Post Twelve: Coming to an End

Science Fiction (LIT2020) Coming to an End: 

This class was a great learning experience and taught me things about science fiction that makes the genre more interesting to me. As I stated in the beginning, science fiction never appealed to me and I never gave it a chance. This class changed my view completely. Yea, it’s not going to be my first choice when reading something, but at least now I won’t completely turn the genre down. Not only did I learn about science fiction its self, but also different styles of viewing the stories and writing about the context and problems displayed in them. Being able to write a good argumentative paper has definitely been a challenge for me, but it made me think in a way I never had before. After reading so many different short stories, I am much better at determining the “novum” and “Marx” throughout. Being able to read and understand what is going on in science fiction, definitely took time to get used to. It makes you think in a way that isn’t used in other genres, but by doing so I am able to find the problem and solution in the novels I read now.

Of all the interesting stories we read this semester, my favorite was “When It Changed.” I don’t know what it was about this story but it just held my attention all the way through, and I could easily pinpoint the power dynamics of relationships going on between the characters. I like how it describes that women can take control and live without men in their lives. They are strong, confident and stand up for themselves and families, which I think is very important for women to know.

 Overall I learned a lot about science fiction that I never would have learned if it wasn’t for this class. AP you did a great job educating each of us and it helped me in more ways than just understanding a story. I look at stories completely different now, and love that my writing skills have broadened. Writing a damn good a paper without just telling a summary of the story felt amazing, and I owe that to you. Again, thank you for being an awesome teacher and helping me when I needed it. Reading a science fiction novel or short story, can officially be checked off my things to do! J

Post Eleven: Setting

Setting:

After discussing setting in class, I have a better understanding why it is so important in a story. The setting is what gives the readers a better sense of the story, because it helps the better visualize what is going on and better understand the characters. Not only does it help readers understand but also can set the mood of the story, and ties the whole story together. The setting doesn’t always have to just emphasize on the time and date the story took place, it can easily tie in the uniqueness of the circumstances and environment where the story took place. Without the setting the story would not make sense and be a bunch of nonsense written down. When writing a short story it is a necessity to have a setting.

Between the two stories we read this past week, both have setting that is easy to understand and made it easier for me to follow along. The story that I decided to go into more detail about the setting is “Bears Discover Fire,” by Terry Bisson. This short story goes into great detail about the surrounding areas, locations, landscapes, and time. It lets us know that Bobby’s house over looks the interstate, and how they are so close to I-65, “that at night sometimes the traffic sounds like a waterfall” (Bisson 378). Although the time is short within the story it still helps with the perception. Development of the characters is another big part in this story. It portrays the grandma to be crazy. Also describes Wallace Jr., and how he may be young but still understands what is going on with his mom. All throughout the story it goes into great detail about the physical location and adjectives; smell, slow, seldom, sad, sound, weather, etc. You never feel like you don’t know where or what is going on in this story.

This story did a great job with the setting and definitely made me feel as the reader more connected to the story. I felt like I knew exactly what was happening and could picture everything they were doing, and seeing. I never really thought much or paid attention to how important the setting was. Once I had to sit down and write about it and actually think about it, I now see why it is so important! 

Post Ten: Nature/Environment

Nature: 

As we discussed last week in class, there is a difference between what we perceive “nature” and “environment” to be. The way I look at nature is it’s considered to be the outside life, living things, animals, the physical world, plants, and different types of landscapes. As for environment, it’s what surrounds us. Where we place ourselves, and things that we are around daily.

When I think about nature, I feel as if things should be done naturally. As nature will develop on its own, grow without adding chemicals or adding other things to it. Even for a person trying to lose weight doing it naturally would be working out and eating healthier or smaller portions, not by taking a pill or any other kind of medicine. The picture that I am referring to is the one about losing weight naturally by taking Collagen Protein. Losing weight naturally would be done without putting an extra chemical into your body. Just like adding chemicals, seeds and other sorts of things to a plant, you are not letting the plant/tree grow “naturally.” Like the picture you showed us in class of the Palm trees in the mall, those trees are unable to grow naturally and aren’t in an environment you would expect them to live. Their growth is determined by maintenance, and will most likely die quicker due to the chemicals they receive.  

When we talked in class many people had different outlooks on nature and environment, so it is all how you perceive it. I for one don’t agree that taking pills is considered losing weight naturally. Also in the story/article we read in class, it talks about how nature is not just human but also non-human things. Even though it is non-human, I don’t see pills or any kind of chemical to be natural. After reading the article it definitely helped me understand the terms “nature” and “environment” better. Now I understand the actual difference and can distinguish between the two.

Source:  Picture of Lose Weight Naturally With Collagen Protein

http://www.lifenatural.com/images/collagen-weight-loss.jpg