ENGL 103 A08: Disaster and Survival: Contemporary Dystopia Through Different Media

D. Fuller

In this course we will learn and develop research skills, critical thinking and academic writing skills. Our material (or case study) will be contemporary examples of disaster and survival stories in different media, namely two (Canadian) novels and a film. Warning: one of these novels (Station 11) deals with the aftermath of a flu pandemic. These examples of contemporary dystopian stories will give us plenty of scope for thinking about how best to critique different types of texts, and how to approach different media with appropriate analytical techniques. They also raise urgent and topical questions about how we treat the environment, how we value and use the arts and science, and what it means to be human in the twenty-first century.

Primary texts:
Emily St John Mandel Station 11 (2014) [novel]
The Hunger Games. Dir. Gary Ross (2012) [film]
Cherie Dimaline The Marrow Thieves (2017) [novel]