Scythe

Use these links to supplement and complement students’ reading of the work and to increase their overall enjoyment of literature. Challenge them to discern parallel themes, engage through visual and aural stimuli, and delve deeper into the thematic possibilities presented by the title.

Recommended Texts for Pairing

“Do not go gentle into that good night” by Dylan Thomas

• a villanelle poem by the Welsh poet written as his aging father was approaching death
• Compare and contrast the thematic motif of Morality and Stagnation in this work and Scythe. 
• an audio recording of the poet reading his work  (there are more contemporary readings also available on YouTube)
• “Do not go gentle into that good night” on SuperSummary

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson 

• a classic dystopian short story from 1948 that explores a small town in which one person must be sacrificed each year
• Compare and (especially) contrast the thematic motif of the Necessity of Sacrifice and The Value of Compassion in this work and Scythe. 
• “The Lottery” on SuperSummary

Thunderhead and The Toll by Neal Shusterman

• the dystopian sequels to Scythe in which the battle for the future of the Scythedom continues
• These novels continue to explore the thematic motifs of Morality and Stagnation, The Necessity of Sacrifice, The Value of Compassion, and Human Fallibility and Weakness.