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**Introduction**
The year is 2051.

Memphis is not in good shape. The great floods of the year 2050 that swept the entire nation (scientists are still arguing about the causes of these floods--global warming?) hit Memphis hard, with the Mississippi and other rivers not just overflowing their banks but, in combination with weeks of sudden rainfall, covering most of the city in water. From downtown almost to East Memphis, streets and low lying areas became rivers and lakes. Though much of East Memphis and Germantown remained on drier ground, any area near a body of water was flooded and much of the city's infrastructure was destroyed. Buildings collapsed or were rendered useless; power stations were flooded and electricity and gas became available only sporadically.

Worse still, over the next months, a previously unknown, water-borne illness began to spread through the city. Because no cure could be found, the military quarantined Memphis, allowing no one in or out of the city. Bridges out of the city were destroyed and water patrols set up to keep the quarantine in place. Residents in less affected parts of the city blocked their neighborhoods off from highly-infected areas. Citizen turned on citizen in a struggle for sheer survival.

Now, a few months later, major portions of the city remain underwater, the city is still quarantined, and the disease has spread to a sizable portion of the population. Food is scarce and farms near the city are flooded. Clean water is worth its weight in gold. Riots are common in some part of the city.

The richest citizens have taken control of the driest parts of the city and blocked them off--neighborhoods and buildings in East Memphis and Germantown have been turned into compounds that are heavily protected. Many of the private school campuses have become insulated refuges with armed guards at the perimeter. The new government, a self-appointed council of rich and powerful individuals, has begun to classify citizens by areas of the city in order to keep them contained--once classified, no citizen is supposed to leave his or her part of the city for any reason.

The vignettes on this site are set against this dystopian backdrop.

Dystopia vignettes for G Block:

1. On this wiki, I will create a brief introduction describing the dystopian world we create in class—this dystopia will be set in Memphis in the year 2051. You are responsible for adding __another__ page to the wiki (not typing on the same page as someone else) with an original vignette set in the dystopian world.

To create a page, just go the wiki, hit “new page,” and hit “edit”—name the page with the title of your vignette and edit it as you wish.

2. Your vignette must follow these guidelines:
 * 1) It must be (fairly) realistic within the bounds of the dystopia we establish as a class. Be creative, by all means, but do not introduce some crazy, outlandish new element like an alien invasion unless we agree to it in class.
 * 2) It must be written in first person, but you may create a character that is not you.
 * 3) It must be 250-400 words long.
 * 4) You must include at least one recognizable Memphis feature—a neighborhood, street, building, or geographic feature, for instance
 * 5) You must include at least one passage of dialogue, correctly formatted
 * 6) You must include at least one place where the character reflects internally or describes internal thoughts.
 * 7) You __may__, if you wish, include appropriate pictures on your page
 * 8) You __may__, if you wish, link your page to another person’s page and connect the stories in some way

3. You will be graded according to this rubric:

25%: complete, on time 25%: inclusion of requirements listed above 25%: mechanics and writing 25%: effort, creativity