LITR 4632: Literature of the Future

Student Future-Visions Presentation 2007

Tuesday, 12 June: Future-vision presenter: Jenny Aleman-Spray

Deep Impact: How would our society react?

·        PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

  1. To identify, describe, and criticize the narratives or stories humans tell about the future.  

Apocalyptic, some evolutionary aspects.

  1. To identify, describe, and criticize typical visions or scenarios of the future:

Actual Reality, low tech

 

  • SUMMARY:

            A teenage astronomer, Leo discovers an “abnormal” object in the sky.  One year later it comes to the attention that it is a comet that is headed straight for Earth.  This comet is big enough to wipe out civilization as we know it.  The government tries to plant bombs on it and destroy it but they fail.  Underground shelters are made for 800,000 randomly selected Americans to join 200,000 pre-selected scientists, engineers, teachers, artists, soldiers and officials. These people will be part of a worldwide effort to save mankind from extinction. 

Leo and his family could be saved in the underground shelters, but Sarah, his girlfriend and her family were left behind.  Leo leaves his family and heads out to find Sarah, when he finds her on the freeway that is at a standstill and he takes her and her infant brother on a motorbike to high ground in the Appalachian Mountains.  When the comet hits it causes a mega-tsunami which kills a vast amount of people and destroys several states.

I do not want to give away the ending if you haven’t seen it

 

  • Why I chose this movie.

Asteroid Apophis, formerly called 2004 MN4, is ranked Torino Scale 1, with impact odds of about 1-in-5,000 on April 13, 2036

 

·        Questions:

 

1.     This movie relates to Parable of the Sower by the scenes of people sticking together and/or fighting against one another to survive.  Do you think this is how our society will react if we end up in this type of situation?

 

2.       Would you try preserving yourself and your family to risk coming out to nothing left or would you live your life to the fullest and let whatever is to come happen?

 

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 http://www.space.com/news/051103_asteroid_apophis.html