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Classical Genre [Tuesday, 1st Period]

In deference to the early hour, the first thing the class would have seen on entering was a side table set up with coffee, tea, and a selection of pastries from J,GoBs.

"Morning kids," Rick chirped around his own mug. "Now I'm seeing a bunch of familiar faces, but also some unfamiliar ones, so the first thing we're going to be doing is introductions. When I point to you, I want your name, your age, your favourite genre, and why you like it. For example, I'm Rick, I'm thirty-eight, my favourite genre is mystery, because a good mystery will sucker-punch you the first time, but leave enough clues that you can see it coming the second. I'm also in need of a TA, so if anyone's interested, come up and see me after class."

After the introductions were finished, Rick continued. "No, this class is focused on books and movies of genre," he said. "By which I mean works which are generally not considered to fall under the genre of literary fiction. This might be because they're popular, or they're modern, or because they're speculative, or any number of other reasons. They're stories that are classed in groups because follow or subvert tropes, or they have similar plot elements, settings, themes. They can be thought of as trashy, or hackneyed even when they're not. They often tell actual stories in an enjoyable and fast paced manner. In short we're going to be looking at the kind of books I wanted to study in school."

"This is not to put literary fiction down," Rick said. "For example, James Joyce's Odysseus is a brilliant work, a masterpiece of the English language. For most people, however, it does not make for a lazy afternoon read, and I'm pretty sure most teenagers would want to raise Joyce from the dead just to kill him again if they were assigned this in school. So we're not going to study him."

"This is also going to be a pretty informal class. Mostly focused on reading and discussion, with a little bit of lecturing from me." Because Rick loved the sound of his own voice, yes he did. "No essays and no overanalysis. Nothing kills the love faster than making something that's supposed to be enjoyed a chore. I want you to enjoy the texts we look at. Stories are fun. Reading books, and watching television is fun, and understanding what we're watching and reading should be fun too."

"Now, the first genre we'll be covering is science fiction, and I'll be giving you guys a reading list of some selected books, films, and shows in the genre," Rick said. "One thing I want to emphasise that this is a just suggested reading list, not a set one, so it's long, but I don't expect you to read everything on it, just finish one book by next week's class and one movie or a couple of episodes from a show by the week after's, and there'll be notes provided for anything that get discussed in class. It's also just some of the works that I personally have enjoyed. There are dozens, hundreds, of other stories that are just as great, but we'd be spending an entire year on just sci-fi if I tried to list them all."

Oh, the angst of a bibliophile.

"Also, may sound counter to the aim of the class, but by the time finals roll around, I'd like you to have found and read one of the more traditional classics of your choice, preferably something in the public domain. You'll get more details of why I want you to do this closer to finals, but this way you'll have plenty of time to do it."

[OOC: ~~Wait for~~ OCD up.]

[Class Roster|Syllabus|Class Rules]

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As an example of your genre!

Name, age, favourite genre, and why you like it.

Edited 2009-09-01 15:03 (UTC)

Rick is talky meat, but he's talky meat who provided coffee and snacks.

He's all ears.

Things one should not do on about two hours sleep in the last thirty-six.

1. Write talky-meat class.
2. Try to create concise yet comprehensive lists of significant works in your OMG FAVOURITEIST GENRE EVER.

Now, I crawl off to SLEEP IN THE FUTURE! Will pick up pings in teh morning.

Helen Haras-Uquara

"My name is Helen Haras-Uquara. I am a junior and," she blushed, "I have come to enjoy some of the romance novels. Just because they are so different from any sort of life I've experienced."

Helen listened and took good notes during the lecture as was usual for her.

Harper Finkle

Jack Priest

"Jack Priest, 17, I like detective stories," Jack tossed off. "My guardian is a private investigator and I like seeing how fictional mysteries line up with life."

Jon O'Neill

"Jon O'Neill, 16. I used to read only historical non-fiction, but I read a lot more mystery and sci-fi because occassionally it's weirder than my life."

Hyuuga Hinata

"Hinata Hyuuga," she began quietly. "I a-am 15, and my favourite is--fantasy."

Hinata considered that.

"But I p-prefer it when the fantasy is done in a realistic manner with consequences mattering. I th-think I like it because it's both an escape but you can still... learn."

