Creating An Original Cultural Setting

This morning, please gather in the small groups where you share the same cultural topic on 1984. You will discuss your notes and examples, then wait for further instructions on how to share this information with the rest of the class.

After our activity, we will be moving up to the lab to complete the following tasks:

1. let's try some of our own planning to create our own culture. 

Science Fiction and Fantasy writers often have to create a culture that is at once creative and original, and also cohesive. A reader of sci-fi/fantasy needs to feel as though the author has created a unique world in which to set a story. Even if you aren't interested in writing sci-fi/fantasy, other forms of writing demand this sort of skill. Historical fiction, magical realism, and satire, for example, are just a few popular choices. So, too, is the genre of horror and, or course, dystopian fiction. Even realist writers (any novelist really) needs to be able to balance a fictional world so that it is both realistic and original.

2. Our task today is to create an original and unique culture in which to set a story or scene of a play. While you are normally free to choose any genre, this writing activity works best with fiction, scripts, and either graphic novels (comic strips) or manga-style stories. Be creative though--you might find working on a poem or "non-fiction" to be a nice challenge.

3. To create your own culture, feel free to use mind maps, graphic organizers, lists, or any appropriate writing technique you have learned to gather your ideas BEFORE you begin writing. Remember that culture is a learned behavior, and can refer to behavior traits, etiquette, food, clothing, art, entertainment, a method of transmittance, a language, taboos, a primary means of subsistence, a hegemonic group or family that shares beliefs, traditions, & practices, as well as a set of rules, material culture (tools/technology), and that all cultures make sense within their own structures, although a common theme is that an outsider is able to expose the folly or missteps of the majority group.

4. Use the lab to begin working on creating your own CULTURAL SETTING. Use what you have learned so far to help you come up with some ideas. Brainstorm and gather ideas and begin shaping this world into one of your own, original making. You will need to submit your writing notes at the conclusion of this writing project, so please conduct the appropriate writing steps (brainstorming, drafting, editing/revising, publication).

5. You may find this website to be helpful: Patricia Wrede's Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions. Patricia Wrede is a contemporary fantasy novelist read about her at the link.

HOMEWORK: please complete part II of 1984. You should plan on completing this novel by the end of the week. There will be an essay/test/quiz assignment that will cover how the book relates to the key terms of culture we have been studying in the last few classes.