Assignment: Museum Reflection Paper
General Guidelines: write a 350-500 word Reflection paper on your museum visit. In the paper, you should address how specific exhibits at the museum are connected to our course material, exploring how they illuminate some of our dystopian themes, concerns about advancements in science, technology, and mass media, as well as anxieties rooted within particular time periods.
History and Dystopian Narratives: In the TEDed video, "How to Recognize a Dystopia," Alex Gendler explains how authors of Dystopian narratives "imagine a world where certain trends in contemporary societies are taken to extremes, exposing their underlying flaws." Gendler goes on to describe how various innovations-of the 19th- 21stCenturies-in technology, science and medicine, and mass media, along with socio-political movements have given artists plenty of material on which to base their allegories, arguing that "best-known dystopias were not imaginary at all."
With this in mind, your task is to investigate the ways in which Washington's history - as presented at the museum-can be connected to our various narratives. To do this, while visiting the museum, pay particular attention to the exhibits of the 19th-21stCenturies (mid-1800s- today), jotting down themes, events, issues, ideas, and so on, which have appeared in our narratives. Keep in mind that all of our dystopian authors - to some extent or another - explore how easily democracy can slide into fascism or some sort of authoritarian control (which can take the form of corporate, technological, religious, etc.), so you'll want to take note if this concept appears anywhere in the exhibits.
The response should include a reference list. Double-space, using Times New Roman 12 pnt font, one-inch margins, and APA style of writing and citations.