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(2016
midterm assignment) Model Student Midterm answers 2016 (Index) Essay 2: Personal / professional topic |
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Nikki
Jones
23
March 2016
Science Fiction: A Tangible Future?
Personally, I have never been a huge fan of the typical science fiction
novel or movie. My interests have always leaned more towards fiction that has an
element of fantasy to it but is also realistic and tangible. Things that are
more likely to happen, rather than things that would typically happen in science
fiction, like an alien invasion, for example. The thing about
Parable of the Sower that I have
never experienced with other science fiction reads or films, like
Blade Runner or
A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,
is a tangible future, something that has an actually possibility of happening.
There is a real chance that America could in the future blunder and end up being
similar to the state of the world in
Parable. Also there is a realness to Lauren and her coming-of-age story that
I think students just coming into their own as well can understand and relate
to. Parable mixes the two genres of
science fiction and dystopia. I believe students comprehend and appreciate this
softer type of literature much more than pure, hard science fiction novels. As a
substitute teacher and future educator I strive to understand what novels and
genres are the most relevant and enjoyed by the students of today. I find it
enjoyable to think of ways to have novels relate to the students reading them or
to help them find a way to understand the novel at hand. I believe there are
many ways in doing this and achieving this goal.
In my teaching career I have found so far that the only thing that will
keep a middle or high school student’s attention are things that they find a
high level of interest in. At that age what are they more interested in other
than themselves? They are constantly striving to understand who they are and to
find like-minded peers. Sometimes they will find these peers in characters in a
novel and end up relating to the traits and qualities they share with them. They
may even grow to idolize these heroic characters. There are books required in
public school curriculum, like The Giver,
that provides this kind of character for students, but
Parable gives its audience something
a little different from the norm. This is because Lauren, instead of just
falling by chance into the lead role,
strives to be a leader in the novel. From the beginning Lauren has an
extremely strong personality for her age, possibly because of her sharing
abilities, and seeks out ways to be a prophet for others through Earthseed.
Authors like Suzanne Collins and James Dashner have utilized this same
type of headstrong and bold main character through their similarly themed books,
The Hunger Games and
The Maze Runner. Through their own
novels they have mirrored parallel themes and symbols used in
Parable. The popularity of these
books have skyrocketed recently due to big budgeted feature films produced based
off of the series’ of novels and that have been released in the recent years.
Authors, film directors, and educators alike are beginning to understand how
this appeals to the younger generation in a way that books have not been able to
in past years. Films created based on a book series tend to intrigue students to
read the book series for themselves. Librarians and teachers can use this in the
classroom to help students become interested in other related novels, to help
guide students from reading simplistic books to more intricate ones, or even to
help students start reading at a younger age.
Similarly, teachers can use simple books to help younger students to
grasp challenging concepts involved in a genre or a difficult book. Younger
readers and ones just starting out may not understand the more complex concepts
that come with certain genres of futuristic literature but through certain books
they can begin to understand the basic concepts that surround the genre. Take
for instance, Mary Pope Osbourne’s The
Magic Treehouse book series. It is one of the most popular book series for
young readers, I can even remember reading many of the books as well. In the
multiple books in The Magic Treehouse
series two siblings, Annie and Jack, are able to travel backwards and even
forwards through time to visit many pivotal historical eras and events. Although
these books are intended for students at the elementary level they cover themes
and situations that readers and educators see take place in more advanced
novels, such as H.G. Well’s The Time
Machine. This classic novel has transcended through the decades due to its
simple yet intriguing writing style and plot. H.G. Well’s was also one of the
first authors to explore the realm of time travel. We, as humans, have a natural
curiosity to know or predict everything about our future, especially students at
the high school age. Questions about their future are all they are thinking
about or being asked. From the age of sixteen or so students have to think
realistically about what career they are going to choose, what college they want
to attend, if they are going out of state, they are practically plunging
headfirst into their future. In theory, they should understand the curious
nature of the time traveler and what compels him to travel into the future
because they can relate to him wanting to know for certain what the future
holds, only on a larger scale than theirs. The same students may have a stronger
understanding and relate to the story even more if they read
The Magic Treehouse when they were
young. The concept of the novel would be something familiar and time travel
would not be a foreign concept to the reader.
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