Science Fiction and Fantasy

Sorry this is a bit late (I was in a car accident Friday after school and just came back to school yesterday), but luckily I had already read the chapter!

I have never been a huge fan of science fiction or fantasy until Harry Potter, which I am sure I already made clear I love.:) I also enjoy (guilty!) the Twilight series although the recent hype because of the movies has sort of killed that for me. I appreciated this chapter for two main reasons-first, I know this is one of the hottest genres right now and the book lists were very useful, and second, the definitions and explanations the author gave regarding the genre made me appreciate it more.

I liked the part about science fiction "speculating about the past, present, and future." What a great definition that is simple yet sums it all up. It is natural for the human mind to be curious, and these authors are sharing their own and satisfying other's curiosities. Science fiction answers the "what if" questions f science and technology, a time when it is okay to ask that question. The genre overlaps many other genres too. I thought it was also important to note that sci fi must be grounded in some sort of science or reality, or historical events for time period's sake. It needs to have an internal consistensy-some type of rules for the skeptics (verus fantasy where you have even more freedom in a sense). There can also be social commentary components to this genre, giving it more literary merit. Not only did this make me appreciate sci fi more, but helped me understand what is good sci fi. The section that divides all the possible topics up would be especially useful for my students with Asperger's who tend to get "stuck" on one subject.

Fantasy, on the other hand, is defined by magic and enchantments. I think that currently, although the two oftne blend together, fantasy is more popular than sci fi. All the side genres such as urban fantasy were interesting to me, and the tools for teaching it, such as visualizing. This genre is rich of visuals and can help students become better at descriptive and figurative language. It takes a proficient reader to be able to form mental images, but the genre of fantasy is a great place to start. The journal entries the book showed on this look great, if I had more time to finish my lit circles I would definitely use them-I guess there is always next year!