Project Proposal
How I Got Here
My final project is to write a 2000 words short dystopian story. I was inspired by my own experiences of studies in a competitive circumstance in China. There are two dystopian fictions that inspired me as well, which are “1984” by George Orwell, and “The Hunger Game”.
The dystopian elements can be seen in many different ways, which are, surveillance, brainwashing, non-exist future and the lack of human feelings and emotions expressed. I used those elements in my own short story. The story happens in an enclosed school named “Taoyuan Highschool”. Because of the limited educational sources of this country, everyone has to study really hard to get a spot for the best university, in order to have a good life for the rest of their life. And that is what makes the whole story dystopian: First of all, is the surveillance. In “1984” surveillance is everywhere. Thus “Big Brother is watching you” is one of the most famous quotes in this novel. In the school of my short story, I make the circumstance similar to 1984. The camera is everywhere in the school. Every classroom has 4 cameras in the corner, and every corridor, cafeteria, school yard, professor’s offices are all covered by the cameras. Students are encouraged to report one and another because of the high pressure and competitive circumstance. In terms of the brainwashing elements, students were told that if you don’t study hard, you can never get rid of poverty, and you can never help your parents, or even your children in the future get rid of that situation. Third of all, the non-exist future is the only motivation for the students. And how can you believe in something so surely when it doesn’t exist? For many students, the idea of good grades=good life has been deeply planted in their mind. Lastly, is the lack of human interpersonal relationships. To test every student and always keep them in a high pressure environment, the president of Taoyuan decided to do a monthly exam, and rank the students by numbers from every exam. There’s also a giant countdown clock in the school yard, where everyone can see the day they have left to prepare the secondary examinations.
The story is from a first person point of view, to describe the life of Jungwon, which refers to “I” in the short story, in Taoyuan. And the life after he knew the number 1 student, Jay.
5:30, I was still calculating the dates in my head as I got off the bed. It was probably late October,or early November, and it had been five, or six days since the last time I recorded the time. Obviously, I am losing track of time. I can only remember the dates when it’s necessary, otherwise I won’t have enough space for those knowledge in my head. But the good thing is that there is a giant electronic time clock hanging in the most prominent place in the school yard, directly across from the school yard, directly across from the course building. I would rarely look up and see, in fact since the electronic time clock is so conspicuous that I have to deliberately avoid seeing the numbers jumping on it every second.
The numbers on the electronic clock were not the date, nor the time of any place, but a countdown.
660 days 2 hours 43 seconds…
660 days 2 hours 42 seconds…
660 days 2 hours 41 seconds…
So with 660 days left to go…It was the 70th day I’ve been in that place.
Setting
Artist Statement
Inspiration and Motivation
The reason I choose this topic as my final project is mainly about my brother who is studying in China, and his schedule is full even during the weekend and summer holiday. I used to study in that circumstance, but not as bad as what I described in my short story. The monthly exam and the ranking is a part of my school life. I realized that I don’t see myself as valuable when I don’t reach my goal. After I left the education system and came to Canada, I still put a lot of attention on my grades but forgot the actual happiness that knowledge brings me.
I took dystopian fiction this semester, and in my understanding, the existence of dystopian fiction is a warning for the entire human society of not becoming a world like that. The elements and some certain situations actually do exist in our society nowadays and we should be aware of those. Many people in dystopian fiction aren't aware of the toxicity of their society, and it’s sad because they would never be absolutely free. The idea of “die for loving Big Brother” in 1984 is very disturbing. The idea of your life is not yours and you don’t control your own life is the result of accepting reality.
Timetable
Monday-Friday
5:30 Wake up
5:45am morning exercise and jogging together
6:00-6:30 Morning reading + watching encourage speech
6:30-7:10 Breakfast
7:10-7:35 get ready for the class
7:45-8:25 First period
8:35-9:15 Second period
9:25-10:05 3rd period
10:05-10:30 break- doing exercise
10:30-11:10 4th period
11:20-12:00 5th period
12:00-12:45 lunch
12:45-13:45 Nap
14：05-14:45 6th period
14:55-15:35 7th period
15:35-15:55 eyes exercise
15:55-16:35 8th period
16:45-17:25 9th period
17:35-18:15 10th period
18:15-18:50 Dinner
18:50-19:10 Watching news
19:15-20:00 Self-study 1
20:15-21:00 Self-study 2
22：00 Sleep
Work in Process
Characters
Jongwon Yang, refers to “I” in the story since it’s from a first person point of view. The first time I thought of this character, I thought of my brother. He is very kind, and he doesn’t like to get into any trouble or conflict. He would rather stay quiet and do his own work than keep comparing himself to the others. He is calm, always peaceful, and always shares love with others.
Jay, he is the number 1 student in Taoyuan, and has been for 3 years. Everyone gets a different rank and number after every monthly exam except him. He loves to communicate with Jongwon, but Jongwon is the only one he is willing to communicate with in the whole school. He can be seen as someone who designed for the exam. Jay is deeply lonely, even though everyone thinks he would be someone in the future, but the ending is sad. Jay is very knowledgeable, but the more you know, the more you think you don’t know. Jay realized that he hates Taoyuan and the whole educational system, but he is also afraid of getting out of Taoyuan and facing the real society.
Plot
The Plot is the shortcut and one of the moments in both of their lives. It’s basically about how they met, and how they are helping each other in school, and how their life goes in a different direction as they graduated from Taoyuan.
Historical Events
The Taoyuan educational system is real, and the real school name is called Hengshui. Many students are still suffering from the educational system nowadays in many countries of Asia. Examination is cural, but it’s more cural to make every decision for teenagers. This educational model has evolved from the militarization of management. In the early years of China, it became famous for its 90% acceptance rate to prestigious schools, and since then many schools have started to follow the Hengshui model. The involvement of the school board and capitalism has caused the city where Hengshui High School is located to fall into the phenomenon of uneven and inequitable educational resources. Sadly, prestigious universities do not give more places to students from Hengshui because they work harder and smarter than students from other schools and districts. So most students just work harder and harder in a futile and desperate attempt to learn.
Scene
Morning Jogging
The bell rang.
The square-shaped line started to move from class 1, and the sound of 3000 people’s neat footsteps eventually sounded like thunder in the playground.
There are 3 secondaries in our school, each grade has 10 homerooms with 100 students. Every student has a number, which represents the overall ranking of our academic performance grade. And my current number, 527, is the result of the monthly exam 30 days ago.
“Unite! Strive hard ! Surpass yourself! For your future!”
“Unite! Strive hard ! Surpass yourself! For your future!”
“Unite! Strive hard ! Surpass yourself! For your future!”
The sound of voices and footsteps resounded throughout the silent campus in just e minutes.
The distance between each of us was so close I nervously looked at the people running in front of and behind me and tried to keep up with them. But the thing I feared most happened.
"I had no intention of asking for a clear answer from him; in fact, we knew better than anyone. We floated in confusion, but all headed in the same direction, and that was only because we were told that there would be light at the end of the road. I don't know if the light exists, and I don't know if the road has an end. Because we are just a speck of dust in the universe. A million pieces of dust fall to the ground and form a thick layer of dirt, and when the wind blows, it scatters again."