of the “panopticon” and the dystopian vision of modernity.


You should watch 'La Haine'' film and than you should write an essay according to the question. you can also benefit from the readings in syllabus that A? am sending you as a resource file and you should also research about the topic. Please also represent the terms in an explanatory way( panopticon, and dystopian vision of modernity). you should explain the terms, and also the relation with the film.
There are faxes for this order.

Excerpt From Essay:

Title: The Mutability of History in 1984

Total Pages: 2 Words: 616 References: 0 Citation Style: APA Document Type: Essay

Essay Instructions: Hello,

These are the spec's I got from my English 112 Teacher. Thanks



In her critical essay entitled "The Mutability of History in 1984," Nikki Moustaki
says "...that truth is what the Party deems it to be, and ...the truths in history are the bases
of the principles of the future" (60). She goes on to say that "Some Fascist German
leaders of the time boasted that if you tell a lie loud enough and often enough, people will
accept it as truth" (60). The Stalinists [in former Soviet Union] perfected this modus
operandi by re-writing people and events in and out of history or distorting historical
facts to suit the Party's purposes. " 'Who controls the past controls the future: who
controls the present controls the past,' runs the Party slogan in 1984"(60). *
If you pa attention to some conversations around you from time to time,
conve ations with friends colleagues at work, or in the general public arena, as well as
in various media outle including song lyrics, film, and theatre you will hear the term
'Orwellian applied to describe particular undesirable circumstances (not always
political, either). After haying read Orwell's novel, ou should understand the
implication and symbolism of that term whenever you hear it. In fact, one dictionary's
extended definition of the term is as follows: The term "Orwellian" usually refers to one
or more of the following:
• Manipulation of language for political ends. Most significantly by introducing to
words meanings in opposition to their denotative meanings.
• Invasion by the state of personal privacy, whether physically or by means of
surveillance.
• The total control of daily life by the state, as in a "Big Brother" society.
• The disintegration of the family unit by the state.
• The replacement of religious faith with worship of the state in a semi-religious
manner.
• Active encouragement by the state of "doublethink," whereby the population must
learn to embrace inconsistent concepts without dissent.
• The denial or rewriting of past events.
• A dystopian or antiutopian future.
• The use of verbose and ambiguous language.
For your (capstone event) final exam essay (3-5 paragraphs) in this course, find some
examples in our current society which could accurately be described as "Orwellian." An
"A" paper will include some quoted material from the novel, used appropriately to
support your particular point in that part of your essay. Apply one or more of the
definitions provided above to the current example you choose, to demonstrate how your
chosen example actually incorporates a dangerous societal element; in other words, show
how America "might" be moving closer and closer toward an Orwellian society today.
* Moustaki, Nikki. "The Mutability of History in 1984." On Orwell's 1984. New York:
Wiley, 2000.

Excerpt From Essay:

Title: Postmodernism literature

Total Pages: 3 Words: 833 Works Cited: 0 Citation Style: MLA Document Type: Research Paper

Essay Instructions: This project is for Serban.
The Theme is Finding Reality

Adult content warning. Crash by J.G. Ballard.
This text is not for the weak of heart!

J.G. Ballard is the only author on our list whose last name has been turned into a dictionary word. According to the Collins English Dictionary, Ballardian is defined as: "(adj) 1. of James Graham Ballard (J.G. Ballard; born 1930), the British novelist, or his works (2) resembling or suggestive of the conditions described in Ballard's novels & stories, esp. dystopian modernity, bleak man-made landscapes & the psychological effects of technological, social or environmental developments.”

It is these “psychological effects” that we want to explore in what is arguably Ballard’s most famous novel, Crash. The most notable effect, of course, is the sexual fetishism of the characters.

According to Sigmund Freud fetishism is the result of psychological trauma. A boy, longing to see his mother's penis, averts his eyes in horror when he discovers that she has none. To overcome the resulting castration anxiety he clings to the fetish as a substitute for the missing genital. The fetish object is a substitute or stand-in for something desired. The fetish object becomes an object of pleasure when the original desire is projected onto the fetish object.

Fetishism only becomes “abnormal,” when the desire for the fetish object supercedes the desire for normal sexual contact, which Freud defines as genital intercourse. In Freud’s words, “What is substituted for the sexual object is some part of the body (such as the foot or hair) which is in a general way inappropriate for sexual purposes, or some inanimate object which bears an assignable relation to the person whom it replaces and preferably to that person’s sexuality (e.g. a piece of clothing or underlinen). Such substitutes are with some justice likened to fetishes in which savages believe that their gods are embodied […]The situation only becomes pathological when the longing for the fetish passes beyond the point of being merely a necessary condition attached to the sexual object and actually takes the place of the normal aim, and, further, when the fetish becomes detached from a particular individual and becomes the sole sexual object.” (249).

