A Rhetorical Analysis on Dystopian Literature Post-Trump Election: How People Are Turning to Fiction to Understand Real Events and Why It Matters That We Listen
Document Type
Panel Presentation
Keywords
Politics, Dystopian, Classics
Biography
Sabrina Dennis is a senior majoring in English secondary education and resides here in Huntington, WV. After graduating in the spring, she plans to move to Richmond, Virginia in hopes of becoming a teacher and making a difference in the communities that need it most.
Major
Secondary Education English
Advisor for this project
Dr. Robert Ellison
Abstract
This paper was inspired by the popular dystopian novel 1984 written by George Orwell and the eerily similar events following the 2016 presidential election. To begin, I will briefly discuss dystopian characteristics and statistics, followed by a short synopsis of George Orwell’s 1984 and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.
Both novels reflect real and terrifying conditions of the times in which they were written. Now, people feel this unnerving reality once again post-Trump election. By applying New Historicism to the two novels, this can show how the times in which the two texts were written, reflect real incidents the authors’ experienced during their own time. Although written in completely different decades well before our time, the two texts display evident parallels between events found in both texts to today’s recent or current events.
Numerous people have made these same parallels themselves and are concerned that we may be rushing towards our own dystopian future. This notion became more evident after President Trump was elected into office. Following the election, people have experienced political trauma in the Trump era and feel that the effects have a direct relationship to the dystopian-like experiences implemented by the president. To conclude, I will discuss why it matters that we listen to what dystopian literature asserts in order to avoid experiencing our own dystopian future.
A Rhetorical Analysis on Dystopian Literature Post-Trump Election: How People Are Turning to Fiction to Understand Real Events and Why It Matters That We Listen
This paper was inspired by the popular dystopian novel 1984 written by George Orwell and the eerily similar events following the 2016 presidential election. To begin, I will briefly discuss dystopian characteristics and statistics, followed by a short synopsis of George Orwell’s 1984 and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.
Both novels reflect real and terrifying conditions of the times in which they were written. Now, people feel this unnerving reality once again post-Trump election. By applying New Historicism to the two novels, this can show how the times in which the two texts were written, reflect real incidents the authors’ experienced during their own time. Although written in completely different decades well before our time, the two texts display evident parallels between events found in both texts to today’s recent or current events.
Numerous people have made these same parallels themselves and are concerned that we may be rushing towards our own dystopian future. This notion became more evident after President Trump was elected into office. Following the election, people have experienced political trauma in the Trump era and feel that the effects have a direct relationship to the dystopian-like experiences implemented by the president. To conclude, I will discuss why it matters that we listen to what dystopian literature asserts in order to avoid experiencing our own dystopian future.
