Pre-IB English
Per: 08
Mrs. Lidh Literature in a New Way
Literature is an essential medium for gaining knowledge and being entertained. The expression of human intuition, imagination, beauty, and concrete thinking is literature. Science Fiction is no different than literature. Literature engages people to launch themselves into the realm of the unknown, and it establishes peoples’ thinking. Science fiction is literature, because it has the potential to alter people emotionally, spiritually, and psychologically. Science fiction not only grasps readers’ attention emotionally, it also morally guides society towards the future. Science fiction involving love attracts readers. Science fiction evokes emotions through ideas. Some science fiction is about aliens, robots, or artificial intelligences (Gilks, Fleming, Allen 1). As a result, humans are intrigued by the narrative and find themselves wanting to know more about what is happening next. They discover new ideas in order to satisfy their curiosity. Science fiction’s desire to create life by unconventional means goes back a long a way (Gilks 1). In 1976 Isaac Asimov wrote The Bicentennial Man, about a robot that wanted so badly to be human, it did what humans’ do-it died (Gilks 1). Robots owe their existence to thoughtful, curious, and probing scientists. There is a profound respect for human beings and the story illumines the level of honor and respect. In this specific novel there is a powerful emotional connection between scientific characters and humans. Meanwhile, scientific novels attract people because they contain underlying messages that attempt to guide society down a moral path towards the future. Science fiction evokes peoples’ spiritual side because it stresses and brings forth self-analysis. According to the famous scientific writer Joanna Russ “science fiction is not only didactic, but very often awed, worshipful, and religious in tone” (1). Science fiction itself is
Cited: Gilks, Marg, Paula Fleming, and Moira Allen. “Science Fiction: The literature of Ideas.” WRITING-WORLD.COM: 1-4. Web. 21 April 2013. Gilks, Marg. “The Timeline of Science Fiction Ideas.” WRITING-WORLD.COM: 1-2. Web. 21 April 2013. Russ, Joanna. “Towards an Aesthetic of Science Fiction.” Science Fiction Studies 2.6(July 1975): 1-16. Web. 21 April 2013.