LITR 4632 Literature of the Future

Sample Student final exams 2009

Veronica Nadalin

Essay 2: Stop! It’s Future Time!

Taking Literature of the Future was my first experience taking a five-week course and I am glad that I did sign up for this class!  Going in with an open mind of what material makes up “futuristic” literature, I learned how to apply previously learned criticism to what is considered to be popular literature.  Before this class, I read science fiction simply as a way to escape and did not think about looking beneath the surface.  It had been told to me over and over again by scholars that the Science fiction genre has no place in academics.  However, after reading and studying the material and concepts in this course, I now disagree with those sentiments. For example, The Time Machine has been one of my favorite books for years.  However, I never considered the depth in which Wells placed the concepts of utopia versus dystopia. Despite the entertainment values of the stories “The Belonging Kind” and “They’re Made Out of Meat” (I have found that works of literature that are considered “entertaining” are often not considered to be “academic”) their style and how they presented the ideas/concepts of the course are just as worthy as being considered “academic” as works like Jane Eyre and Beloved (works which are considered to be “academic” and to present  the genres’ ideas/concepts well, but to me have little entertainment value).

The future-presentations, class discussions, and web-highlights helped cement the concepts and ideas that the material in the works presented to the reader. The presentations were all enjoyable and I now have a list of things to either read or watch in my future free time. Listening to the viewpoints of my classmates added more to the learning experience.  Their insights and thoughts were always interesting.  The web-highlights worked as a form of encouragement when I felt lost in some of the narratives; knowing that those before me went through some of the same struggles to understand helped boost my confidence in my own interpretations and understandings of the material. 

My favorite thing that I will take from this course is all the hopes and fears of the future that has been written and that will continue to be written.  Humanity has a strong sense of fascination of the future, whether near or distant, that helps determine what is done at the present.  Ultimately, the future is unknown, unlike the past and present, but that does not mean the actions taken now will not have an effect on the outcome, for better or for worse, which will be up to the individual’s own perception and understanding of the world around them. After this course, I know that I will now weigh my present actions, no matter how big or small, more heavily because any “little” thing could potentially have a great impact on my future.