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The Final Frontier

Science Fiction. The Final Frontier. How Can You Tell if it’s Science Fiction?. Story contains futuristic technology-technology that hasn’t been invented yet. (Avatar) Blends science fact and fictional elements. (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs)

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The Final Frontier

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  1. Science Fiction TheFinal Frontier

  2. How Can You Tell if it’s Science Fiction? • Story contains futuristic technology-technology that hasn’t been invented yet. (Avatar) • Blends science fact and fictional elements. (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) • Speculates on what might happen in society if current trends continue. (2012, Day After Tomorrow) • Utopias and the price you pay. (Wall-E)

  3. Themes in Science Fiction • Love • Justice • Truth • Loyalty • Goodness • Courage • Wisdom • Equality or Fairness

  4. Controversy • Looking at society and saying “what if” or “why not” tends to make people uncomfortable. • Asking us to look at our own society’s inequalities or dark sides isn’t always pretty. • Often written for adults so it includes subject matter not considered appropriate for children. • Asks us the question of what price will you pay for a perfect society?

  5. Types of Science Fiction 1. We call out to the Universe to see who answers… And the Answer is….. • Dinner is served! • Look at all the pretty little animals! • Look at all those resources! And then WWIII. • Alright! Free labor! • Big Brother shows up to show us the way. • Earth is quarantined or slated for destruction.

  6. Types of Science Fiction 2. We go visiting other planets and find more “primitive” life forms. • Is it the colonists vs. the Indians all over again? • Do we destroy another planet’s ecosystem just because we want the resources? • Do we give benevolent “help” and move the natives up to our technological level? • Do we have a policy of non-intervention? • Who of us gets to go and benefit from space exploration? Avatar

  7. How Science imitates Fiction • In 1977, NASA launched a probe called Voyager to explore some of the planets in our solar system. • Attached to Voyager was a golden record of greetings in various earth languages and the sounds of nature. • There was also a star map showing where Earth is located in relationship to the Milky Way Galaxy, our home galaxy. • Voyager is currently leaving the fringes of our solar system and will continue out into intragalatic space. • NASA will be able to communicate with Voyager through 2025 http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov

  8. Types of Science Fiction 3. Alternate universes- what would have happened if big turning points in earth history had gone the other way? (Planet of the Apes)

  9. Types of Science Fiction • 4. Man’s technology gets away from him and causes problems or destruction. (Terminator, Stephen King’s The Stand, I am Legend.

  10. Types of Science Fiction 5. Utopia studies and Worst Case scenarios. • The story really focuses on changes in society and human relationship interactions. • Set in another place and time so we can objectively look at things without having our prejudices and pre-conceived notions get in the way.

  11. Is it Science Fiction or Fantasy? • Fantasy uses elements magic or myth. • Science Fiction uses more “hard” or “real” science. *Lines between the two are often blurred and hard to define.*

  12. Jules Verne: one of the Founding Fathers of Science Fiction • “Anything one man can imagine, other men can make real.” Jules Verne from Around the World in Eighty Days. Jules Verne: Feb. 8, 1928 - Mar. 24, 1905

  13. Inventions and Ideas of Jules Verne that Came True • Submarines, especially electric (battery powered) • Televison and newscasts • Skywriting • Space satellites for communication and defense • Solar sails • Rockets and space flight and methods of landing the spacecraft. • Tasers • Videoconferencing or Skyping • Gene splicing, genetic recombination • Subways • Gasoline powered automobiles for the average person • Fax machines

  14. Science Fiction Greats • Isaac Asimov (January 2,1920-April 6, 1992) • Robert Heinlein (July 7, 1907-May 8, 1966) • Arthur C. Clarke (December 16, 1917-March 19, 2008) • Gene Roddenberry (August 19, 1921-October 24, 1991) • First Science Fiction Magazine: Astounding Science Fiction • Literary Award for Science Fiction: The Hugo

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