ENGL 300 - Rowse - Spring 2022: Home

English 300

Final Paper

Due: Last day of class (before final

Our world is a bit strange and even a little terrifying right now in a number of different ways. Dystopian novels have long been popular reading, and that popularity seems only to be increasing A quick internet search will reveal dozens of lists of “the best” dystopian novels for young adult and adult readers.

For this project, you will select one novel from the list in the link below. You will then read the book; do research on that book according to the categories in the paragraph below; assemble the information you find into a paper that demonstrates the importance of this genre and its continued popularity.

Areas of research that must be completed and integrated into your paper follow: 1.) information about the author; 2.) reception history of the book; 3.) literary critical commentaries on the book (formalist, psychological, Marxist, feminist, New Historicist, multicultural, colonial or post-colonial) – you must find an article from at least 3 areas and may not use more than 5; 4.) adaptations of the book into movies, tv shoes, or other forms of media.

Your paper should present the information you find. You may do it in subsections. The final section of your paper should discuss what you learned. The whole project should be 5-6 pages, and at least two of those pages should explain what you learned/took away from the assignment.

This paper must be accurately cited in MLA style; failing to do so will result in a failing grade. Please review MLA citations.

Abebooks.com, an online marketplace made up of independent booksellers from around the world, compiled this list of the 60 best dystopian novels. There are many other lists out there. I selected this one because there are a large number of books of many different types and eras. The website is https://www.abebooks.com/books/best-dystopia-books/index.shtml .