Ballard’s novel challenges us to understand the fetishism of his characters from two directions. The object of that fetish, and the cause of that fetish.

As Freud points out “fetish” has a wider usage. In archaeology or anthropology, a “fetish” can be any object, usually a small keepsake or icon of sorts, used as a “stand-in” for a god or power. As a “fetish,” the power of that god literally imbues the fetish object with supernatural power.

But perhaps the most useful intriguing definition, for all of its cultural implications, is its usage in the theories of Karl Marx. Commodity fetishism is a theory of a society in which relations among people take the form of relations among things. This derives from Marx’s general assertion that capitalist society forces people to relate to each other in terms of their “economic value” rather than their humanity.

Briefly, Marxist analysis focuses on socioeconomic classes and seeks to explain all human relationships in terms of the distribution and dynamics of economic power. According to Marx economic exchange (in Capitalistic and other societies) operates on certain assumptions of value.

In pre-capitalistic societies objects are valued based on their “use value,” that is their pragmatic usefulness. For example, bread has a high “use value” because it prevents death by providing nourishment. In Capitalist economies, the valuation of objects and services changes to one of exchange value, that is, the perceived value of what an object or service can be exchanged for. This operates ona supply and demand kind of sliding scale, in which, for example, 1 loaf of bread is equal to 3 fish. And finally, there is sign-exchange value, a phenomena in which objects themselves with no intrinsic usefulness obtain high exchange values. Gold, for instance, has no intrinsic “use-value” but a high sign-exchange value. As a “sign,” gold stands for something. The relative utility of a Ford Pinto and a BMW are the same (they’re both cars that get you from point A to point B) but the perceived sign-exchange value of a BMW is much greater than that of a Pinto. “BMW” in and of itself communicates social status. It is an objects “sign-exchange” value that makes it a commodity. Commodification is the phenomena of relating to objects and people in terms of their sign-exchange value. Market driven economies such as Capitalism promote sign-exchange value to encourage spending, which in turn leads to the commodification of existence

The commodity itself becomes an artificial substitute for something “Real.” The danger of Capitalism is that it deludes people into believing that its commodities have intrinsic value. The tacit, more sinister, implication is that without them, life has none.

There are many more definitions of fetishism and it might be useful to search the web for some alternate definitions that might be useful in understanding Ballard’s story.

Some questions to consider: What is/are the object/s of the fetish in Crash? Why is this/are these object/s significant? How does this choice of object fit with our understanding of Postmodern themes or issues? As a psychological mechanism, what does this fetish replace? What is missing? What is the cause of the fetish? What psychological trauma do these characters suffer from? Is Ballard making a comment on contemporary society? How is this book about Postmodern culture or capitalism? How is the fetish object related to capitalism? Could we consider Postmodern alienation a “trauma” and the cause of cultural fetishism towards objects as stand-ins for experience? Is Reality TV a fetish for life lived? Are their other cultural fetishes you can observe? What is the role of sex in this story? What is the role of sex in life? What does sex achieve? Is pro-creation the only goal of sex? How does this text define normal and abnormal sexual behavior, or does it?

Some questions to consider: What is/are the object/s of the fetish in Crash? Why is this/are these object/s significant? How does this choice of object fit with our understanding of Postmodern themes or issues? As a psychological mechanism, what does this fetish replace? What is missing? What is the cause of the fetish? What psychological trauma do these characters suffer from? Is Ballard making a comment on contemporary society? How is this book about Postmodern culture or capitalism? How is the fetish object related to capitalism? Could we consider Postmodern alienation a “trauma” and the cause of cultural fetishism towards objects as stand-ins for experience? Is Reality TV a fetish for life lived? Are their other cultural fetishes you can observe? What is the role of sex in this story? What is the role of sex in life? What does sex achieve? Is pro-creation the only goal of sex? How does this text define normal and abnormal sexual behavior, or does it?

Please email me if there are any problems.

Excerpt From Essay:

Request A Custom Essay On This Topic

Testimonials

I really do appreciate HelpMyEssay.com. I'm not a good writer and the service really gets me going in the right direction. The staff gets back to me quickly with any concerns that I might have and they are always on time.

Tiffany R

I have had all positive experiences with HelpMyEssay.com. I will recommend your service to everyone I know. Thank you!

Charlotte H

I am finished with school thanks to HelpMyEssay.com. They really did help me graduate college..

Bill K