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
Good! Glad that you found the writing/argumentation practice useful; that should be a portable skill that will transfer outside of this class and go with you.
ReplyDeleteI'm doing "future reading" suggestions for everyone; based on what you like, check out:
“The Handmaid’s Tale,” Margaret Atwood: Set in a dystopic future, a woman is now forced into a sexual role she doesn’t want. Interesting and unusual narrative method. Also does interesting stuff with religion.
“The Left Hand of Darkness,” Ursula Le Guin: An interesting look at gender, as this story features a world without sex/gender most of the time and the man who goes to visit. Set in the Hain universe. This is a friendship-love story of impressive depth, and features some of my favorite characters in SF.
“Never Let Me Go,” Kazuo Ishiguro. Secretly SF, this focuses on a group of people who were very tight-knit growing up and their relationships. Part way through, the reader figures out the novum, which is intense! A quiet, reflective, realist novel.
If you check these out, enjoy!