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LITR 4368 Literature of the Future 
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Sample answers
for Essay 2:
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Victoria Mandujano
So, They Are NOT in Love! How is Romance a Narrative or Style?
I would be lying if I said that I have no interest in science fiction
material, so it should come as no surprise as to why I looked forward to take
this course, other than being in my degree plan. The science fiction realm has
given me many opportunities to imagine a world out of the ordinary. You can just
envision my sheer surprise when I learned a crucial piece from science fiction
that I had not thoroughly thought to pair it with before. Romance, as defined in
our Literature of the Future course, informed me the following: “In popular use
today, ‘romance’ means love or a love story, but in literary studies romance
means a broader, more inclusive type of story or narrative” (course
site narrative description). For the most part, my understanding of romance
refers to the love mutually shared by a couple. This is where literature gained
more of my personal attention.
As suggested by Professor White “science fiction relies on the romance
narrative” (email correspondence).
The key to finding the romance can sometimes wander into what the writer has
experienced in their life. J.D. Salinger’s
Catcher in the Rye is an amazing book
with this feature. J.D. had partook in WWII action where a large percentage of
his comrades were killed. With these events, he established a deep connection to
many adolescent readers that are going to a rough patch, just like him in his
rather shaky state of mind; definitely a romance narrative with a dark touch.
The romance narrative in action takes form of a personal transformation (course
description). I firmly believe that
Be Ready ‘Bout Half Past Eight depicts this best because discovering one's
self in a situation and overcoming said obstacle can also be romance. We have
Byron, the protagonist, coping with the news of his best friend Zach who informs
him that he (Zach) will have a sex change. Byron even talks to his son Toby
about the ordeal and tells him that he will grow up to be a man. He watches the
transformation of Zach into a woman named Zoe and concludes that “Toby Glass
could grow up to be anything!”(p.47).
Byron also made a transformation when he concluded that reality could change
into anything.
Romanticism, to me, exhibits
aesthetics and emotions, as well as a character with a purpose being emphasized.
When it is referred to as a style, it “includes movements or terms as diverse
but associated as the gothic, the sublime, transcendentalism, and the romance
narrative, and the significance of feelings and the imagination over (or in
addition to) Enlightenment values”(course
description page). I will attempt to address this on the final essay.
With some input provided, I reverted back to the first reading material
assigned (Genesis and Revelations) in hoping to find the romance within it and
further understand. God first created humans in his image, "So God created man
in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he
created them."(Genesis 2:3 NIV).
Mankind led the antagonistic and protagonistic roles in the ordeal. Once Eve bit
the forbidden fruit, followed by Adam, they committed a heinous act, hence both
being cast away from the garden of Eden and the presence of God
(Genesis 3:22-24). Eventually,
mankind was in need of salvation, which God administered through Jesus Christ’s
crucifixion (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV).
Once the true antagonists revealed themselves, Jesus Christ came back down from
Heaven on a white horse (Revelation
19:11-16 NIV), saving his people. These chapters of the Bible depicted the
rise and fall of humankind; the Apocalypse and salvation being the symbol of
romance.
Professor White wrote “love stories fit the pattern of a quest of journey
with tests and trials” (email
correspondence). In Parable of the
Sower, Lauren believes that God is change. She faces obstacles head on,
venturing away from home with the purpose of fulfilling her destiny after
witnessing destruction. Sara Perkins wrote that "A popular theme in this type of
(evolutionary) novel is a powerful and overwhelming strive for survival... Even
though her world has fallen to rubble around her, slowly she begins to change
who can live and survive outside the walls of her community. She is not the same
girl from the beginning of the book..."
(midterm essay sample). Lauren’s change from a scared woman, to leader, to
prophet throughout the course of her journey is a science fiction romance
narrative, with her survival symbolizing her transcendence.
While revising these literary works and course pages, I came to realize
that the romance narrative was sitting before me and I didn’t realize it until
afterwards. Romance is visualized in science fiction novels in different forms;
valor, perseverance, and journeys to name some. Professor White makes it clear
that the romance narrative and its elements “doesn’t exclude love stories — it’s
just not limited to love stories” (email
correspondence). Its narrative can provoke critical thinking and analyzing,
an essential in which the reader sees the beauty of the mess as it transcends.
Any piece of literature of the future can contain a hint of romance and raw feel
if the piece is thoroughly read instead of skimmed.
