The Time Machine is an 1895 dystopian, post-apocalyptic, science fiction novella by H. G. Wells about a Victorian scientist known as the Time Traveller who travels to the year 802,701.
Reading & Writing Workshop: The Time Machine
By H.G. Wells
Overview
This Literature workshop uses H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine to explore the relationship between science, humanity, and time as a literary concept. Students will analyze Wells’ speculative fiction through the lens of characterization, setting, and symbolism while developing AP Lit writing skills (FRQ 2 and FRQ 3).
Session 1: The Unknown Future – Close Reading & Annotation
Objective: Practice annotation for AP Lit by analyzing how Wells establishes tone and mystery in the novel’s opening frame narrative.
Excerpt (Document 1):
“The Time Traveller (for so it will be convenient to speak of him) was expounding a recondite matter to us. His grey eyes shone and twinkled, and his usually pale face was flushed and animated.”
— H.G. Wells, The Time Machine, Chapter I
Project Gutenberg
Activities:
Objective: Identify and analyze how Wells uses setting to convey social commentary.
Excerpt (Document 2):
“A flow of disappointment rushed across my mind. For that I had expected a somewhat paradoxical scene… a society of perfect beings, a triumph of man over nature.”
— H.G. Wells, The Time Machine, Chapter V
Project Gutenberg
Activities:
Objective: Develop a full AP Lit FRQ 2 prose analysis essay.
Excerpt (Document 3):
“I saw humanity spread itself abroad, careless of its offspring, losing strength and beauty, becoming as it were beautiful parasites upon the world.”
— H.G. Wells, The Time Machine, Chapter VII
Project Gutenberg
Activities:
Objective: Connect The Time Machine to other works exploring the moral consequences of scientific progress.
Comparative Excerpts (Documents 4 & 5):
Objective: Strengthen writing style and analytical commentary.
Activities:
Objective: Simulate AP Lit exam conditions using a new passage from The Time Machine.
Excerpt (Document 6):
“I saw great buildings fall into ruin, and other lesser ones spring up about their bases. I saw trees growing and changing like living things.”
— H.G. Wells, The Time Machine, Chapter XI
Project Gutenberg
Activities:
By H.G. Wells
Overview
This Literature workshop uses H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine to explore the relationship between science, humanity, and time as a literary concept. Students will analyze Wells’ speculative fiction through the lens of characterization, setting, and symbolism while developing AP Lit writing skills (FRQ 2 and FRQ 3).
Session 1: The Unknown Future – Close Reading & Annotation
Objective: Practice annotation for AP Lit by analyzing how Wells establishes tone and mystery in the novel’s opening frame narrative.
Excerpt (Document 1):
“The Time Traveller (for so it will be convenient to speak of him) was expounding a recondite matter to us. His grey eyes shone and twinkled, and his usually pale face was flushed and animated.”
— H.G. Wells, The Time Machine, Chapter I
Project Gutenberg
Activities:
- Annotate diction and tone: how does Wells build intrigue about the Time Traveller?
- Discuss: Why does Wells use a frame narrator rather than the Time Traveller’s own voice?
- Quickwrite: How does the narrative point of view influence your perception of the Time Traveller’s credibility?
Objective: Identify and analyze how Wells uses setting to convey social commentary.
Excerpt (Document 2):
“A flow of disappointment rushed across my mind. For that I had expected a somewhat paradoxical scene… a society of perfect beings, a triumph of man over nature.”
— H.G. Wells, The Time Machine, Chapter V
Project Gutenberg
Activities:
- Socratic seminar: How does Wells critique the idea of a “perfect society”?
- Identify motifs such as light/darkness, machinery, decay, and evolution.
- Analytical Paragraph: Choose one motif and explain how it reveals Wells’ critique of human progress.
Objective: Develop a full AP Lit FRQ 2 prose analysis essay.
Excerpt (Document 3):
“I saw humanity spread itself abroad, careless of its offspring, losing strength and beauty, becoming as it were beautiful parasites upon the world.”
— H.G. Wells, The Time Machine, Chapter VII
Project Gutenberg
Activities:
- Discuss diction and imagery—how does Wells use description to portray degeneration?
- Model essay outline: thesis → evidence → commentary.
- Writing Task: Write a prose analysis essay explaining how Wells uses setting and characterization to express anxiety about the future of humanity.
Objective: Connect The Time Machine to other works exploring the moral consequences of scientific progress.
Comparative Excerpts (Documents 4 & 5):
- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein:
“You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you.”
Project Gutenberg - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World:
“Community, Identity, Stability.”
Project Gutenberg Australia
- Comparative chart: Wells, Shelley, and Huxley—how do they warn about the misuse of science?
- Group discussion: Is technological progress inherently destructive?
- Writing Task (FRQ 3): Compare how The Time Machine and another studied text use scientific advancement as a metaphor for moral decline.
Objective: Strengthen writing style and analytical commentary.
Activities:
- Mini-lesson: “Moving from observation to interpretation” — how to expand commentary.
- Peer review with AP rubric (thesis, evidence, commentary, sophistication).
- Writing Task: Revise either FRQ 2 or FRQ 3 essay for sophistication and precision.
Objective: Simulate AP Lit exam conditions using a new passage from The Time Machine.
Excerpt (Document 6):
“I saw great buildings fall into ruin, and other lesser ones spring up about their bases. I saw trees growing and changing like living things.”
— H.G. Wells, The Time Machine, Chapter XI
Project Gutenberg
Activities:
- 45-minute timed prose analysis essay.
- Self-assess using the AP Lit rubric.
- Reflect on commentary depth and sophistication level.
- Annotated excerpts
- One analytical paragraph (motif or symbol)
- One FRQ 2 essay (Eloi and Morlocks passage)
- One FRQ 3 comparative essay
- Peer-reviewed and revised essay