Dystopian Fiction creative writing worksheets

This is a pack full of activities: close reading, reading of critical essays, creative writing etc.

We begin by considering what dystopian fiction is, then move on to analysing the opening of ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’. There are some questions based on this opening as well as an extract from David Lodge’s The Art of Fiction - which is a fantastic analysis of Orwell’s opening. We end by looking at observation and surveillance in the novel.

Next is a look at Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451: we analyse book covers, look at the historical context and then do a deep dive analysis into the fantastic opening. We also look at why reading is important (could do some good persuasive transactional writing practice with this material). Finally, we look at the depiction of the mechanical hounds in great detail and, as well as supported analysis prompts, there is a linked creative writing task with ideas for structure and content.

Moving on, we look at clips from Bladerunner - the trailer, the opening and the famous scene ‘tears in the rain’, and the scene where the android realises that she is not human. It’s really engaging and pupils love it. Links to the Youtube clips are included.

Finally, there is a copy of the fantastic short story ‘The Machine Stops’ by E. M. Forster - great fun for a relaxed reading lesson.

There is lots here for every level of student: engaging visual tasks (book cover analysis, video clip analysis), and more academic theoretical tasks (reading David Lodge, considering the theory of the Panopticon etc.).