Organization: Write a complete essay covering the following topics and subtopics. Though these contents are "broken down" for clarity, do not treat them as a simple checklist. As far as possible, connect the parts. Relate what you’re writing to what you’ve already written. Summarize your points. Explain your examples.

What is Literature of the Future? Here are some options:

• How has your impression of the course developed or changed?
• What did you expect, and what has the course offered?
• How would you describe the course to another student?
• Compare and contrast to other Literature courses.
• Look ahead to the conclusion as means of unifying your essay.

(Personal references, experiences, opinions are welcome as long as you support, explain, and relate. Evaluate critically according to personal standards and standards of higher education.)

Literature of the future can be compared to traditional literature courses in a number of ways. Although the texts in futuristic literature are about predictions, and fantastic ideas of what the future may be, they still present timeless issues of the human spirit and how we as individuals will respond to the world around us. This is what classical literature usually represents in the sense that it deals with how people overcome obstacles and find their way to a better existence. The romance genre is typical for many literature courses in that it is the telling of personal journey or quest that the reader follows to see the characters rise to the challenges of the story. This is very much what future literature stories do as well. [KC 2001]

I read a lot of Science Fiction and thought this course would fall into that genre really well. Imagine my surprise when we read from the Bible as our first assignment. On the first day of class we were told that this is not a science fiction course but rather a look into possible futures that may or may not come to pass. I was a little disappointed upon hearing that, but the material and the themes that we have read in class have pleasantly surprised me. Most of the material that we have read such as "The Time Machine", "Mozart in Mirrorshades", "Stone Lives", and "The Garden of Forking Paths" appear to be Science Fiction, but they are much more than that when put in proper perspective together for this class. [SF 2001]

‘Literature of the Future’ is more than I expected. I knew that it would consist of reading because of the "literature" part of the title. But "future" to me means "the unknown." That is exactly what we have discussed, the unknown. There are speculations about the future and we have touched on different aspects. Other literature courses teach about the past and how well it was written, the types of writing, the content and especially the language. But this course surpasses those classes because it makes a person think. Think not only of the past, but about their future. The past is after all gone, not able to be changed. But the future is ours to mold. I am seeing our future in a whole new light. Before, my thinking was that our destiny was figured out for us. That if something happened it was because it was meant to be. That it would lead us down the correct path. Yet in the Jorges Luis Borges story it talks of "forked paths". Aren’t we always questioning? Asking, "What if I had taken that job? What if I had moved to Florida? Etc." After reading "Parable of the Sower", I realize that we have the ability to make our own ‘Earthseed’. Lauren left a bad situation to better her life. Therefore, she made her path and her future. [HA 2001]

This class has definitely opened me to new ideas or perhaps just the ideas that I already had, but repressed due to the uneasy feeling they gave me. [DK 2001]

In just 3 weeks I have experienced the "great awakening" because of the ideas of what the future has in store. What I think has helped me the most is discussing and breaking down the meaning of the three trajectories of narratives. Knowing the difference between apocalypse, evolution, and alternative has helped me understand the thought processes of the writers. [DM 2001]

Now it seems that the course has a much broader scope than I had first imagined. The texts that we have covered thus far seem to be as much about our culture and various world views as anything else and lend themselves to a greater understanding of where we have come from and where we are as much as describing where we are headed. From the readings that we have done over the span of the course my impression of literature that is commonly placed into the genre of Sci-Fi has been altered. In H. G. Wells’s The Time Machine and Octavia Butler's The Parable of the Sower, it is clear that there can be much more to science fiction than mere escapism into a future that does not exist. Both stories are rooted in the idea of Romance and a struggle between powerful forces. Both novels are clearly very relevant to the social conditions of their respective eras and shed light upon the problems and triumphs of civilization up to the point at which they were written. [TP 2001]

When registering for this class I thought that we might cover the different types of literature that we were most likely to see in the future. I expected lots of science fiction and high tech literature that would be hard to follow or even relate to. I was delightfully surprised when our first reading assignments were Genesis and Revelation. Not only were these two pieces of literature that I was familiar with, but I also felt very comfortable relating them to my personal future. This heightened my interest in the course. Unlike a previous literature course that I had taken, where interpretation was limited, Literature of the Future is allowing me to explore literature more objectively as it relates to my life and future. Perhaps for the first time I can really grasp Plato's concept of "art imitating life."

