Name _________________________________ Block ____
Brave New World
Study Guide
Chapters 14 and 15
VOCABULARY
· bursar - the treasurer at a college or university
· carapace - hard outer covering or case of certain organisms such as arthropods and turtles
· exultation - the utterance of sounds expressing great joy
· fringe – edging consisting of hanging threads or tassels
· indignant - angered at something unjust or wrong
· jaunty - having a cheerful, lively, and self-confident air
· luminous - emitting light
o moribund: near death; in a dying state
o obstinate: stubborn
o ordure: excrement; dung; human or animal waste
· peremptorily - in an imperative and commanding manner
o senile: forgetting things and behaving in an odd way because they are old
o sexagenarian: some in their 60s.
· sullen - darkened by clouds
o truculent: aggressive; belligerent
· valediction - the act of saying farewell
QUESTIONS
1. Explain John's behavior after his mother dies: What does he do; why does he behave this way? How do the people react to him, and why do they react in this fashion?
2. How does John act in the incident about the conditioning of the children? What does he do; why does he behave this way? How do the people react to him, and why do they react in this fashion?
3. John's experiences with the soma distribution and the Bokanovsky twins are disruptive. What does he do; why does he behave this way? How do the people react to him, and why do they react in this fashion?
4. What is the mental picture you have of the Hospital for the Dying?
Do you think that, we may see hospitals for the dying like this one if euthanasia becomes legal in the United States? Do you consider this death with dignity?
5. What is your opinion of Bernard and Helmholtz's behavior?
What do you expect to happen now that all three have been taken away by the police?
6. Find quotations in which Huxley satirizes the following:
(A) the loss of any knowledge of God
(B) the human attempt to create a utopian world
7. What is ironic about the fact that the new world still has a police force, which appears on the scene quickly?
Chapters 16 and 17
VOCABULARY
· Approbation - official recognition or approval
· avow - admit openly and bluntly
· bloat - swelling of the rumen or intestinal tract of domestic animals caused by excessive gas
· bobbins - cylinders in which thread and yarn are wound
· cardinal - crested thick-billed North American finch having bright red plumage in the male
· centrifugal - tending to move away from a center
· communal - for or by a group rather than individuals
· copulation - sexual intercourse
· gesticulate - show, express or direct through movement
· gyroscope - apparatus used to maintain balance, ascertain direction, etc.
· impotent -lacking power or ability
· inquisitiveness - a state of active curiosity
· paroxysm - a sudden uncontrollable attack
· platitude - a commonplace, stale, or trite remark
· postulate - maintain or assert
· repose - lean in a comfortable resting position
· squalid - foul and run-down and repulsive
· subversive - a radical supporter of political or social revolution
· superfluous - more than is needed, desired, or required
· tempest - (literary) a violent wind
QUESTIONS
1. What do you learn that is surprising?
2. What does Mond say is the reason Othello could not he the same in the new world? Do you agree with his reason?
3. What happened to the experiment of an all Alpha society?
4. As Huxley summarizes his ideas, the dialogic quality of the novel is heightened. We see this in the dialogue between John and Mustapha Mond. The argumentative nature of their discussion appears in four ways:
(a.) their goal is to arrive at truth by exposing the contradictions in each other's argument.
(b.) parts of the discussion are in a question and answer format.
(c.) there is a logical structure which holds their continuous argument together.
(d.) each man voices a set of principles. The two sets of principles are in opposition, creating an interplay of contradictory principles.
Find an example of each of the points listed above. You can quote some of the dialogue in your answer.
(a.)
Name _________________________________ Block ____
(b.)
(c.)
(d.)
5. The Controller insists that tragedies cannot be written in the New World. He explains, "You can't make flivvers without steel-and you can't make tragedies without social instability." (Pg. 220) What does he mean? What other reasons does the Controller give for the inability of people in the new world to understand tragedy?
6. As this debate progresses, with whom do you find yourself agreeing? Explain.
7. Do you see any evidence of Mond's viewpoint in today's world?
8. Why is Bernard ignored?
9. What is the Controller's position on each of the following topics: simple-minded people
leisure time change science individuality happiness
tru th and beau ty
religion and belief in God heroism
passion
Name _________________________________ Block ____
Chapter 18
VOCABULARY
· atonement
· carrion
· coccyx
o compunction: feeling of remorse
· convergent
o coquettish: flirtatious
o hermitage: any place where a person may live in seclusion; retreat
· importunately
· ineradicably
· literalness
· stethoscopic
o turpitude: dishonest or immoral behavior
· unamity
· unescapably
· vantage
· vermin
QUESTIONS
1. What is your impression of the final scene with John, Helmholtz and Bernard?
2. Describe John's new home.
3. How does John feel about his new home?
4. What is your opinion of John's treatment of the people who come to taunt him?
5. How does Huxley describe John's suicide? How do you feel about John's death?
6. Years after the original book was published, Huxley wrote a new forward for Brave New World, and that forward is now in most editions. In it, Huxley comments on his own work and explains the ending of the novel, as he originally wrote it. What were his reasons for ending it the way we read it now?
7. How has Huxley's thinking changed?
8. How would Huxley rewrite the ending?
9. Of the solutions and predictions Huxley offers in this forward, which ones make sense to you?
10. What ideas about humans, society, life, or science have you formulated as a result of reading this novel?
11. What do you like best and least about the novel?