The whole zombie trend started in my last year or so of high school. Personally, I've never understood the appeal. Why would people be attracted to the idea of slow-moving dead people wanting to eat brains? For some I think they like it just because it's a trend. After reading World War Z however, I now can see the themes behind the gruesome vision that makes the "zombie apocalypse" idea so interesting. Brooks has many themes that translate to real world issues in this novel. He also conveys a lot of his opinions about the government through how the government reacts to the outbreak of the infection in the book.
It is obvious that Brooks believes the only way the US solves problems is with the military. Whenever the US verbalizes a solution to the outbreak, it always has to do with the military attacking another area. They have heavy artillery to accommodate for the fear of the unknown. For example the US has "lobos" that are designed specifically for close-up head shots. Instead of working on alternative methods of dealing with the outbreak, the US continues to spend money and time on the military. This is not far off from how many people think the US currently spends money.
There are so many different angles this book could be taught through for this class. Although I find the political aspect appealing, I would like to do a lesson on the survivalism theme in the novel. There is a quiz online that tells you how long you would survive in the zombie apocalypse. I would have students take that quiz and then have them write a reflection about the questions and how the do/do not agree with aspects in the novel. I also would ask them to write an argument about whether or not they agree with the amount of time they were given to survive.
Link to the quiz:
http://gamquistu.com/quizzes/zombie_apocalypse
I like the survival quiz idea, it sounds like a good discussion topic. I also agree with the teaching of the book through its political mediums. How and why governemtns responded to the zombie wave the way they did. But I disagree with the view on the military in the book. Most of the stories described the powerlessness that the militaries of the world experienced at the hand of the zombies and how the military had to regress to it's most basic armaments both for practicality and because of the cost that the more technological tools would cost or the "bang for their buck" that they exhibited.
ReplyDeleteI also like the quiz idea. it sounds like it would be a very good topic for discussion. i also agree with the military views of this book.
ReplyDeleteI love the quiz. It would be a really fun activity for students to partake in.I took it and would survive 361 days, not too bad! Brooks' other novel (The Survival Guide) would also be a great way to supplement the reading of World War Z. I think they are meant to be used together, and would provide some great background and additional information for readers.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the blog posts this semester!
-Allison