New
New
Year 7
Understanding dystopias
I can understand and identify features of a dystopian setting.
New
New
Year 7
Understanding dystopias
I can understand and identify features of a dystopian setting.
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- A dystopia is a fictional, futuristic society in which there is great suffering and injustice
- The setting is the time and place in which a story takes place
- The opposite of a dystopia is a utopia, which is an imagined place where everything is fair and perfect
- Dystopian settings are often used to make a point about our current society
Keywords
Futuristic - a futuristic place is in the future with advanced technology
Society - a society is a big group of people living together
Suffering - if you suffer, you experience extreme pain
Injustice - there is injustice when things are not fair
Convention - a rule within a genre
Common misconception
Pupils may mistake dystopia and utopia as the words are similar
Explicitly explain the difference between the two and explain that they are antonyms
You may want to use another dystopian story that pupils will be aware of instead of The Hunger Games or Noughts and Crosses.
Teacher tip
Licence
This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on
Open Government Licence version 3.0
except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).Lesson video
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Starter quiz
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6 Questions
Q1.
What is a noun?
A describing word.
An action word.
A punctuation type.
A word that describes a verb.
Q2.
What is a verb?
A word to describe a noun.
A word that tells us where something is.
A word to describe how someone does something.
Q3.
What is a simile?
Saying something is something else.
Using the same sound at the beginning of two consecutive words.
When a word resembles the sound it makes.
Giving human characteristics to an inanimate object.
Q4.
What is a simple sentence?
A sentence with a conjunction.
A sentence with ambitious punctuation.
A sentence with an independent and subordinate clause.
A sentence with only a verb.
Q5.
Which literary technique is this? Directly comparing an object to another thing.
Onomatopoeia
Alliteration
Pathetic fallacy
Adverbial phrase
Q6.
What is the purpose of an adverbial phrase?
To describe a noun.
To compare two things.
To make a sentence longer.
To make a sentence shorter.
Exit quiz
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6 Questions
Q1.
What is setting?
A genre of text.
The time period that a story takes place.
Q2.
Which word means 'a bad and difficult place'?
Q3.
What is the opposite of dystopia?
Q4.
Choose the main characteristics of dystopia.
Freedom
Peace
Nature
Q5.
Pick parts of our society that writers may want to show in their dystopian novels.
Beauty of nature
Inspirational people
Equality
Q6.
Which sentences depict utopia vs. dystopia?
Dystopia
Dystopia
Utopia
Dystopia
Utopia
Dystopia