Independent Reading Project # 4 -- FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION
Characteristics of Fantasy:
· Imaginary, highly detailed societies that are mostly outside of the realm of possibility
· Visually descriptive writing
· May include a struggle of Good versus Evil
· Magical, mythological, unusual, or supernatural creatures and races of beings
· Hero (often an underdog) goes on a Quest to save someone, something, or entire world
· Magical, mythological, unusual, or supernatural objects / foods / transportation / tools / powers
· Talking animals or talking objects
Characteristics of Science Fiction:
· Futuristic society that is often idealistic (may comment on our current society’s ills)
· Involves detailed descriptions of technology and scientific advances (cool gadgets!)
· Daily tools of the society are above and beyond our current tools, but believable
· Often involves a “good versus evil” plot line
· Often involves people “playing God” or shows the results of “playing God”
· Time travel or travel to other worlds
· Themes may relate to manipulation, power, and control
· Hero may go on a quest, mission, voyage, or journey to “save the world”
Your Quest (what you need to do to get a good grade):
1. Pick a fantasy or sci-fi novel of your choice, at your reading level and of at least 150 pages on January 13th.
2. When half through, or by February 8th at the latest, write a letter to Mrs. Wald about your book. Your letter must be at least 350 words, and may be hand-written, typed, or emailed to awald@arsu.org. Be sure to include: SUMMARY (see class notes!) and EVALUATION of the novel. About half of the letter should be summary, and the other half should be evaluation – your thoughts, opinions, predictions, and specific examples of the characteristics of the genre.
3. When finished, or by February 29th at the latest, create a THREE DIMENSIONAL OBJECT REPRESENTING THE BOOK. This is NOT a diorama of a scene from the book. It is a symbolic representation of the book as a whole. For example, you could make a cube and decorate all six sides. Criteria:
§ It is 3-dimensional
§ It is colorful or at least done in ink – not pencil
§ It is neatly put together (words, illustrations, cutting, gluing)
§ It includes an original, written summary of the novel (see notes!)
§ It shows and describes main character(s)
§ It shows and describes the “world” of the book
§ It names the genre and gives at least three specific examples of the characteristics of the genre as found in the book (quotes and page numbers)
§ It makes sense on its own (ie: people should “get it” if you aren’t there to explain it to them)
No comments:
Post a Comment