Dystopian Book Clubs ยท Lesson 5

Power EKG Builder

Track how your protagonist's power rises and falls across the novel

๐Ÿ’พ Progress auto-saved to your browser
๐Ÿ’ก Plot 3โ€“5 significant power shifts from your reading so far. Each point = one moment where your protagonist's power meaningfully changed. Annotate with analysis, not plot summary. Name the type of power, explain the cause, and state what was gained or lost.
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Power Baseline โˆ’ Less
Power
Beginning of Novel โ†’ time โ†’ Current Reading
Political
Information
Social
Narrative
๐Ÿ“ˆ

No power shifts yet

Click "Add a Power Shift" to start mapping your protagonist's power across the novel.

Power EKG Builder ยท Your progress is saved automatically in your browser.
Built for dystopian literature analysis. How to use this tool

Add Power Shift

Keep this short โ€” just enough to identify the scene or event.
Drag the slider to show your protagonist's power. Center = neutral. Right = more power. Left = less power.
Less
Power More
Power 0
Select the primary type. If you see more than one, pick the most dominant.
External event or internal realization? Be specific about what triggered the change.
Name the specific power gained or lost โ€” not just the event. Think: agency, knowledge, safety, voice, identity.
Is this real resistance, or does the system absorb/tolerate/use it? This is a hard question โ€” your best thinking is fine.

Delete this power shift?

How to Use the Power EKG

This tool helps you track and analyze how your protagonist's power changes across the novel.

1. Set up your analysis
Enter your protagonist's name and novel title at the top.

2. Add power shifts
Click "Add a Power Shift" to log each moment where your protagonist's power meaningfully changed. Aim for 3โ€“5 shifts.

3. Annotate, don't summarize
For each shift, name the type of power, explain the cause, and describe what was gained or lost. The annotation draft at the bottom of each card shows how your analysis comes together.

4. Four types of power
๐Ÿ›๏ธ Political โ€” Authority, governance, control over rules/laws
๐Ÿ”’ Information โ€” Knowledge, secrets, surveillance, what is known/hidden
๐Ÿ‘ฅ Social โ€” Alliances, class, belonging, relationships
๐Ÿ“ข Narrative โ€” Voice, story, identity, who gets to define truth

5. Export your work
Use "Copy to Clipboard" to paste into Canvas, "Download .txt" for a file, or "Print" for paper.

6. Auto-save
Your work saves automatically to your browser. It will be here when you come back โ€” unless you clear your browser data.