Science Fiction or Fantasy

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Science Fiction or Fantasy

• Which Will YOU Choose?

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Science Fiction
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Characteristics

• Science Fiction (SF) is a major genre in fiction
• SF stories are usually set in the future, have a
  strong technological element, and often include
  alien characters.

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• The best Sci-Fi stories have
• strong, distinct characters and solid
• plots.
• Aliens are frequently major characters in
• SF. They can assume the role of villain or
• hero.

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Settings

• Settings are usually detailed.
• Authors must define their worlds clearly if
• readers are to find them believable.

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• Many SF stories are based on scientific
  principles.
• When new physical laws are introduced to stories,
  they are usually based on current physics, or at
  least theoretical assumptions.
• Sometimes however, SF authors invent entirely new
  worlds.

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• Some SF authors have the uncanny ability to
  predict the future.
• For example lasers were used in SF as death-rays
  long before they became a reality, wireless
  communications devices, used by planetary
  explorers, have become a fact in our cellular
  phones, submarines were used in the 1800s
• As our world becomes more dependent on
  technology, it is likely that Sci-Fi will
  continue to be popular.

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Fantasy
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Fantasy

• Fantasies are stories that include events and
  characters that go beyond reality.
• They seem so real that they could be true
• Fantasy stories may be set in distant times or
  places, or may be set now in rather typical
  situations.

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Characteristics

• Fantasy is a broad category of fiction in which
  magic or the belief in the unreal - is
  essential to the plot.
• Sword and sorcery are major parts of the story in
  which the hero or heroine battles evil.

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Heroic Fantasy

• Stories set in old, usually forgotten
  civilizations on earth or elsewhere.

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Contemporary Fantasy

• This is fantasy in which ordinary people find
  themselves confronting magic or situations beyond
  reality. Ex. Twilight, Harry Potter, Percy
  Jackson
• The theme of most fantasies is good versus evil.
• Many fantasy novels have been made into movies.

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Settings

• Authors must create the worlds of their fantasy
  stories with great detail.
• The unreal situations they present to the
  reader must seem entirely believable.

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Which Will You Choose??
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Reading Assignment

• As you read, find examples of the charcateristics
  of the genre you chose
• Record them on the bookmark provided
• Have it completed by the due date for handing in