Plato's concept can be seen as the foundation of the narrative genre. Narratives tell a story. Many of these narratives take on a "romance" pattern in which there is a quest for knowledge or a struggle of good and evil. [AP 2001]

When signing up for Literature of the Future, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I pondered on what type of texts we would be reading. Would all the texts be about cyborgs and computer generated worlds? Would we be looking at texts such as Star Wars? After purchasing the texts for the course and thumbing through them, I soon realized I was entering a non-traditional literature course. This was new and exciting for me. I was able to read a genre, which I would have never done if not forced to by this course. Literature of the Future looks at narratives written about the future as perceived by humans in the present. [LP 2001]

My impressions of the course have changed in that I now understand that the texts we will be reading about the future, are really about the present and the dismay that exists at the current conditions we live in. If I were describing this course to another student I would say that it examines the problems of the present by projecting them into the future and magnifying them. This course is however different from other literature courses, in that we do not focus on the facts of the narrative as much as on how the narrative is told. [JR 2001]

Literature of the Future has been a true breath of fresh air. I signed up for this course for the same reason many of my classmates did. It was offered at a convenient time. I never thought I would actually enjoy this type of literature. This is like no class I have taken before. Other literature classes emphasize just the literature and how the teacher and critics have critiqued it. In this class, we have looked beyond the literature and considered the moral, ethical, and religious issues of our possible future.

I had anticipated this class being difficult to get into. It was a major surprises the way the class began. I am one of those students a classmate described as "scared of Revelations." Before this class, all I had understood was that many people believed that all the Baptists were going to survive the apocalypse and the rest of us were going to burn in hell for eternity. It was nice to know that this is not exactly the way the Bible sees it and that there are many other theories out there about our future.

There are three major narratives that describe these theories. Narratives are typically predictive with a general pattern or sequence of meaningful events. These stories are in a narrative style that has transcended time. An example is Revelations. It has been around for so long, because it has the ability to touch people personally. It reads like a journey or quest in which something (God) can save people from this strange world we live in. People like to read about the opportunity of being pulled out of the "lake of fire" and living happily ever after. [MW 2001]

When I first heard the title of the course Literature of the Future, I thought, "Oh, how ridiculous. There can be no literature of the future because the future doesn’t exist yet." Obviously, I was confused. Then I heard mention of the Bible's book of Revelation from the instructor and light bulbs went on. I know the book of Revelation, so I felt much more comfortable about the class subject matter. "So, the class will focus on literature depicting the future," I thought. But my views on the topic were very restrictive, prohibiting me from seeing the full scope of what could be considered literature about the future. I strongly believed that the future is laid out for mankind in the book of Revelation. Simple. No need for speculation. Cut and dried. Yes, I was familiar with science fiction books and movies and considered most of it as the most pitiful attempt to entertain that could be. I certainly didn’t think it had any educational value to it whatsoever in studies of the future. I also didn’t know about the futuristic-type books, books that are not just run-of-the-mill sci-fi junk.

Having gone through half of this class at this point, I feel I’ve been introduced to a whole new world. I can understand how others can put value into a future depicted by narratives other than just the Bible depiction. I must say, it is fascinating. I now have broadened my views, not only about the literature itself, but about other possibilities concerning the future. I feel much more tolerant of other students’ views of the future. Student presentations were very interesting and thought provoking. This class has been such a benefit to my education that it seems more than just a literature class. The insights gleaned from it will serve as a tool for navigating through the future among my fellow travelers. It is a multifaceted jewel. It is a revelation. [LLo 2001]

Body: Narrative & Narratives of the Future (at least 1 hour)

• Transition to the concept of "narrative." Define and explain the significance of narratives as models for human behavior and time.

