Diablo Valley College Brave New World Critical thinking Reading Response

I’m working on a english writing question and need a sample draft to help me learn.

Aldous Huxley: Social and Historical Context

The short video below provides a bit of biographical information on Aldous Huxley along with some context on the personal experiences, key figures, and historical movements that influenced his writing of Brave New World (1931).

Also, if you have any interest in, as an ex-student of mine once put it, “developing a bigger vocabulary so you can sound smart,” I recommend looking up words you don’t know as you read. It seems almost quaint now, but my old college books are full of word definitions scrawled in the margins. It’s funny to look back and realize these are all words I know quite well today. Why did I take the time to write them all down? It helped me to remember them (and yes, sometimes I had to look up words more than once). I’m not requiring you to do this for our class, but it’s a recommended practice that will help you expand your mental repertoire of words and concepts which does allow you to express your ideas more fluidly and accurately.

Here’s a shortlist of some cool words you may not know from Brave New World:

Pallid

Callow

Viviparous

Prodigious

Largesse

Tremulous

Indefatigable

Boskage

Maudlin

Sententious

Pneumatic

Reading Questions for Brave New World, Chapters 1-3 (a sentence or two to a paragraph for each question will be sufficient):

1. In no more than three sentences, describe the predominant values of the society depicted in Brave New World thus far.
2. What is the attitude toward viviparous reproduction in this society? Why? (The second question here is particularly important.)
3. In what ways do you find this world to be a dystopia so far? Are there any aspects of this world that you admire? Be specific.
4. Describe this society’s attitude toward sexuality. Support your description with at least two textual references (include page number).
5. How does hypnopaedia work? What is the purpose of such a practice in this novel?
6. Why is the concept of home and family (especially parents) so smutty/odious to the “civilized” citizens of Brave New World?
7. “And that,” put in the Director sententiously, “that is the secret of happiness and virtue—liking what you’ve got to do. All conditioning aims at that: making people like their unescapable social destiny.” (p. 16). Social conditioning is a large part of raising responsible and “happy” citizens in Brave New World. Reread the scene on page 20 (if your edition is different than mine, it’s the scene near the beginning of Chapter 2 that begins with the line, “Now bring in the children.” The scene ends with the line: “I see,” said the student, and was silent, lost in admiration. Describe your personal reaction to this process of social conditioning. How did reading this scene make you feel?