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Fantasy booktalks:
Get into three groups. Each groups is given
one
of the genres of speculative fiction. They brainstorm the types
of
characters and scenarios which might appear in their genres
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Have them present their list to the class. Ask
others
to add any characters or scenarios they can come up with.
What do these lists tell you about the genres?
What
do they show about speculative fiction in general?
Discussion: One of the biggest question that
presents itself with fantasy is how does an author take this obviously
made up world and draw the reader in?
The big question to discuss: How does the author/narrative get the reader to engage with this fantasy world? What made your fantasy novel "believable" (or not) for you?
If you finish early discuss:
Who might the implied reader be for your novel?
How would you approach using the novel in English/Language Arts class?
On the appeal of speculative worlds:
I believe we have evolved to speculate about possibilities. It’s a very useful survival tool for a species expanding into new and different terrains. We still go on doing it because our minds are that shape. (Peter Dickinson)
Part of it, of course, is the spare room for the imagination to spread out. It takes more work to imagine a world that existed in the distant past, or worlds that never existed, and worlds that might exist. The more we exercise our imaginations, the more we expand our own creativity, and the more ways we find to help us fend off the boredom of everyday life. Fantasy also gives many of those who read and write it a chance to toy with some of the most powerful ideas, characters and events from history, placing them in a different context to see how they might unravel if particular elements were changed. (Tamora Pierce)
Also, at least as far as fantasy is concerned, we are tapping into
some
of the most powerful images and symbols in human culture: the struggle
between good and evil, or destruction and growth; the sources of
ancient
myths and legends, the great hero sagas that inspire people when we
need
inspiration most... Kids are passionate by nature; they want
stories
and characters who pack a punch on all levels, which leave them with
matter
for thought and imagination long after the book is set aside.
Fantasy,
with its theme of powerful, ungovernable energies (magic itself), and
characters
which draw from the world's ancient lifeblood (folklore, myth, and
legend),
is a form which speaks strongly to its readers. (Tamora Pierce)
On creating a believable speculative world:
By fully imagining it as concrete and coherent. If you’re reading a realistic novel and you come across something that isn’t so in the real world, it has the effect of turning that scene ? perhaps the whole book ? into cardboard. Almost all fantasy has real-world elements in it. They’ve got to be right. And the fantasy elements have to mesh with them, and just as solidly with each other. I find fantasy harder to write than realistic fiction. (Peter Dickinson)
It helps if the magic itself works in a systematic way, that it follows rules and there are times when it can and can't be used. In a literary sense it must meet all of the demands of any other system for believability, so that using magic becomes like using any tool or force of the real world. Dramatically the use of fantasy fails if the wizard can resolve everything with a spoken word and a wave of a wand. For there to be drama there must be struggle; people must overreach; they must fail; they must try again or accept their failure and move on. Magic, like weapons, like a weaver's loom, like the distillation of napalm, has to follow rules of some kind if it is to generate good drama and not simply wish fulfillment. (Tamora Pierce)
Activities connected to Fantasy
FanfictionExtending the Fantasy World
Newspaper (Daily prophet)
Mapping the fantasy world as a form of retelling
Puzzling out the secrets of the fantasy world
Retelling in other ways
Writing Reviews
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Speculative Fiction Banned!!
How will you as a teacher deal with the issue of parents (and outside groups) who wish to remove these books for the school?
In pairs:
Imagine you have included
several
speculative fiction titles on your reading list and there are
objections
from parents. How will you deal with this?
If one parent in the class does not want their child to read a book that is a whole class readIf one parent does not want a particular book included in the classroom at all
If several parents object to their child reading a book that is a whole class read
If a number of parents have objected to certain books being in the classroom
Of course one way of
dealing with this issue effectively is to convince
administrators/parents that there are literay qualities that make these
books effective as part of the curriculum, that they are quality
writing not just pleasure reads.
Discuss the
literary
elements you have explored for today in terms of these novels.
What might you say about characters; plot; setting; voice; style;
themes when creating a rationale for using these books.
Animal
& Toy