If a narrative is too abstract and removed from the convention of human behavior, a story is not being told, but simply isolated thoughts that do not come together for a reader to hang on to. It is the events, emotions, and personalities that unfold in a narrative that give readers something to sink their teeth into. [TP 2001]

Narratives are the stories that we tell, in chronological order, that build a cohesion which holds the events of our lives together in an order that makes linear sense. In this course, we have used narratives to understand our views of the future and the popularity and enduring appeal of the narrative form and its subdivisions relevant to a course in the study of Literature of the Future: Apocalyptic, Evolutionary, and Alternative. With Revelation exists an Apocalyptic "master narrative" where the future is written and the fall of human civilization inevitable. God and the Devil are presented in the ultimate struggle between good, and evil and mankind is helpless in the face of cataclysmic events beyond our control. It is the nature of man to sin, and sin brings about death: and in the case of Revelation, the death and destruction of the entire world With Creation and Revelation we have a clear cut beginning and end to our world. [TP 2001]

• Moving from the broad concept of narrative, describe and evaluate the three primary narratives for the future.
• Refer to texts frequently. Move back and forth between ideas and examples.

Body content options: (You need not cover each item individually or in order.)

• What models of the future and of human behavior or destiny do the narratives offer?
• What are the literary and cultural attractions or downsides of these narratives?
• Where do these narratives overlap or conflict?
• Again, you may look ahead to your conclusion.

Each of the texts that we have read so far this semester share a common thread in that they are about the future, but the way the future is presented depends on which narrative the author is using. However, some of these texts transpose different narratives at the same time. [SF 2001]

In Revelations it is the anticipation of salvation and deliverance that motivates the Christian belief of hope, in spite of whatever calamity befalls a person. It is difficult to define the purpose of John's prophecy in the fantastic and almost hallucinatory descriptions of the apocalypse that he describes. It seems to push the boundaries of imagination for the reader to comprehend the vast symbols such as beasts and dragons and panoramic visions of heaven and a seared scorched earth. The usage of such complicated imagery makes the reader want to find resolution and understanding. It is this point that John seems to present the glorious finality of the Second Coming of Christ. [KC 2001]

Lauren is protected in the walls of her neighborhood just as Adam And Eve were protected in the Garden Of Eden. When Lauren is forced to leave her neighborhood she must deal with the dangers of the outside world just as Adam and Eve had to leave the Garden of Eden and find their own food and shelter. The path of apocalyptic narratives is linear, meaning that the characters go through a string of events to reach one ending or fate.

This is one crucial point of distinction between the apocalyptic idea of the future and of some other texts that are written today. Survival is the key element in Parable of the Sower and in Stone Lives, whereas Revelations is purely about salvation. It is this point that the very mention of survival that leads apocalyptic ideas into that of evolutionary thinking. In Revelations, it is clear that apocalypse means the beginning and the end, or the Alpha and Omega, however to survive means not an ending, but the transformation of a new start and the leaving behind a dead past. [KC 2001]

In Parable of the Sower, the tone of the story is very much in apocalyptic style, yet not quite. Lauren recognizes that the world is on a painful and destructive path and yet she also knows that change can emerge and bring the pendulum back to the center, although in a different shape. It is ironic that she listens to her father preach Genesis Six, about how God destroys everything but Noah and his family, and she remarks, "But if Noah is going to be saved, he has plenty of hard work to do"(60). The very religion she does not believe in points out that change is hard work, yet it is attainable. This is Lauren's evolutionary approach to her future. This is not a story that builds up to a catastrophic end, but rather the enduring struggle of humanity to overcome the misdeeds of a failed society and start over with a new vision. [KC 2001]

The alternate genre is extremely popular in our culture. Movies like Time Cop and Terminator explore these themes. TV shows like sliders and Farscape are popular because people have a curiosity about an alternate universe. In the alternate genre I believe the future is being written, people from the future are always trying to alter a specific outcome by crossing worlds. [SP 2001]

