Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What does the word “utopia” mean, and how is it related to literature?

Teaching Suggestion: The main story of The Twenty-One Balloons takes place in a utopian society. Because students may be more familiar with the idea of dystopia than with the long tradition of utopian literature, they might begin by describing dystopian stories and then speculate about the characteristics of dystopia’s opposite or contrast the two. This prompt is designed to ensure that all students have the necessary background knowledge to appreciate how the novel fits into this tradition. The resources below may be helpful in providing background on utopian literature from which select pieces of information might be shared with students, depending on readership level and goals of the unit.

• This 3-minute video from BBC Ideas explores the history of utopianism. (Teacher-appropriate; not student-facing without teacher guidance due to maturity of content and images)
• This article defines and gives examples of different types of utopian fiction. (Teacher-appropriate; not student-facing without teacher guidance due to maturity of content and examples)

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