"Wow, they talked you into staying on?" Yes, that was Jon's way of saying hello to his favorite teacher so far.

Dinah Lance

"My name is Harper Finkle, I'm almost 16, and my favorite genre is romance. I love reading stories about people in love," said Harper with a giddy smile.

"Dinah Lance, 17, and mystery novels. Because you almost always find out who did it in the end, even if they don't get punished for it in all books," Dinah said, thinking about it. "I like ones with some realism and romance to them, though, where you get to know the detective more than the villain or victim."

Coffee! If Dinah was going to have a first period class, she was very grateful the teachers understood about getting them focused enough to actually listen.

Robin

"My name is Robin, I'm a junior. I like adventure stories, and comedies. Adventure because I like the excitement, and the exotic settings. And comedies I like because I love to laugh, and I'd like to be able to make other people laugh."

He also liked romances but he thought three genres was pushing it.

Cyd Sherman

"Hi, I'm Cyd. Sherman. I'm 17 and mostly I like fantasy books. The other genres are good too, and I like the classics as well," she added hastily.

Joolushko Tunai Fenta Hovalis

"My name is Joolushko Tunai Fenta Hovalis...you may call me Joolushko. I'm 17," she'd decided cycles were close enough to earth years that it didn't really matter.

"I suppose I also like mysteries, though only the ones that actually make you think." Mostly she liked when she was smarter than the protagonists.

"Most people do have a stunning lack of ripped bodices and secret millionaire babies in their lives," Rick agreed. "Thank you Helen."

"And in your experience do they in general?" Rick asked, definitely not thinking of Kate Beckett, nope. "Or does it depend on the writer?"

"Also a bonus, especially around here," Rick said, nodding.

Rick grinned. "Never let it be said that escapism and education can't go hand in hand."

Rick smiled, because that was kind of adorable. "Considering romance novels have the largest market share of any single genre, so do a lot of other people."

"Me too," Rick said with a broad grin. Of course in Rick's case at least part of that was because then you could write a series about the lead. "Good villains are fun, but you still need to root for your detective to catch them."

"See, yes," Dinah said, beaming at Mr. Castle. "Like the ~~meta for~~ Phillip Marlowe novels, or ~~meta for~~ J.D. Robb. And I like it when the city they're in is like another character. And smart villains, not so dumb you can see who did it from page twenty-three."

"We don't have enough time to look at adventure in and of itself," Rick said, which was a pity because he was partial to a bit of buckles being swashed himself. "But there is a fair amount of overlap there with some of the others we'll be looking at."

"Any particular reason you like fantasy over the others?" Rick asked. "Or was it just something that clicked?"

Codex looked hesitant at first, as if she wasn't sure of what to say. "Fantasy usually has its own rules, and you know what the rules are if it's well-written. The worlds are well-developed and structured."

"Christie," Rick said after a moment. "If you haven't already read her, I think you'll be a fan."

"They made me a offer I couldn't refuse."

Translation, he'd found out that Kate was still pretty ticked off at him when he'd gone home during break.

Rick nodded. "Good world building, always a plus."

"Oh, La Nora," Rick said, smiling. "She's awesome."

And a hell of a card-shark that one time.

"I've noticed that with like, Space Battles. They're science fiction, but they're also adventure."

Dinah boggled. "You know her? Personally?" Okay, now she was on the verge of squeeing.

"I've met her once or twice," Rick replied. He certainly hadn't squeed at all those times, honest. "Literary awards dinners and the like."

"Dude." Oh, very articulate, Dinah. "Do you know when the next one comes out? Seriously? And wait, have you been up for the same awards?"

"It depends on the writer," Jack confirmed. "I like Mr. Conan Doyle. Some of the more modern ones are just silly, and far too interested in blood."

Jon was a bit curious has to what Fandom would offer that someone couldn't refuse. There was gremlins, sex pollen and gender switching on the island.

Then again, he had stayed. "Well, if no one else takes you up on that TA spot, I'll gladly take it again."

Valentine Wiggin

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Classical Genre [Tuesday, 1st Period]

Sign In - CG [Week 1]

Introductions - CG [Week 1]

Listen to the Lecture - CG [Week 1]

Talk to Rick - CG [Week 1]

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