Foundation

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“The Building Blocks of Empire”

In this activity, students will use critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative learning to design their own empire.

In Foundation, Hari Seldon and his followers seek to lay the foundations for a new and improved Galactic Empire in the distant future. In this activity, students will break up into small groups and design their own empire, taking into account the lessons learned by the characters. Make sure to consider the following questions:

• How will the empire be governed?
• How will the empire ensure its stability?
• Will the empire be expansionist?
• How will the empire utilize ideology to achieve its goals?
• What will be the basis of the empire’s economy?
• How does the empire compare in each of these points to the Galactic Empire in Foundation? In what ways can the lessons learned by characters in the novel help to create an improved imperial system of your own creation?

Create a brief slideshow to aid in your presentation of the created empire. Include 2-3 slides that clearly show comparisons between your empire and the Galactic Empire in the novel. After groups present, carry out a discussion on the nature and function of empires and attempt to come to a consensus on the overall merits and deficiencies of imperial systems.

Teaching Suggestion: Encourage students to think critically about empire as a concept. Is there a way for empire to be a positive force? Can empires ever be sustainable in the long run? Students should consider these questions as they decide how to approach their assignment, as they will need to decide whether they wish to design an ideal, utopian empire or an empire governed by the principles of realpolitik.

Differentiation Suggestion: To encourage student agency and for those who benefit from opportunities using visual/spatial skills, consider allowing students to create a visual representation of their empire (such as a map); these students may provide their descriptions aloud when they present their artwork to the class.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Asimov himself stated that he based the Galactic Empire and its collapse on the Roman Empire, drawing inspiration from Gibbon’s History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

• How does the Galactic Empire resemble the Roman Empire and how does it differ? (topic sentence)
• Supporting your topic sentence with your own research, compare and contrast the Galactic Empire and the Roman Empire (considering the political, economic, military, and ideological aspects of both empires). Include text details from the novel to demonstrate your points.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, evaluate the extent to which Asimov modeled his Galactic Empire on the Roman Empire.

2. Mayor Hardin is an important figure in the early history of the Foundation, saving the Foundation from two crises involving the planet Anacreon.

• How does Mayor Hardin’s approach to war and diplomacy preserve the Foundation? (topic sentence)
• Discuss how Mayor Hardin deals with each crisis he faces and analyze what his handling of the situation shows about him as a politician. Include the 3 strongest examples from the novel that support your topic sentence.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, reflect on what is unusual about Hardin’s approach to war and diplomacy and evaluate this strategy’s effectiveness.

3. Each crisis the Foundation faces is resolved, according to Seldon, when the Foundation is forced to pursue the most “obvious” course of action.

• How does the novel characterize the “obvious” course of history with each “Seldon Crisis”? (topic sentence)
• Consider each of the crises presented in the novel and reflect on how the resolution to the crisis represents the “obvious” course of history. Analyze and discuss the strongest examples, citing quotations to support your argument.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, reflect on Asimov’s overall message regarding the “obvious” course of history in the novel and state why you agree or disagree with him.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. One of Mayor Hardin’s famous aphorisms states that one should “Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right.” In a 3-paragraph essay, discuss the likeliest interpretation of this aphorism. How does this aphorism reflect the morality of the Foundation’s Plan more broadly? How do other characters in the novel illustrate Hardin’s philosophy?

2. By the end of the novel, economic trade takes the place of religious manipulation as the Foundation’s chief foreign relations policy. How are the two strategies different? Is one inherently better than the other, or does each one have its time and place? Why does religious manipulation ultimately give way to economic trade? In a 3- or 5-paragraph essay, compose a comparative evaluation of these strategies that includes supporting examples and details.

3. Asimov’s novel portrays human beings living tens of thousands of years in the future who are essentially the same as they are today: They still drink and smoke, vie for power and position, invent new technology, and participate in organized religion. In a 1-paragraph structured response, determine and analyze the ways that Asimov challenges the continuity of human behavior. Consider the likely message conveyed by the novel regarding human behavior, and include strong examples to support your thinking.

