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(2015
midterm assignment) Model Student Midterm answers 2015 (Index) Essay 2: Personal / professional topic |
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Melissa Holesovsky
Could it Happen?
While the genre of science fiction has always been unappealing to me,
save Star Wars, I have returned to the same question again and again: Could it
happen? As a future secondary-level English/Language Arts teacher, I can see
myself trying to incorporate similar readings in my class and posing that very
question to my students and asking them to defend their answers. I believe this
would be an exercise that would encourage critical thinking and also teach
students about differences in opinions and why they are valuable.
Parable of the Sower is an
apocalyptical narrative of science fiction less the science. Lauren has to
return to a much simpler way of life in a lawless environment to survive long
enough to establish a colony with other survivors. It is my opinion that
Lauren’s story, while fiction, could be a possible reality in the near future.
Her efforts to live off the land require skills many no longer possess
and could be an interesting conversation starter in a classroom: What native
plants in the area are edible? I believe the lack of response would be
astonishing and make Lauren’s scenario, or one very similar, all the more
possible in the minds of my students.
The Time Machine would make a
great “could it happen” reading and is appropriate for secondary education. The
focus, however, would not be on the time travel, but rather the plausibility of
a species split and a future void of human beings bringing us full-circle to the
dawn of time in an evolutionary, cyclical nature of time. Critical thought here
would be discussion as to whether or not our current path could result in a
future similar to the one presented in the text and whether or not students
think intervention would result in decline or progress.
Bears Discover Fire, with its
evolutionary spin, would encourage theories as to whether or not bears could
learn enough about fire to utilize and attempt to answer the question about
their seeming domesticity. Here students could attack or defend the progress of
bears and possibly address the animalistic behaviors of the humans in the story
and whether or not it could be seen as decline.
Having learned some of the valuable concepts in this class, especially
evolution and the resulting decline/progress debate, I would most like to start
a “could it happen” debate over
Fahrenheit 451. The lack of books and increased reliance on TV resulting in
the decline of human intelligence and thought would be an excellent choice in a
classroom. Though written generations ago, this narrative is still very relevant
and features low-tech futuristic advancements that would not create a disconnect
with future audiences. Also the concept of what can be missed or overlooked when
our thoughts are on auto-pilot could be very eye opening to a young population.
Literature of the Future will likely play a large role in my future classroom
and influence my choices in texts as well as their manner of presentation.
Because I keep coming back to the “could it happen” question, many minds in my
classroom will probably do the same. Utilizing this broad, common question in my
classroom will help students develop critical thinking skills that will be
useful in both their personal and professional lives.
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