Opinions of Essay Title and Thesis

[ohlhauc1]

Hey everyone! I have to write an essay comparing the novels, The Chrysalids and Anthem for my English class. Below are my title and thesis:

Title: Wyndham’s Waknuk and Rand’s Collectivist World: Templates For Your Own Android Society

Thesis: Voiceless androids were the product of The Chrysalids’ Waknuk and the collectivist society in Anthem as the post-apocalyptic states experienced oppressive, parochial lifestyles prohibiting individualism.

Also, my point form ideas to make up the body of the essay are:
1. Intolerance leading to torture
2. Anti-intellectualism and advancement
3. Religion vs. Government (ideal to be met)
4. Territorial Divisions

What do you guys think of what I have, mainly my title and thesis?

C

[chmpman]

Wow, that sounds like an awesome essay. By the way, I've never heard of Wyndham, could you provide some background on the novel and author? I have Rand's Fountainhead at home but haven't read it yet (I may have to dig to find it), just because your essay premises I'll surely have to fit it into the summer, perhaps with Anthem as well. Your post leaves me feeling you may have some interesting ideas to relate to Orwell's 1984 or Huxley's Brave New World as well. (Discussions of which I think you'll find somewhere around the forum)

[ohlhauc1]

The Chrysalids is about the protagonist, David, who has telepathic abilities and is therefore able to communicate with young people through "thought shapes". The society which he lives in - Waknuk - is dictated by a strict religious doctrine where anything or anyone who does not fit the "norm" of that thing such as humans are called deviants. Thus, David is a deviant who goes unnoticed at first until his secret is revealed following several tension builders. The story then follows his journey after that, including his pursuit of a foreign world.

John Wyndham is an English author who has written stories under various names, mostly for American publications including detective novels. Some of his writings include: The Day of the Triffids, The Kraken Wakes, The Midwich Cuckoos (turned into the film, "The Village of the Damned"), The Seeds of Time, The Outward Urge, Trouble with Lichen, Consider Her Ways and Others, Chocky, and Web. All of these are Penguin books.

And yes, these books do have much in common with Orwell's 1984, Anthem the most so. They are quick reads and the purpose is the message, not necessarily the plot and character development.

I hope this is what you asked.

[chmpman]

Thank you, that is what I asked, although I wouldn't mind any personal opinion, as far as recommending or not should go.

[TodHackett]

I dig the essay idea; I think it has a lot of potential!

On your point #4:

Both works concern themselves with the communication/containment duality, on several levels. I'd be interested to examine this further. In _Crysalids_, society is oppressive largely b/c it is geared toward containment-- that is, toward building barriers that keep things (specifically the nuclear fallout and telepathic communications, and probably more examples if you look) from spreading. The society in _C_, in fact, is obsessed with walls-- with borders, margins, "fringes".

In contrast, the oppressiveness in _Anthem_ comes from a lack of barriers. In fact, initially the protagonist has no concept of self as differentiated from the Borg-esque collective; s/he has to discover the concepts of "I" and "me". On the other hand, the protagonist also experiments with electricity, which is about motion (needing a contiguous circuit to function). I dunno. Something to look into, at any rate.

There's a lot to be plumbed here, and this communication/containment duality has fixated a lot of writers recently. Probably b/c of new communications technologies, and the way they facilitate the spread of information, be it beneficial or malicious. If you're a reader and you want a work that will put both of these books in a new perspective, check out Neal Stephenson's _Snow Crash_.

Hope this helps!

[cuppajoe_9]

I can dig it, but I hope you have a long time to write this essay.

Haven't read Anthem, but I liked the Chrysalids [here be spoilers] until the last page. Deus ex machina anybody? Come to think of it, Wyndham blew the ending of Chocky too. It kind of seems like he just writes for a while and then says "Screw it, I'm done".

[genoveva]

Title: Wyndham’s Waknuk and Rand’s Collectivist World: Templates For Your Own Android Society

Thesis: Voiceless androids were the product of The Chrysalids’ Waknuk and the collectivist society in Anthem as the post-apocalyptic states experienced oppressive, parochial lifestyles prohibiting individualism.

For the title, I would suggest omitting "Your Own". Consider instead, Templates For An Android Society. When you use "your" in a title, it's like pointing a finger at someone. And, in this academic title, probably best not to do that.

As far as the thesis, try flipping the order of your sentence. For example, consider starting off, "The post-apocalyptic states...we read about in C. and in A....result in.....etc. Also, it might be good to give a short description of "Waknuk" and "the collectivist society" so that even if someone hasn't read the texts, thay can understand what those things are.

Just suggestions.