What ramifications would result if the paths of time could be crossed over and events could be altered? It seems that this mode of narrative brings about more questions than resolutions. Again, the futuristic approach of inventing a place in the future gives authors free reign to explore all possible scenarios without accountability to facts, because there are few real facts available where the future is concerned. In The Garden of Forking Paths, the idea of Tsun's grandfather presenting various futures and paths in which we all journey, except not together and sometimes not at all. It reminds me of the old saying, "If a branch falls off a tree in a forest, yet no one was around to hear it fall, then in fact did it make a sound at all?" It is the same idea that if my future exists only in the direction I take, yet do I exist at all, if someone in China never knew me or had any impact whatsoever on their life? What bearing does the future have on the individual whose life may never have contact with the outside forces of society? Tsun says, " Then I reflected that all things happen, happen to one precisely now. Century follows century, and things happen only in the present. There are countless men in the air, on land and at sea, and all that really happens happens to me"(90). The alternative narrative reminds me of the movie, It's a Wonderful Life in which Jimmy Stewart is shown how he has impacted the lives of so many people around him and that things would be drastically different if he were not born. It is this kind a narrative that makes one think about how existence is in relation of how people interact with each other as a whole society. [KC 2001]

Apocalyptic narratives see the world coming to an end. These narratives share a pattern of a world in chaos that will ultimately be destroyed and a new world will emerge. This vision is seen in "The Book of Revelations" where the "story" has a definite beginning ("Genesis") and an end. The action in "Revelations" is rapid, dramatic, and life-changing. The imagery is on a grand scale, almost unimaginable, such as the earthquake that was so powerful "the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell" (16:19). Yet it is in these images that a metamorphosis takes place: chaos or war destroys the world and a new one emerges "for the first heaven and the first earth were past away," and a world has begun (21:1). Thus, the future of the world is written and cannot be changed.

However, the evolutionary narrative says that the future is change and is being written. In Octavia Butler’s novel Parable of the Sower, we see this change; change is in the environment and in the people themselves as they adapt to their surroundings. Lauren knows that things have changed and will continue to change. She says that "Change is part of life," and that "Change is ongoing. Everything changes in some way..." (p. 23, 195). Here Lauren speaks in evolutionary terms; as humans progress, they change the environment which in turn changes the human species that must adapt to survive the new world.

This evolutionary idea of adapting was also seen in the presentation of Soylent Green and the novel The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. In Soylent Green, the population has exceeded the food resources, and the people are forced to adapt to their new environment. To survive, the people must eat food wafers made from the bodies of those who did not survive. In The Time Machine, the future is divided into the Elois and the Morlocks. The Elois being the leisure class and the Morlocks being the working class, both have settled in their roles, but the Morlocks have adapted to the underground in which they live, and they now depend upon eating the Elois for food. Thus, the change in the environment has forced a change in human behavior; this change in behavior is shaped by the new environment and the human will to survive, which may result in creating behavior that would otherwise have been unnecessary, or perhaps nonexistent. [Lla 2001]

Both apocalyptic and evolutionary narratives can be difficult to separate. They seem to exhibit some similar ideas. Even though there is a catastrophic ending in apocalyptic narratives, someone has to grow and change to adapt, or evolve, into a new person capable of handling the differences between the old world and the new one. Many of the characters in the stories we have read experienced major changes. Lauren became a strong woman when she had earlier been a child living by her father’s guidelines. The once-trusting Time Traveler had to become a killer of Morelocks to protect himself. Stone moved from a blind, homeless nothing to a sighted man running the major corporation left him by his deceased mother.

Even in "Mozart in Mirrorshades," the characters evolve from the seemingly meek eighteenth-century people they were to cut-throat back-stabbers to get their cards that allowed them entry into the future. Even though "Mozart" is an alternative narrative, it shows the characters changing to meet the needs and challenges of the strange people of the future. [TB 2001]

"Somebody Up There Loves Me" is evolutionary. Economy and life is a struggle for survival, a cycle of boom and bust. Industrial products appear as generations, extinct species, in this case old computers. Evolutionary nature corresponds to human culture. I really related to this story. It seems that everything goes wrong and depression sets in, but only one thing can happen and the world is golden again. [SMJ 2001]

[sample from in-class midterm]

