LITR 4632: Literature of
the Future
Sample Student Midterms 2005
Complete In-Class Essay Example W
Liavette Peralta
20 June 2005
Midterm -
Literature of the Future
When I first heard the course title, “Literature of the Future”, I became interested in what texts a literature class might use to teach about the future. I immediately thought of aliens, robots, and science fiction novels as the theme for the course, but much to my surprise, the themes have been much broader and better than I thought. This course began by breaking down Literature of the Future texts into three categories, which was new information to me. After reading texts from each of the three categories and discussing them in class, I am aware of the differences in each of the three and the different patterns the texts follow. My eyes have been opened to topics I have never thought of or even considered before such as the extinction of water on earth as discussed in Annie McClintock’s future vision presentation of “Tank Girl”. To think the world could actually come to the point of not having any water or even see the extinction of humans on earth as in “The Time Machine” just blows my mind. These situations cause one to think of other possibilities that could come about if things continue going the way they are now.
For some, thinking of the future can be a scary thought, for others topics of the future may be of high interest and yet for others, the future is of no concern since the human life only lasts 100 or so years and after that they believe they will be in heaven and will not have to worry about any of these problems. This class has been interesting because I have heard comments from each of these views and get to listen to what other people think and what their opinions are instead of just what I think. One thing we all have in common is questions because no one knows exactly what is going to happen 30 or 40 years from now, so we all question and wonder and try to figure out how we might be living in the future. For people who ponder these issues and even for those who have never thought of the future, I highly recommend this course to open your eyes to reality.
Literature of the Future can be categorized as apocalyptic, evolutionary, or alternative. The three are quite different in their approaches and story content in that apocalyptic texts have a linear storyline and talk about one big event that brings the world to an end and destroys it with fire or something similar. The main difference in apocalyptic texts is that the future is already written, whereas in evolutionary narratives, the future is being written and the story has a cyclic pattern (life is a cycle). Alternative narratives tend to branch off in many directions with many possible alternatives for the individual based on the choices he or she makes.
The most popular of the three tends to be the apocalyptic narrative because people with strong religious beliefs take the end of the world seriously and want to prepare themselves for what is going to happen in the future. Another reason apocalyptic stories are widely read is the sense of hope one receives, as one student said,
Apocalyptic literature, in general, remains prevalent in our culture because there is usually a sense of hope or a chance of deliverance found within the text. In the end of The Revelation Jesus offers an escape from the horrible future that has just been depicted, saying, “Blessed are they that do his commandments that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” (Revelation 22:14).(Complete Midterm 2003, Example Z).
The book of Revelations is the prime example of apocalyptic narratives in that it speaks of the events leading up to Christ’s return and the end of the world. The details given are very descriptive and follow a specific order in which they will take place with the result of living in heaven and seeing your loved ones who have gone on before and to live eternally with Christ. Since the future has already been written in this book of the Bible, there is nothing that can be done to change it or prevent it but it does give a solution on how to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
In Parable of the Sower, both apocalyptic and evolutionary traits are present. The story can be seen as a parallel of the story of Jesus where Lauren’s father is like God, the good shepherd and leader of the neighborhood and Lauren can be seen as a Jesus figure since she becomes the prophet and messiah and takes her disciples with her out into the world and teaches them her beliefs. The story becomes evolutionary when Lauren states that God is Change. Lauren is also different from her father in her beliefs so she maintains the same position her father had but changes a few things which makes the story evolutionary since evolution is all about change and adaptations and survival in nature as stated by another student, “While Parable is a primarily apocalyptic text, it can also been seen as evolutionary. At the very least, there are some evolutionary concepts. While the world has obviously gone through a horrible time, humans are still alive and functioning in resourceful ways. Human adaptation is a key theme in evolutionary literature” (Mark Chapa Web Highlight). One of the humorous stories where adaptation is seen is “Bears Discover Fire” which is also an evolutionary narrative about bears who adapt to their surroundings and become human-like in that they can create fires and steal hubcaps from cars to hold their berries in. The bears and the berries in this short story have changed and evolved into something we’ve never seen before.
Stories such as Stone Lives and the Time Machine are all about surviving in an ever-changing world. These stories truly portray “survival of the fittest” where it’s not necessarily about what you know but who you know and what connections those people have to help you stay on top. Although the Time Machine was a little far-fetched for me, it was a good example of how humankind had evolved into these animal-like creatures called Morlocks and Eloi and at the time it was written, time travel was a fairly new concept and H.G. Wells was attempting to interest readers in time travel. One student said it very well when talking about the culture at the time the different texts were written when he said, “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 voracious 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” (TP 2001 Midterm). I find this statement to be very true and could not have said it better myself because I agree that every text written on the future reflects what was going on in society at that particular moment in time. Every text is a product of its society.
One of the things I have kept in mind while reading the narratives is how many of the issues we have covered are we seeing right now going on in the world around us? I can partly agree with the alternative view in that each person determines his or her future based on the decisions and choices he or she makes because we were created with a free will and have the ability to live our lives the way we please but every decision has a consequence, whether good or bad and many people do not think of the consequences their actions will result in down the road, but rather only think of the present. That’s why I believe it is important to take a look at the future and think about our future because we may not think we’re harming anyone with the choices we make, but in reality, one person’s decision can affect generations to come. I do believe the future is already written but nobody knows when the end will come. I disagree with those individuals who try to calculate dates as to the end of the world because it is clearly stated that Jesus will return like a thief in the night, when things are going good and everyone least expects it. One way or the other, whether He returns in this lifetime or not, we have to be ready to confront our future and decide where we want to spend eternity based on how we live this life on earth. I will think differently of the future from now on because I now think differently of the events that could possibly happen. This has truly been an enlightening course for me.