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fandomhigh2009-09-09 02:26 am
cuff-me-once.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2009-09-09 02:26 am
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Classical Genre [Tuesday, 1st Period]
Once again, there was coffee and baked goods on a side table as the class came in, and the tables were arranged in a rough circle.
"Morning," Rick chirped, looking far too awake. "Firstly, Helen is your TA, so feel free to bug her like you would me. Secondly, I hope you all remembered to read something off the list I gave you last week, because we'll be discussing them later in the class. If not I would advise you to pay very close attention to your handouts, so you'll have at least half a chance at faking it."
Rick paused a moment before continuing. "For the next two weeks, we'll be looking at science fiction, novels this week, film and television next week. Now sci-fi is one of those genres that can be a bit hard to define, especially if you have more than one person trying to define it. It's incredibly large, gets blurry at the edges with a half-dozen other genres, and has dozens of sub-genres, many of which have sub-genres of their own. There's a famous quote that 'Science Fiction is what we point to when we say it'.
"In very broad strokes though, science fiction is where science plays a major role in the story. It can be through setting, for example Prohibited Planet is Shakespeare's The Tempest In Space. It can drive the plot, as in the case of The Modern Prometheus where the monster is created through science. It can be through extrapolating where we might go from where we are, of course as science advances, works like this can seem horribly dated, especially if they acrually name specific dates. I know I'm still waiting for my hovercar. Another good quote to describe sci-fi comes from Theodore Sturgeon, 'a good science-fiction story is a story about human beings, with a human problem, and a human solution, that would not have happened at all without its science content'. Obviously those of us who aren't human should substitute their own species in there."
"Now, onto the novels," Rick said. "The first science fiction novel is generally held to be The Modern Prometheus written by Mary Shelly, and published in 1818, which is why I put it on the rather than horror like some of you might have been expecting. Sure it has a monster, but the monster is created though scientific hubris, and one of the major themes of the books is that it is its creator's refusal to take responsibility for his creation that eventually leads it to becoming monstrous."
"Two of the most significant early science fiction writers were H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, to the point that both of them are often referred to as the Father of Science Fiction..."
Rick continued on for a while, talking about all of the books he'd put on his suggested reading list as well as a number of others. Eventually though, he ran of of steam.
"But that's enough from me for one class, what I'd like you guys to do is tell the class which of the books you read off the list, if you liked it or not, and what you did or didn't like. If anyone else read the same book, or if you have any questions for each other, I encourage you all to speak up. So long as you keep a basic level of politeness, I'm not going to censor you guys in these discussions."
He pointed to a random student. "You can start us off."
[OOC: OCD up.]
[Class Roster|Syllabus|Class Rules|Previous Classes]
"Morning," Rick chirped, looking far too awake. "Firstly, Helen is your TA, so feel free to bug her like you would me. Secondly, I hope you all remembered to read something off the list I gave you last week, because we'll be discussing them later in the class. If not I would advise you to pay very close attention to your handouts, so you'll have at least half a chance at faking it."
Rick paused a moment before continuing. "For the next two weeks, we'll be looking at science fiction, novels this week, film and television next week. Now sci-fi is one of those genres that can be a bit hard to define, especially if you have more than one person trying to define it. It's incredibly large, gets blurry at the edges with a half-dozen other genres, and has dozens of sub-genres, many of which have sub-genres of their own. There's a famous quote that 'Science Fiction is what we point to when we say it'.
"In very broad strokes though, science fiction is where science plays a major role in the story. It can be through setting, for example Prohibited Planet is Shakespeare's The Tempest In Space. It can drive the plot, as in the case of The Modern Prometheus where the monster is created through science. It can be through extrapolating where we might go from where we are, of course as science advances, works like this can seem horribly dated, especially if they acrually name specific dates. I know I'm still waiting for my hovercar. Another good quote to describe sci-fi comes from Theodore Sturgeon, 'a good science-fiction story is a story about human beings, with a human problem, and a human solution, that would not have happened at all without its science content'. Obviously those of us who aren't human should substitute their own species in there."
"Now, onto the novels," Rick said. "The first science fiction novel is generally held to be The Modern Prometheus written by Mary Shelly, and published in 1818, which is why I put it on the rather than horror like some of you might have been expecting. Sure it has a monster, but the monster is created though scientific hubris, and one of the major themes of the books is that it is its creator's refusal to take responsibility for his creation that eventually leads it to becoming monstrous."
"Two of the most significant early science fiction writers were H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, to the point that both of them are often referred to as the Father of Science Fiction..."
Rick continued on for a while, talking about all of the books he'd put on his suggested reading list as well as a number of others. Eventually though, he ran of of steam.
"But that's enough from me for one class, what I'd like you guys to do is tell the class which of the books you read off the list, if you liked it or not, and what you did or didn't like. If anyone else read the same book, or if you have any questions for each other, I encourage you all to speak up. So long as you keep a basic level of politeness, I'm not going to censor you guys in these discussions."
He pointed to a random student. "You can start us off."
[OOC: OCD up.]
[Class Roster|Syllabus|Class Rules|Previous Classes]
Talk to the TA - CG [Week 2]
Re: Talk to the TA - CG [Week 2]