Hello, travelers! Welcome to my class, Societies in Ruin.
Throughout the course of this class, we'll be taking a look into some of the more popular dystopian novels that have been published in the last few years, specifically The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, and Divergent. We're only going to be covering the first novel in each series, but this class serves as a sort of enticement to read all the books in the series. They're all great novels, and I highly suggest reading them. We'll also be covering the films that were made in respect to each series; though, given how much I tend to ramble on about each one, we probably won't go quite as in depth to the films as we will the novels.
All that being said, this is the new thread where you can all introduce yourselves for the first assignment.
An Introduction to the Class -- Archived
Moderator: Elena Galatas
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Elena Galatas
- Moontrimmer
- Posts: 233
- Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2009 11:52 am
- Location: Tennessee
- Contact:
An Introduction to the Class -- Archived
Elena Galatas // Seventh Year // Ravenclaw // Dr. Who Enthusiast // Oncer/Captain Swan Fanatic
Comic Book Geek // Perpetually in love/obsession with Chris Evans and Colin O'Donoghue]
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Caius Magnusson
- No broom
- Posts: 69
- Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2022 2:29 pm
Hello, everyone! I am Caius Magnusson, a first-year student who is strongly passionate about the best and worst in humanity. It's no surprise that dystopias, therefore, rank quite highly in my list of interests!
I personally believe there's truth in what's ugly, and that this truth makes us more cognisant of who we might be, as well as what traits we should avoid. Pretty words and empty platitudes are often facades that people put forward to beguile others, but there are few reasons to doubt that a person's or system's cruelty, sadness or intransigence is the real deal.
I might be a bit cynical at times, given that I work and research Criminal Law. However, that cynicism does not need to be negative: one may see humanity as inherently flawed, and still fight for what they regard to be best in this world. I believe that dystopias, likewise, serve the exact same purpose: they give us the tools to clearly see a caricature of the worst in contemporary humanity, as well as the tools which we may use in our fight to create a better day. Far from a perfect solution or a battle with an end, most dystopias end on bittersweet notes that resemble the tradeoffs of our real world: we might have enacted change, but at what cost for the future? Are we willing to take the risks of being innovators - or worse, the risks of becoming the monsters that we once fought against?
These lingering questions reside not only at the end of dystopian books, but in the doors between our real life's present and future - and as such, they remain as constant reminders for us to fight for change without losing track of what's important. I hope to learn much from this course, as well as discuss many ideas with everyone else who's taking this class!
I personally believe there's truth in what's ugly, and that this truth makes us more cognisant of who we might be, as well as what traits we should avoid. Pretty words and empty platitudes are often facades that people put forward to beguile others, but there are few reasons to doubt that a person's or system's cruelty, sadness or intransigence is the real deal.
I might be a bit cynical at times, given that I work and research Criminal Law. However, that cynicism does not need to be negative: one may see humanity as inherently flawed, and still fight for what they regard to be best in this world. I believe that dystopias, likewise, serve the exact same purpose: they give us the tools to clearly see a caricature of the worst in contemporary humanity, as well as the tools which we may use in our fight to create a better day. Far from a perfect solution or a battle with an end, most dystopias end on bittersweet notes that resemble the tradeoffs of our real world: we might have enacted change, but at what cost for the future? Are we willing to take the risks of being innovators - or worse, the risks of becoming the monsters that we once fought against?
These lingering questions reside not only at the end of dystopian books, but in the doors between our real life's present and future - and as such, they remain as constant reminders for us to fight for change without losing track of what's important. I hope to learn much from this course, as well as discuss many ideas with everyone else who's taking this class!