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. At his trial, how does Seldon propose to reduce the anarchic period that will follow the fall of the Empire?

A) By compiling all scientific knowledge in the Encyclopedia Galactica

B) To continue developing the science of psychohistory

C) To found a new empire

D) To strengthen the Galactic Empire

2. Why does Seldon argue that it would be foolish to execute him?

A) Because doing so is morally wrong

B) Because he is the only person who can save the empire

C) Because the death penalty is illegal on Trantor

D) Because doing so will inspire unrest that will further weaken the Empire

3. What is the name of the planet to which Seldon and his team are exiled?

A) Earth

B) Star’s End

C) Trantor

D) Terminus

4. What makes the physical scientists of the Foundation such poor administrators, in Mayor Hardin’s view?

A) The fact that they can only understand inflexible facts

B) Their lack of physical fitness

C) Their ignorance of psychohistory

D) Their lust for wealth

5. When is Seldon’s first recorded message played?

A) Immediately after his death

B) The day the Foundation is established

C) The 50th anniversary of the Foundation

D) The 80th anniversary of the Foundation

6. Which quote best expresses Mayor Hardin’s foreign policy?

A) “I have a gun and you haven’t.” (Part 2, Chapter2)

B) “It’s up to you and your Board then.” (Part 2, Chapter1)

C) “Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.” (Part 3, Chapter1)

D) “You’re quite happy to stagnate. The whole Galaxy is, and has been for space knows how long.” (Part 2, Chapter 3)

7. Why does the young King Lepold of Anacreon hesitate to attack the Foundation?

A) Because Prince Regent Wienis does not want him to go to war

B) Because his wife was born on the Foundation

C) Because he fears the anger of the Galactic Spirit

D) Because he is afraid of war

8. Which of the following best characterizes the reason Ponyets helps advance the Foundation's designs on Askone?

A) He is extremely patriotic.

B) He is attracted by the money he would earn.

C) He pities Gorov.

D) He wants to save the Askonians from their repressive religion.

9. What do Ponyets’s activities on Askone illustrate about the character of the Foundation traders?

A) Their amoral nature

B) Their patriotism

C) Their religious devotion

D) Their hatred of the devotion

10. Why does Sutt not trust the trading guild?

A) Because they are not politicians

B) Because they are not educated

C) Because they are too independent

D) Because he does not trust anybody

11. What does Sutt mean when he says that “The real service to the state is to detect [a crisis] in embryo”? (Part 5, Chapter 2)

A) One should identify problems before they arise.

B) Crises should be ignored completely.

C) There are no serious threats to the Foundation anymore.

D) The solution to every crisis is obvious.

12. How does Mallow find out that the old Empire still exists?

A) He finds imperial gold on a ship he commandeers.

B) He meets agents of the Empire during trading expeditions.

C) He sees the emblem of the Empire on the sidearms of the Korellian soldiers.

D) He intercepts a message from the emperor.

13. What does Mallow learn from his trip to Siwenna?

A) When the imperial nuclear plants fail, there will be nobody who can service them.

B) The imperial nuclear plants have all been taken over by Korell.

C) The emperor has been overthrown.

D) The nobility of Siwenna are planning to attack Korell.

14. What does Mallow mean when he tells Sutt that “There will be no casualties, no bombardments, no battles. There will just be a knife that won’t cut, and a stove that won’t cook, and a house that freezes in the winter”? (Part 5, Chapter 13)

A) People are afraid of dying.

B) A war without casualties often lasts the longest.

C) People cannot fight when they are cold.

D) War is not necessary if kingdoms depend on their opponents for goods and services.

15. How does Mallow plan to overcome the anticipated attack by the nuclear-armed Korellians?

A) By doing nothing

B) By fighting an all-out war

C) By asking the emperor for help

D) By surrendering to Korell

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. Why does the Foundation's religion-based control of nearby worlds fail?

2. Where does Mallow believe that the true power of the Foundation lies, especially when contrasted with the Empire? Explain.