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Science Fiction

Science Fiction


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Definition:

A subgenre of realistic fiction and literary fantasy, science fiction is imaginary text based on current or projected scientific/technological knowledge, developments, and conjecture.

Purposes:

  • To suggest future transformations that could take place regarding human existence
  • To suggest hypotheses about conditions of a future world using current scientific knowledge and conjecture
  • To predict what scientists believe could happen
  • To develop reflection regarding human qualities, ethics, and responsibilities
  • To encourage reflection from a hypothetical (what if) mode of thinking
  • To encourage imagination, and thought about vivid alternatives and exciting possibilities/insights
  • To engage the reader in adventures of exploring the unknown
  • To encourage thought about political organizations, technical resources, or social and moral codes or structures which may be strikingly different than our own

Characteristics:

  • Hypothetical (what if) ideas based on predictions from scientific developments
  • Defined by content rather than pattern. Some examples include:
    • Adventure/ space exploration
    • High tech, artificial intelligence, virtual reality
    • Life threatening cataclysmic disasters
    • Bioengineering (using principles of engineering to solve medical problems) and immortality
    • Space flight or epic journeys
    • Earth’s children or building/creating other worlds
    • Journeys through space and time, aliens, parallel worlds and alternate histories
    • Different types of societies and structure
  • Provided in a variety of forms (short stories, novels, plays, comics)

Themes:

  • Provocative/philosophical such as the meaning of life
  • Reflection on past and/or present decisions to create future social structures
  • Universal truths
  • Futuristic society: themes around ideology, bias, distortion as related to views of the time period
  • Explicit themes dealing with time travel, future technologies, parallel worlds, etc.

Characters:

  • Must be believable/credible to the last detail leading to a suspension of disbelief
  • Created through dialogue and action
  • May be based on scientific speculation (prediction)
  • Character types: protagonist/antagonist, hero/anti-hero (villain), dynamic (changing)/static (consistent), creator/destroyer

Setting:

  • Visionary future scenarios
  • Introduction/preface providing background and sets the scene (characters, setting, past and/or present conflicts, and goals)
  • Faraway place in the distant past or future
  • Important to the story and believable/ credible to the last detail
  • Interrelated with the plot’s development
  • Based on descriptions related to future and scientific speculation
  • Certain unknowns are accepted as proven fact

Plot:

  • Conflict of the main character (man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. self, man vs. society, man vs. machine)
  • Possible sequence of events given scientific advances in fact or theory
  • Plot: rising action, falling action, climax, sequence, etc.
  • Variations including flashback and foreshadowing
  • Resolution may have an implicit message with moral implications
  • Plot may revolve around future possibilities deriving from scientific speculation

Author’s craft:

  • Developing elements of story
  • Symbolism
  • Creating tension (actions, events, narrator’s or main character’s reflections)
  • Text patterns (cause/effect, problem/solution, compare/contrast, chronological order)
  • Effective use of dialogue
  • Revealing the character
  • Developing conflict and building to the climax
  • Finding and effectively providing relevant information for comparing life to text related issues of current society (distortion related to views of the time period e.g., gender, tolerance, fairness, age, and equity, related to individual differences)
  • Thought-provoking, suspenseful mood/tone
  • Alternate forms (e.g., “comics”, graphic novels)
  • Researching and developing visionary, realistic future scenarios
  • Developing theme, ideas, details, reflection or insight

Grade Level Instructional Scope for COMPREHENDING the Genre and Text of Science Fiction:

Grade 5

Opportunities to Teach:

Grade 8

Opportunities to Teach:

  • Structure
  • Elements
  • Mood
  • Purpose
  • Plot
  • Character analysis (major and minor)
  • Interactions among character traits, setting, plot, climax dialogue and problem resolution
  • Use of exaggeration
  • Use of metaphor
  • Heroes/anti-heroes
  • Role of the narrator
  • Theme
  • Comprehension skills and strategies (connect, conclude, infer, synthesize)
  • Personal Response
  • Background information on social systems addressed
  • Background information on future technologies
  • Structure
  • Elements
  • Author’s style
  • Mood
  • Purpose
  • Plot (rising/falling actions)
  • Conflicts and complications
  • Credibility of the narrator
  • Symbolism
  • Imagery
  • Abstract theme and sub-themes
  • Universal truths and/or principles
  • Analysis of stereotyping( gender, race, culture, age, class, religion, and individual differences)
  • Text patterns
  • Comprehension skills and strategies (connect to themes/perspectives, conclude, infer, synthesize, summarize)
  • Personal response
  • Background information on social systems addressed
  • Background information on future technologies

Grade Level Instructional Scope for COMPOSING the Genre and Text of Science Fiction:

Grade 8
  • Writing process
  • Exposition (commonly provided as an introduction explaining background; always used for sequels, series, etc.)
  • Symbolism
  • Manipulations to setting (flashforward, flashback, or story within a story)
  • Creating tension (internal and external)
  • Text patterns (cause/effect, problem/solution, compare/contrast, chronological order)
  • More complex narrative development (sentence structures, paragraph development, vocabulary, inference)
  • Dialogue
  • Character development (traits, actions, thoughts, reflections, major/minor and hero/anti-hero)
  • Information for comparing to issues of current society (ideology, bias, distortion related to views of the time period e.g., prejudice, gender, racism, tolerance, fairness, age, class, religion, equity, values, and stereotypes related to individual differences)
  • Point of view
  • Thought-provoking, suspenseful mood/tone
  • Deciding what NOT to say (dialogue)
  • Constructing an inferential/provocative/often philosophical message
  • Alternate forms, e.g. “comics”
  • Researching (scientific) to develop details of visionary future scenarios
  • Voice/tone
  • Reflection/ insight
  • Elaborated, relevant details
  • Logical, coherent organization
  • Controlled and varied sentence structure for effect
  • Effective, precise language
  • Conventions

Booklists:

Access to the Documents:

Complete K-8 Genre Project
From the Michigan Department of Education

Complete K-8 Genre Booklist
From Kent Intermediate School District


Page last modified on February 09, 2009, at 10:29 AM