Unit 10.4: Stories of Other Worlds: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Imaginative Literature

The final quarter of the year gives students Enduring Understandings opportunities to let their minds roam free to distant • Science fiction and fantasy combine realistic or imagined worlds, as they explore texts that and fantastic elements to examine and pose questions about our world. intentionally create new settings in order to • Authors work within and against the conventions of established genres to achieve comment on the authors’ own societies. Whether the different purposes. stories question the benefits and dangers of new • Effective storytellers control multiple narrative elements to capture readers’ technology or criticize social practices through imaginations. • Willing suspension of disbelief allows subtle, allegorical narratives, they offer a unique readers of fantastical literature to consider provocative philosophies. perspective on the real world by creating one that mirrors it. Each generation’s anxieties, from the nuclear threat of the postwar era to the more recent rise of electronic networks that

simultaneously connect and isolate individuals in a Essential Questions worldwide community, find new expression • Why do some authors choose to through the varied types of stories that writers tell. communicate ideas through imaginative fiction? Students analyze the methods these authors use to • How do writers create worlds that are imaginary yet believable? achieve their purposes, simultaneously questioning • How do writers break new ground within the assumptions that they make. In addition, they established genres? practice creating their own imagined societies in • What makes some stories more engaging than others? order to make a strong statement about the one they

live in.

Common Tasks 10.4.1 Analyze the effects of the author’s structural choices in a narrative. 10.4.2 Deliver a multimedia presentation that evaluates the significance of a text. 10.4.3 Write a science fiction/fantasy narrative that explores an important theme. 10.4.4 Compare the techniques or purposes of two texts.

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Texts At minimum, students will read one core text during the unit. Teachers may lead them through more but should emphasize the key ideas of the unit by including several of the shorter pieces suggested below, including essays, poems, short stories, and nonprint texts. These lists of supplementary texts are not exhaustive; teachers may consider other, similar works that are appropriate for the objectives of the unit. A literature circle approach for part of the unit gives students choices about independent reading opportunities that they may then use for the common tasks and other assessments.

Core Texts 1984 George Orwell Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury Frankenstein Mary Shelley Lord of the Flies William Golding

Recommended Literature Circle Texts Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Lewis Carroll Big Fish Daniel Wallace The Fellowship of the Ring J.R.R. Tolkien Flatland Edwin Abbott Life of Pi Yann Martel The Martian Chronicles Ray Bradbury The Once and Future King T.H. White The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde The Princess Bride William Goldman

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Shorter Works “A Haunted House” Virginia Woolf “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson Murders in the Rue Morgue (excerpts) Edgar Allan Poe “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” Samuel Taylor Coleridge “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” Gabriel Garcia Marquez “The Yellow Wallpaper” Charlotte Perkins Gilman

“On Science Fiction” Kurt Vonnegut “Close Encounters” Jonathan Lethem (available through Proquest)

Reading Skill Focus setting, style, syntax Writing Skill Focus comparison/contrast; narrative techniques: description, diction, symbolism

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Language Conventions

Teachers are expected always to teach grammar concepts and other language conventions in the context of writing; the goal is not for students to be able to memorize terms, but to be able to think clearly about ways to improve their own writing. Exercises in sentence combining, expansion, and imitation offer ways students can compose more sophisticated and effective sentences. Separated and simulated instruction may be used to introduce concepts, especially those listed as focus skills below; include integrated instruction to ensure that students apply these and other skills in their writing.

Focus Skill (to be addressed explicitly during the unit) • Define and use relative and adverbial clauses.

Review Skills (to be taught based on students’ needs) • Correctly use frequently confused words (among/between, it’s/its, loose/lose, farther/further). • Correct inappropriate shifts in verb voice and mood. • Correct misplaced and dangling modifiers.

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

Vocabulary acquisition continues to be a necessary and vital part of the English curriculum. Vocabulary study not only enhances understanding of the writer’s craft—how word choice creates character, defines mood, and sets tone—but also is the key to a richer reading of all texts. Determining meaning and understanding word structure give students the tools to become independent, strategic readers of challenging texts. As students learn about the variety and richness of English, they should be encouraged to use language that is both precise and expressive.

Students will • study unfamiliar words that are critical to understanding the text, including those identified by the teacher and themselves. • study terms and concepts central to the meaning of a particular text to promote deeper understanding. These words include course terms that are part of the language used to talk about texts. • use knowledge of word relationships and word parts to make connections to unknown words. • study the structure of words by working with roots and affixes and with words drawn from the assigned texts. • incorporate rich, precise, and varied language in their own writing and speaking.

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Course Terms

Allegory Irony Style dramatic Allusion Subtext situational Comparison verbal Syntax Contrast Narrative devices Theme Diction characterization Tone conflict Dramatic irony Writing process denouement inquiry Euphemism epiphany pre-writing mood Fantasy drafting plot revision/deep revision Figurative language point of view editing/surface revision hyperbole setting presentation/publishing metaphor theme oxymoron tone personification Science fiction pun simile Setting understatement Six Traits of Writing Flashback ideas and development organization Foreshadowing voice diction (word choice) syntax (sentence fluency) conventions

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