In some of these texts the narrative styles overlap. The Book Of
Genisis,and Revelations can be compared to Parable of the Sower, in Parable
the apocalyptic and evolutionary narrative overlap. The opening of Parable is
like the security of the Garden of Eden, chaos is swirling around, her world
is described as : " Babylon has fallen, and is become the habitation of
devils..."(128). This aspect of the story is very apocalyptic but, the
further you read the more it becomes evolutionary. The strong survive in her
world.
Since people are naturally curious to our purpose, I think all three
of these narratives have appeal. If the future is written like in The Book Of
Revelations, this gives people a purpose, faith that there is an afterlife.
It also limits people to what they can do.
If the future is not written this opens up every possibility. I think
everyone has said "If I'd only done this" or "I hadn't done that," it would
have changed the outcome somehow. Dr. White said, " A future we want is
usually a past that we lost" Depending on where one is and what someone
believes there will always be conflict between evolutionary and apocalyptic
narratives.
The apocalyptic narrative is written, static, fixed. The shape is
linear. Genisis to Revelation, beginning to end.
In the evolutionary narrative the future is being written; a dynamic,
living universe evolves. The shape is cyclical: changing seasons,
species, and generations. [SP 2001]

Conclusion: Options (20-30 minutes)

Write on either or both of these options for concluding your essay.

• Is the future written or being written?
• Is Literature of the Future a course in literature or a course in culture? Is the balance right, or could it be improved? If so, how?

Style points:

• You needn’t wait for the conclusion to begin discussing these issues, but at least use the conclusion to summarize.
• Review your essay's main points in terms of your conclusion. Indicate what you’ve learned about Literature and / or the Future.

In Thomas Parker's presentation he asks does society romanticize the idea of an apocalyptic ending and are we feeding into the belief that nothing can change what is predestined? By believing that our world is destined to doom goes against the very essence of our being. Humans thrive to survive, and feeding into the notion that people should just throw up their hands in despair is a frightening. From an individual standpoint, the future is being written in accordance to how people respond to the world around them. Perhaps, natural disasters, and diseases may not always be avoided, but to believe that society is going to self-destruct is dangerous and unthinkable. The Jerry Springer crowd that dwells on the imperfections and mistakes of society will always be shrilly shouting that the sky is falling, but as long as that mindset remains a minority, I believe people will continue to advance and evolve in positive and productive ways. [KC 2001]

All in all, we have to decide which ‘forked path’ we would like to take or should we let evolution take its course? As Lauren states in "Parable of the Sower", "God is shaping us and being shaped by us." Hence, we are shaping or choosing our futures. This course has made me lean towards the future being written. My feelings are more optimistic because of the awareness I have of tomorrow. The world is not necessarily a straight line, but could be as Stone’s memory,

"Stone’s memory is excellent, trained in a cruel school, and he assimilates much. But each path he follows has a branch every few steps, and each branch splits at frequent points, and those tertiary branches also sprout new ones, no less rich than the primaries." [HA 2001]

I feel in a sense that our future is written because some things happen in our lives that will happen no matter what we do. In Michelle Glenn’s presentation, Left Behind, the people couldn’t run or hide, they just had to accept the fact that it was their time to go. For instance, if you have defected genes in your body there is really not much you can do because most of the time you are already sick when it is found out, so it was meant to be. Now, a switch to all of this is that there are things that we can change to re-write our future as we see it. In "Better be ready...", Zach was born a male, but he decided he wanted to be a female, so when he had a sex change did he re-write his future or was it already in the plan that he would have a sex change? Zach evolved into something that he wanted to be not, what he was told to be. I think that was a form of evolution because he did it in his own season, not at a time when someone told him now is the time . . . [DM 2001]

One of the main themes that has appeared in the course is the question "is the future written or being written?" My take on an answer is that it is both, much the way Butler portrays in her novel. That we are merely a blip on the evolutionary time line is a fact. That other species have come and gone before us is also a fact, which leads me to the conclusion that, one day, an apocalypse is inevitable. No one species or form of life can realistically expect to survive into a time that is unimaginable and completely beyond the scale of humanities existence. However, it seems that we are also writing our future with the choices that we make on a daily basis. If we choose to ignore the warning signs that the environment is giving us, we may destroy ourselves altogether more quickly than we could be undone by any Evolutionary cycle.

