The back cover of The Giver reads as follows: “Jonas’s world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear or pain. . .” While The Community that Lois Lowry created in the novel is obviously fictitious, there have been attempts to create Utopian societies in the past, and some even exist today. How does The Community in the novel compare to other Utopian societies? How do those communities compare to ours?
Your Task: Research some of those Utopian societies and create a 3-Circle Venn diagram in which you compare and contrast one of them to Jonas’s community and to your own world.
Use the Venn diagram template: http://interactives.mped.org/view_interactive.aspx?id=28&title (Select the laser printer to print when you finish.)
Here are some websites to get you started:
Definition of Utopia (Wikipedia): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia
“Utopias in America”: http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/amana/utopia.htm
The Acorn Community of Virginia: http://www.ic.org/acorn/
The Farm in Tennessee: http://www.thefarm.org/index.html
Twin Oaks Community in Virginia: http://www.twinoaks.org/
Victory City – A City Under One Roof: http://www.victorycities.com/
“Four Utopian Societies That Bombed Miserably”:http://www.neatorama.com/2007/08/17/4-utopian-communities-that-bombed-miserably/