Brave New World help...

It's too bad you can't write a comparitive between this and 1984. I did that. One of the better papers I wrote in my day.

Perhaps John as a Shakespearian character? Analysis of why he fits in neither world available to him? Something about his ability to incisively speak on the human condition yet find himself outside of it, and how this is a reflection of modern man's own interaction with the world around him?

I onno. Maybe those topics don't really fit. It's been awhile since I read the book. Good luck.

What do you think the book is saying? What's the point? Start there. It's a great book, I'm sure it made you think of something or realize what the author was trying to reveal to you about life, society, or humanity. You have to decide what you saw that was interesting in it. There are many options to consider: representations of class, discrimination, dystopia, etc.
Your description of the assignment is vague but if you have to develop an original thesis and defend it, start with an argument/idea you feel strongly about (from your interpretation of the book), condense it into a single statement, then come up with three or four support arguments you think would defend it.

What about drawing comparisions between our current world and A Brave New World?

A random train of thought, worth what you paid for it:

Brave New World is widely known as a dystopia---one of the great modern dystopias, in fact. So, what defines a dystopia anyway? When you get right down to it, a lot of fictional worlds are dark, especially in science fiction and fantasy. After all, it's a good way to put your character through the wringer. Tolkien, f'rinstance, has a world with an immortal Big Bad, where even limited power can and does corrupt absolutely, and a world which is slowly losing its noblest and most beautiful elements. And no-one ever calls Lord of the Rings a dystopia. Why?

My take is that a dystopia is not only tragic, it's a world where heroism isn't really possible. An ordinary dark setting makes its protagonist's struggles more dramatic and the heroism more impressive, but a dystopia is about struggling to achieve mediocre---and being crushed for it.

Feel free to poke holes in this, as I just came up with it on the spur of the moment. (And besides, the more ideas we throw out, the more likely Joe is to get past his block. Maybe.)

Izunya

Have you read it?

caw

Maybe its because I'm from the Motor City, but I was always interested in the connection between Henry Ford and BNW. Its been about thirty years since I read the book, but I believe that the Alphas built a religion around an old Ford that they worshipped, didn't they? And didn't the assembly line come into play quite frequently?

90 % of the essays the prof gets are going to be compare-and-contrast essays.

It will be a pleasant surprise to see actual close analysis of a few passages, particularly if you tie that analysis to a thesis statement and use the observations you make to create an argument that supports that thesis.

Less than half the papers will have anything like a thesis statement, so you're a leg up already if you have a point to make and you express that point in the form of a thesis statement.

Its been 10 years since I read it but some themes that come to mind:

Genetic engineering
Forced Social roles (use of "simple" people for basic tasks)
Class structure
Drug use (Soma Holidays)
Happiness at someone's expense
Child sexuality

Medievalist said:

90 % of the essays the prof gets are going to be compare-and-contrast essays.

It will be a pleasant surprise to see actual close analysis of a few passages, particularly if you tie that analysis to a thesis statement and use the observations you make to create an argument that supports that thesis.

Less than half the papers will have anything like a thesis statement, so you're a leg up already if you have a point to make and you express that point in the form of a thesis statement.

Click to expand...

Lol. Hey, you weren't reading my student's papers this semester, were you?

if you really want to be noticed, then, very, very carefully, discuss the two sides of the eugenics argument without the human reactions to the vileness of the idea - you could, of course, look at the use of third world labour for cheap western consumer goods - we have created a brave new world (quote the source of the title - the painting by Nash from WW1) through market forces, not eugenics or genetics, but the end result is the same.

If I were told to write a paper on Brave New World, I would concentrate on the attitudes towards sexuality and romantic love (lack there of) expressed in it. Contrasting those against our current society and exploring the possible psychology behind the attitudes in Brave New World could certainly fill up seven pages.

Drugs should be legalized, because alcohol is much worse. Savages use it and too much added to an Alpha in the vat will make them inferior. Drugs make you happy.

or

Brave New World, neither Brave, nor that New, nor a world. Discuss.

or

Brave New World is a wish-fulfillment fantasy where geeky sci-fi authors can imagine themselves engaged in drug-fueled free-love fests. See also Stranger in a Strange Land, et al. See also, protagonist as author proxy.

No? How about just an analysis of the prose style and why it does/does not work to enhance the story. That would keep you entirely internal.