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 Midterm]

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. [JR 2001 Midterm]

This course, while its main focus is on the future, cannot help but closely examine the culture that exists 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 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. 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. […] All offer a glimpse into the heart of our culture and maybe even a glimpse into our future. [TP 2001 Midterm]