This course, while its main focus is on the future, cannot help but closely examine the culture that exits now and has previously existed. "The Time Machine" can hardly be covered without reference to the social criticism that it contains. It seems that every narrative that we have read can be seen as a product of the culture and times in which it was written. "Stone Lives" recalls the veracious capitalism of America in the 1980's much in the same way that Revelation can be seen as a product of the era of Christian persecution in which it was written. "Somebody Up There Likes Me" deals directly with the trend that became so prevalent in the mid-1990's towards instant, and often misunderstood, communication in the age of Information. What we can know about the future is up for grabs, but certainly, everything that we know is colored by the times in which we live. It would be impossible to separate the two in such a class as Literature of the Future, just as it is impossible to separate any text studied in a literature class from the period of its production.

The views of the future offered in the texts that we have studied have been diverse, often frightening as in the case of the Revelation and Parable of the Sower, and even a combination of the frightening and the fantastic in "Stone Lives." All offer a glimpse into the heart of our culture and maybe even a glimpse into our future. With such Alternative future narratives as, "Garden" and "Mozart" we are compelled to look at time on a more evolutionary scale, rather than a line extending into infinity. Which raises the question of what such takes on the futures influence may b?. Does our future hold cyberdroid sex slaves as propositioned in Glenn's presentation, or perhaps it more closely resembles the golden age of ancient Greece? If time is branching out in all directions, what can we know about the future except the true limitlessness of the possibilities that is may hold? [TP 2001]

Is the future written or being written? It is common to view apocalyptic views of the future as written or foreseen as the Book of Revelation. Evolutionary future is being written as things change and evolve. Lauren in Parable is giving accounts of her future as it happens. Alternative future is also being written as each branch takes a different path. As for the future of the world as I know it, I tend to rely on Revelation and thus feel that it is written. However, like Lauren in Parable, there are choices to be made. In that aspect, I am writing my individual or personal future. Because this course hangs on the foundations of peoples beliefs and human interaction, it may be considered more a course in culture than literature. [AP 2001]

I think this is a course in both literature and culture. The literature aspect would be learning, studying and recognizing the three different narratives in this genre. Being able to discuss apocalyptic, evolutionary and alternative narratives with examples from the text. Similar requirement to any literature course at this level of education but, because of the diverse group of people in class, it is also a course in culture. Since we have the individual presentations, personal ideas and beliefs are expressed that teach us that we aren't all carbon copies of each other. [SP 2001]

Literature of the Future helps us question what we have done and what we will do. I guess you could say, it has been written but who is to say what will be written? We must adhere to the written, yet keep our hearts and souls open to what will be written. There is no perfect world or person. What would we accomplish if everyone were perfect? There would be no variety. What would we base our criteria of perfection on? Each culture has their own perfections, which one is perfect? Isn’t it wonderful to have diversity? We will always be challenged to improve but we will never reach perfection because of our uniqueness.

Just as people are diverse so is the wonder of narratives. Narratives take a linear, cyclic or branching paths, time can jump from past, present and future in a narrative. This is the soul of the human race; we develop from what we have learned to what we will learn. We can learn who we are to what we will be. We have options, choices, which are presented through narratives. I have thoroughly enjoyed this class. An open mind is a mind that will seek knowledge. I have opened my mind through the many paths that narratives offer. [PT 01]

I would describe this course to another student as a challenge. It forces you to examine your belief system and wonder, "What if?" I have learned that I am so much more of an apocalyptic person than I ever imagined. I have been taught all of my life about the end of the world through Revelations, but not until now have I placed much thought into it.

This course has also enlightened me to the fact that people do believe technology will soon bring us into unchartered territory. We may end up in grave danger from those that abuse the technology. On the other hand, we could offer many alternatives to the sick and infirmed that would allow them to lead a "normal" life.

All three of these narrative styles show up in our daily lives. By simply watching television, or even channel-surfing, one viewer can witness the end of an era, someone changing to meet the challenges of his world, or dreaming of an alternate universe where things are different. [TB 2001]

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Link to Complete Email Essay example 1

Link to Complete Email Essay example 2

Link to Complete In-Class Essay example 3