Science Fiction & Modern Fantasy

Genre Study:

Science fiction is a literary genre of fiction that involves speculations on current or future science or technology. Science fiction books incorporate imaginative elements not found in contemporary or modern reality such as fantastical or unreal components. Within the science fiction genre, the contexts of most stories have imaginary elements that are largely possible within the scientific established or scientifically assumed laws of nature. For the most part, the elements are largely imaginative and speculative which makes science fiction a genre of ideas. The purpose for science fiction is to write for entertainment and to write rationally about the alternate possibilities in settings that are contrary to reality. Science fiction is a genre that generalizes from current scientific trends. The technology of a science fiction story may be either the driving force of the story or merely the setting for a drama, but all science fiction tends to predict or define the future. Fantasy is a genre not based in reality presupposing that magic and mythical/supernatural creatures exist. Fantasy adventure is a sub-genre of fantasy, which suggests that magic exists in our modern-day world, and often wrestles with contemporary issues. Science fiction and fantasy books can be used in the classroom to drive students to think outside the box about issues and creative possibilities of our world. Students can be encouraged to work on their own writings involving science fiction elements or fantastical components.

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Selected Titles:

Collins, S. (2010). Mockingjay. New York: Scholastic Press.

Mockingjay has a reading interest level for grades 7-9 and a Lexile level of 810L and grade level equivalent of 5.3. Mockingjay is the third book of the Hunger Games trilogy, and it is a book that students can read after they have read through The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. The themes presented in this trilogy are preferably suited for older readers at least in the 6th grade. Readers can identify several connections and comparisons to situations in history that are similar to the actions that are played out in this text. Students can easily compare and contrast aspects from what they understand about war and conflicts in the US and in the world. Teenage readers will develop a strong appreciation for the main characters in the text like Katniss, Gale, Peeta, and others because they are all teenagers who are making a change in the world that they live. Overall the meaning, text organization, vocabulary, sentence structure, life experiences, and cultural knowledge are very complex qualitative components of the text.

Farmer, N. (2002). The house of the scorpion. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

The House of the Scorpion has a Lexile Level of 660 and an AR Book Level of 5.1. The text complexity band level is 2^nd-3^rd and the recommended text complexity band level is 4^th-8^th grade. Although this book is leveled quite low, the content within the book is not a good suit for students of a lower grade level, which is why I would recommend this book for advanced readers at the upper elementary level and students in middle school. This would be a great book to use for opinion writing and argumentative writing. The way this boy was born or ”created” is quite a controversial topic so it could turn into a heated topic of discussion. The themes explored in this book include growing up, equality/human civil rights, and social perspectives on science. A connection to the real world explored in this text is equality because it is an issue that continues to be brought up in our society today and has been brought up regularly in the past. Another connections would be social perspectives on science, which is a topic that continues to be a hot topic of discussion in our society today as we continue to advance our technology today. A third connection is growing up or the coming of age that almost each and every one of our students continue to experience in their lives. Some students may have a difficult time making connections with the text through the perspective of the social perspectives of science, specifically depending on the grade level of the students.  If students are in upper elementary, they might not have much background knowledge to use in the process of making connections with the text.  They also may not fully understand the process of “test tube children” at this point in their lives. It will be important for us to consider the maturity of our students who plan to read this text. We may also need to provide students with background knowledge on this social perspective of science in order for them to further understand the text. We could also provide students with comprehension strategies to further help students grab an understanding of what is going on within the text. The House of the Scorpion has won the Newbery Honor Book, Michael L. Printz Honor Book, and the National Book Award Winner.