LITERARY GENRESWITH MRS. BAKER

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

* How do I identify genres?

and

* Why should I care?

A GENRE IS . . .

a literary category featuring specific characteristics.

General genres (i.e. fiction, nonfiction) are often subdivided into more specific subgenres.

Subgenres include science fiction, historical fiction, mystery etc. (fiction) and biography, autobiography, memoir etc. (nonfiction).

FICTION

Definition: a story invented by the imagination

Characteristics: a story that contains characters, setting, plot, theme, action, resolution etc.

Call #: Begins with “F” followed by the 1st 3 letters of the author’s last name.

SCIENCE FICTION IS . . .

http://youtu.be/yZO76kmRpNw

FICTIONAL GENRES

Science Fiction

Type of fiction work, set in the past, present, or future, that combines scientific fact & technology with fantasy elements.

SCIENCE FICTION

Features:

* futuristic technology

* time travel

* aliens

* robots

* space travel that is yet to exist

* gene-engineering

* dimensional portals

* experimental medicine

* a “what if” scenario. i.e., the story explores what might occur if a certain technology or

event occurred.

IDENTIFY THE ELEMENTS OF SCI FI IN THIS PASSAGE:

“Outside, the immense blue Martian sky was hot and still as a warm deep sea water. The Martian desert lay broiling like a prehistoric mud pot, waves of heat rising and shimmering. There was a small rocket ship reclining upon a hilltop nearby. Large footprints came from the rocket to the door of this stone house” (Bradbury 18).

-from Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles

WHY SHOULD I CARE?

Science fiction helps people

•Ponder the effects of new technology before it becomes reality.

•Consider whether or not such advances improve humanity’s existence.

•Evaluate life changing effects before implementation.

IDENTIFY THE ELEMENTS OF SCI FI IN THIS PASSAGE:

“The monitor gone. Ender tried to imagine the little device missing from the back of his neck. I’ll roll over on my back in bed and it won’t be pressing there. I won’t feel it tingling and taking up the heat when I shower. And Peter won’t hate me anymore. I’ll come home and show him that the monitor’s gone, and he’ll see that I didn’t make it either . . . I’ll just be a normal kid” (Card 2).

- From Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game