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Analyzing Prose 8 Points (passage from Brave New World)

Mode of Discourse
1. This selection is a brief narrative from a work of fiction. The entire novel describes a
fictional society, set in the future, which differs significantly from the society of the real
world today.
2. Points in the selection are developed in many ways, most notably by definitions. For
example, Bokanovskys Process is a term invented by the author but well known to the
characters in the novel. The term is defined in the narration that follows its first
appearance.
Title
1. The title Brave New World tells the reader that the story describes an entire world that is
different from the world the reader is in. However, because the world is described as new,
it is evident that the novel is placed in the future and that the world described is, in fact,
the world of the reader just one projected several years into the future.
2. The title suggests that the passage will involve a description of some of the changes that
make this world new. At the same time, the word brave is used in the title to describe the
people of the new world who are forced to endure many hardships (most of which are
hidden or controlled by the World State) with courage.
Subject
1. The subject of this passage is biology. Specifically, the passage focuses on the
fertilization process of the society described in the novel. To explain this idea, the author
depicts one character describing the process for several younger characters (students).
2. The passage is about a group of students who are learning about how humans are created
by viewing and learning from a person in the field the actual process of human
fertilization. Far from the practices of todays society, this process is thought of as the
norm in the society described by the novel, and it is interesting how the reader learns with
the students about these practices.
Setting
1. The action in the selection takes place in the year A.F. 632, which expressed in a system
of numbering years invented by the author and utilized by the society described in the
novel. A.F. 632 equates to A.D. 2540. The selection takes place in the Central London
Hatchery and Conditioning Centre, specifically in the Fertilizing Room.
2. The author explicitly states where the selection takes place in the first few lines by
describing a sign outside the building where the action takes place. A few lines down,
one character who is giving several other characters a tour of the facility mentions the
specific room where the action takes place. The year is mentioned about halfway through
the passage, and is not explained but rather skimmed over by the humor and sarcasm of
the narrator.
3. The place is described as being cold for all the summer beyond the panes, so an initial
feeling of despair and depression is created. However, the time is later described as a
year of stability, which creates an initial impression that, though false, suggests a
positive situation.

4. The setting is a symbol of the society described in that time as a whole. The time is
described as stable but the location is described as cold and lifelike. Though the novels
society appears to be stable and all people appear to be happy outwardly, all of society
might as well be frozen or dead because no individual in the society is free to be an
individual.
5. This particular setting the Fertilizing Room in the Central London Hatchery and
Conditioning Centre does not play a role in the central conflict. It is used in this
opening passage solely to introduce the reader to some of the ways the society described
in the novel is different from the society of the real world.
Point of View
1. This passage is told from the third person point of view. The narrator of the story is not
also a character in the story.
2. The narrator is limited in some regard. He does not know absolutely everything; he is
unable to recall the exact age of the Director, for example. However, the narrator is able
to describe in great detail the setting and the fertilization processes portrayed in the novel
3. This point of view helps the reader understand how the society described in the novel has
changed the importance of so many things. Age or human individuality is thought of as
insignificant in this new world, but scientific advancement and laboratorial creation of
humans are given top priority. These beliefs are evident in the narrators ability to recall
such processes.
Literary Devices and Figures of Speech
1. There were many examples of euphony in the passage. I found many instances where the
authors mastery of the language creates a pleasing succession of words. In lines 8-10,
light is described as hungrily seeking some draped lay figure, some pallid shape of
academic goose-flesh, but finding only the glass and nickel and bleakly shining porcelain
of a laboratory. I find this description so perfectly vivid and articulate. There were
many other instances of euphony, but I only found one use of alliteration. Perhaps it is a
coincidence, but in lines 10-11 the letter w at the start of words is overused. This could
emphasize the secret wanting of the workers in this laboratory to leave their mundane
jobs and have lives free from society. Wintriness responded to wintriness. The overalls
of the workers were white (lines 10-11).
2. Hyperbole is not used in the selection, but there are several examples of other kinds of
figurative language. The selection contains several statements that claim to describe
universally-known truths that are not so in society. One example of these can be found in
lines 32-33: Generalities are intellectually necessary evils. Use of metaphorical
personification is used only briefly in the beginning of the passage, where the setting is
described. In line 12, for example, light is described as being frozen, dead, a ghost.
These are characteristics that are not generally used to describe light, but could rather
describe a dead human or animal.
3. The entire novel is a gold mine of symbolism. This passage is representative of that. Just
one example of this symbolism is the action of the students. They write, word for word,
what the Director says while he gives them a tour of the building. This represents the loss
of freedom for all humans in the society described by the novel. Just as the students do

not feel compelled to come up with their own ideas or words, all of society is restricted
from expressing any form of creativity or expression.
Theme or Thesis
1. One of the themes of this selection is the negative side of change. Though the changes
made in this society appear to be positive and cause indefinite stability, they are actually
very negative. Humans are created in a laboratory instead of being naturally reproduced
as they should be. An entire process of creating 96 lives from one egg is designed and
explained in this passage, and the characters in the passage are proud of this
accomplishment. Any person reading this passage should fear change because of this
alone, because such changes are terrible and detrimental to human freedom.
2. The theme is conveyed in the descriptions of the changes to the human creation and
fertilizing process, and in the attitudes of the students who are completely unphased by
the description and viewing of such processes.
Style
1. There are many denotive words in the passage which give specific definitions. For
example, in lines 78-85 a process is mentioned, identified, and then defined. At the same
time, there are many instances of connotative language in the passage. Though it is not
explicitly stated, the Fertilizing Room is hinted at being a terrible place for humans to be
created or for any kind of truly happy or loving emotion to take place. This is implied in
the description of the room in lines 5-15. A great deal of abstract scientific terminology is
used to describe the fertilization process, described in lines 55-78, including viscosity and
spermatozoa. Inclusive words are used in the final lines of the passage, where it is
described how ninety-six human beings grow where only one grew before.
2. The tone is scientific an impersonal. Instead of being friendly or telling a story where the
reader would want to be attached or related to any specific characters, the passage
explains a scientific process and coldly introduces the reader into the freedom-less
society of the novel.
3. Structure varies from several long, drawn-out sentences to short phrases. For example,
after a long explanation of Bokanovskys Process, the author concludes with a one-word
sentence: Progess.
4. In the passage, the reader is first introduced to the place the selection takes place and a
description of that place, then the reader learns about some of the societys practices with
a group of students to whom these practices are being described. The author has used
mostly narration to tell the story, with only brief bits of dialogue spoken solely by the
Director.

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