Name ______Block ___

Brave NewWorld

StudyGuide

  1. Vocabulary: Be able to define the following words and understand them when they appear in the novelorclass discussions. Also, be prepared to be quizzed on thesewords.

muse: to think about somethingdeeply

apparatus: equipment designed to serve a specificfunctionincredulity: the feeling of notbelieving[in (not) + cred(belief)]surreptitious: donesecretly

axiomatic: generally believed to betrue

truculent: aggressivelyhostile

promiscuous: having sexual relations with a lot of differentpeople

grimace: pained facialexpression

indignant: angry at somethingunjust

hypnopedia: teaching during sleep [hypno (sleep) + ped(child)]

ectogenesis: development outside the body, as of an embryo in an artificialenvironment

copulate: engage in sexualintercourse

  1. BackgroundInfo:

Trotsky: Leon Trotsky (1879-1940) was a Russian revolutionary and communist theorist. Hewasousted byStalin.

Marx: Karl Marx (1818-1883) was the founder of modern communism. He wrote theCommunistManifesto along with FriedrichEngels.

In the novel, Bernard Marx is named afterMarx.

Malthusian: Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834) was an economist who wrote “Essay onthePrinciple of Population.” In this essay, he discusses the catastrophe that will happen ifhumanpopulation outgrows the earth’s resources. He argues that population increase will eventuallybringwars and decrease pay for labor. He also argues that people will have to work harder togetresources. Essentially, Malthus proposed that there is a threshold to populations. Ifearth’spopulation goes beyond this threshold, then people will experiencecatastrophes.

The Malthusian Belt in the novel is a belt that provides constant birth control so thatthewomen in society don’t get pregnant. Population is controlled by the Controllers for thesakeofstability.

  1. Chapter3 Questions

1.Huxley has some fun with names. Note for example, the allusions ofPollyTrotsky, Bernard Marx, and Lenina; however, the World Controller'sname, MustaphaMoncl,hasnoreferencetoarealperson.Whatdoesthatnamesuggestto you?

2.What is meant by the paragraph following "History is bunk"? (Page34).

3.What about the population did Huxley getwrong?

4.How are the lectures, the conversations, and the activities related to eachother?

HINT:

Mond is speaking on:

Fanny and Lenina are discussing/arguing about:

Henry and the Asst. Predestinator are discussing:

Bernard is thinking about:

Commonality?

Name ______Block ___

5.Huxley seems to be using the dialogues of Lenina, Fanny, Bernard, and Henrytocomment on the lecture or commentary of Mond. What contradictions doyou see between what Mond says and what the others areexpressing?

6.Find one example in this society that you find disturbing. Explain the reasonsthis idea disturbsyou.

7.What were you able to understand about the drug "soma," and what isyouropinion of thisdrug?

8.In your opinion, why do people in this new world needsoma?

9.As the chapter progresses, what do you notice about the shifting of scenesandspeakers?

Theshiftsfromonevoicetothenextgetfaster.Thereaderhearsthesamevoiceforlessandlesstimebeforethereisa shift.

10.How do the Controllers of the new world define happiness? State why youagree

or disagree with the controllers' definitions.

Name ______Block ___

11.What appeals to you about the newworld? Explain.

12.Why does so much effort go into conditioning people to be consumers?Whataspect of his own society is Huxleysatirizing?

Why conditioned:

Satirical aspect: