Rd., Urbana, Ill. 61801 (Stock 37882; $1.50, Non-Member; $1.35, Member) JOURNAL CIT Arizona English Bulletin; V15 N1 Entire Issue October 1972
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
DOCUMENT RESUME ED 091 691 CS 201 266 AUTHOR Donelson, Ken, Ed. TITLE Science Fiction in the English Class. INSTITUTION Arizona English Teachers Association, Tempe. PUB DATE Oct 72 NOTE 124p. AVAILABLE FROMKen Donelson, Ed., Arizona English Bulletin, English Dept., Ariz. State Univ., Tempe, Ariz. 85281 ($1.50); National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 Kenyon Rd., Urbana, Ill. 61801 (Stock 37882; $1.50, non-member; $1.35, member) JOURNAL CIT Arizona English Bulletin; v15 n1 Entire Issue October 1972 EDRS PRICE MF-$0.75 HC-$5.40 PLUS POSTAGE DESCRIPTORS Booklists; Class Activities; *English Instruction; *Instructional Materials; Junior High Schools; Reading Materials; *Science Fiction; Secondary Education; Teaching Guides; *Teaching Techniques IDENTIFIERS Heinlein (Robert) ABSTRACT This volume contains suggestions, reading lists, and instructional materials designed for the classroom teacher planning a unit or course on science fiction. Topics covered include "The Study of Science Fiction: Is 'Future' Worth the Time?" "Yesterday and Tomorrow: A Study of the Utopian and Dystopian Vision," "Shaping Tomorrow, Today--A Rationale for the Teaching of Science Fiction," "Personalized Playmaking: A Contribution of Television to the Classroom," "Science Fiction Selection for Jr. High," "The Possible Gods: Religion in Science Fiction," "Science Fiction for Fun and Profit," "The Sexual Politics of Robert A. Heinlein," "Short Films and Science Fiction," "Of What Use: Science Fiction in the Junior High School," "Science Fiction and Films about the Future," "Three Monthly Escapes," "The Science Fiction Film," "Sociology in Adolescent Science Fiction," "Using Old Radio Programs to Teach Science Fiction," "'What's a Heaven for ?' or; Science Fiction in the Junior High School," "A Sampler of Science Fiction for Junior High," "Popular Literature: Matrix of Science Fiction," and "Out in Third Field with Robert A. Heinlein." A brief section of teaching ideas and a bibliography are appended. (RB) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION & WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRO OUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGIN ATING IT POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED LO NOT NECESSARILY REPRE SENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY. SCIENCE FICTION IN THEENGLISHCLASi Volume 15 Number 1 October 1972 ... Lipo,s5,2r, iC)P! . ;1.U,GANC:AlHONS OPERATOR:. rrif .% rintAL 'N Ariz. English Teachers Association ARIZONA ENGLISH BULLETIN A Member of the NCTE Exchange Agreement The ARIZONA ENGLISH BULLETIN is a publication of the Arizona English Teachers Association, a non-profit state affiliate of the National Council of Teachers of English. The ARIZONA ENGLISH BULLETIN exists to create effective statewide artic- ulation of English teachers at all levels, to increase awareness of new ideas, programs, and movements in English, and to improve instruction at every level. The ARIZONA ENGLISH BULLETIN is published three times each year, in October, Feb- ruary, and April. It is supported and subsidized by the Arizona English Teachers Association, Northern Arizona University, the University of Arizona, and Arizona State University, Membership in the Arizona English Teachers Association (including subscription to the ARIZONA ENGLISH BULLETIN) is $4.00 the year (a three year mem- bership is available for $10.00). Send applications for membership to Frank Dallas, AETA Treasurer Phoenix Union High School 512 E. Van Buren Phoenix, Arizona 85004 Make checks payable to the AETA and include both school and home addresses, including zip codes. Subscriptions to the ARIZONA ENGLISH BULLETIN alone are $4.00 for the three issues. Individual issues are available as supply exists for $1.50 per issue (except for special issues). For subscriptions or individual copies, send a check made payable to the ARIZONA ENGLISH BULLETIN to Ken Donelson, Editor, ARIZONA ENGLISH BULLETIN English Department Arizona State University Tempe, Arizona 85281 Note to contributors: The editor of the ARIZONA ENGLISH BULLETIN welcomes all con- tributions related to the teaching of English and applicable to the theme of a forthcoming issue. Writers might find the following helpful in preparing manuscripts. I. Papers should ordinarily run no more than 10-12 pages, typed, double-spaced. 2. Writers who wish to submit brief notes should consider them for the Shoptalk section of a particular issue. 3. Avoid footnotes, unless they are absolutely necessary. 4. The ARIZONA ENGLISH BULLETIN exists to serve all teachers of English, but its primary allegiance is to the National Council of Teachers of English. Writers should attempt to make their articles as practical and useful as possible to the classroom teacher-audience the BULLETIN serves. 5. The editor assumes the right to make small changes to fit the format and needs of the BULLETIN. Major surgery will be handled by correspondence. Subjects for the 1972-1973 Issues: October (Science Fiction in the English Class); February (The Many Faces of Language Teaching in the English Classroom); and April (Naw Ways of Organizing the English Curriculum). ARIZONA ENGLISH BULLETIN 411111 Fall 1972 SCIENCE FICTION IN THE ENGLISH CLASS Contents The Study of Science Fiction: Is "Future" Worth the Time? Errol Zimmerman, Central High School, Phoenix 1 Yesterday and Tomorrow: A Study of the Utopian and Dystopian Vision Elaine Keller and Deborah Rosen, University cf Illinois . ***** 5 Shaping Tomorrow, Today--A Rationale for the Teaching of Science Fiction Robert Stewart, West High School, Phoenix 25 Personalized Playmaking: A Contribution of Television to the Classroom Michael Haley, Boulder, Colorado 27 Science Fiction Selection for Jr. High Jane Ogan, R.P., Woodard Junior High School, Yuma 32 The Possible Gods: Religion in Science Fiction Jean Babrick, Prairie State College, Chicago Heights, Illinois 37 Science Fiction for Fun and Profit Jeanne King, Parkway Junior High School, South San Francisco, California.. 43 The Sexual Politics of Robert A. Heinlein Doris Myers, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado 49 Short Films and Science Fiction 53 Popular Literature: Matrix of Science Fiction F.H. Bradshaw, Westwood High School, Mesa 54 Of What Use: Science Fiction in the Junior High School S.James Jakiel, State University College, Buffalo, New York 58 Science Fiction and Films about the Future Beulah Boyd, Palo Verde High School, Tucson 62 Three Monthly Escapes Randy Huntley, Arizona State University 63 The Science Fiction Film Gary Wolfe, Roosevelt University, Chicago, Illinois 66 Sociology in Adolescent Science Fiction Jean Greenlaw Root, University of Georgia 76 Using Old Radio Programs to Teach Science Fiction 83 "What's A Heaven for?" or; Science Fiction in the Junior High School Kathryn Whalen, Madison Park School, Phoenix 85 A Sampler of Science Fiction for Junior High Jeanne Smith, Arizona State University Graduate Student 91 Out in Third Field with Robert A. Heinlein Betty Whetton, Kenilworth School, Phoenix,and Annette Donelson, Tempe . 97 Shoptalk 106 Current Reading 112 Preface to the Issue SCIENCE FICTION IN THE ENGLISH CLASS For many students in many schools, science fiction has become one of the most popular electives in the English curriculum. Schools with more conventional English programs often discover that using books like Orwell's 1984, or. Bradbury's MARTIAN CHRONICLES or Clarke's CHILDHOOD'S END or Miller's A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ or devising thematic units around topics like "Man's Questions about Tomorrow, Today" or "Worlds to Come" or "Utopias and Dystopias" attract and fascinate students. Maybe more important for students and teachers alike, science fiction can involve students in age old 'questions basic to man yesterday, today, tomorrow, and all the tomorrows to come. What is the nature of justice? What is the good life and what roles do the individual and society play in defining that good life? What can the individual do when his concept of the good life differs drastically from that of his neighbors or society as a whole? What is the nature of God? Why does man despoil his world time after time, planet after planet? What does technology offer us or threaten us with in the present and the future? What is the nature of the good man? Why does the good man often suffer and the evil man often goes unpunished? Why does man search for newer and different worlds? What: makes man perpetually unsatisfied with his present condition? Literature, all good literature,posits questions like these and attempts to find some tenable or tentative answers or alternatives. So does good science fiction in books as different as John Wyndham's THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS or Walter Miller's A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ orRobert Heinlein's STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND or Ray Bradbury's MARTIAN CHRONICLES or Frank Herbert's DUNE or Roger Zelazny's LORD OF LIGHT or Ralph Blum's THE SIMULTANEOUS MAN. Maybe one of the early reasons why science fiction was so popular (and remains so for many people) was its adventure and excitement, the thrill of "Whoosh-Zoom-off-We- Go-to-Venus-with-Buck-Rogers" or "Facing-the-Evil-Emperor-Mingo-on-the-Planet-Mungo- with-Flash-Gordon-and-Friends." That sense of excitement still pervades many science books, but today's reader may demand more and he will often find far more than mere thrills and excitement. He may find serious books taking up serious questions about man's role in a technocratic society, social roles today and tomorrow, prophecies and warnings of the world to come, utopias and dystopias, fantasy and escapism, ecological problems today and tomorrow, or religion and man's need for God. Whatever the reader finds today in reading science fiction, he is likely to find more than just another space thriller. If science fiction was once predictable or stereotyped, it rarely is nowadays. The articles in this issue should make clear the variety of ideas and books and materials available in any study of science fiction. Two articles are concerned with the nature of science fiction and some justifications for using it in the classroom (Zimmerman and Stewart).