“I think science fiction helps us think about possibilities, to speculate - it helps us look at our society from a different perspective. It lets us look at our mores, using science as the backdrop, as the game changer” (Mae Jemison). Science fiction is a form of fiction that uses scientific knowledge using plot, setting, theme, etc. and has an impact on society. Authors and producers can turn a fiction piece into science fiction using different techniques. Some examples of these literary techniques include the nonfiction book, The Hot Zone, written by Richard Preston, the science fiction book World War Z, written by Max Brooks, and the scientific movie, Unbreakable, directed by Marc Forster.
In the movie Unbreakable, a man named Elijah has the disease osteogenesis imperfecta that makes his bones weak. David, another character, is unbreakable meaning he never gets hurt. Through the movie, both David and Elijah meet up and more is revealed about themselves. Through Unbreakable, I learned that the writer uses plot to stretch the viewer’s mind.
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In The Hot Zone, viruses such as Marburg and Ebola are discussed. There are multiple characters that have these viruses. The Hot Zone, allows readers to understand more about science fiction and different viruses. Through multiple examples I learned that plot has an effect on science fiction. The plot shows the controversial side of science. Nancy Jaxx, a veterinarian that worked on a monkey that had Ebola, found a hole in her protective space suit. “It was drenched in blood, but now she saw the hole” (87). The plot is also fast paced and driven. Richard Preston accomplishes this technique when he writes, “ The black vomit is located with virus” (18). Another example is when he writes, “ She saw that he was afraid. That terrified her. She jerked her thumb toward the exit. ‘I’m outta here, man.’ ”
Baseball is Michael’s only way to a better future. Michael, the main character in the book “Heat” by Mike Lupica, is a 12 year old boy who moved to New York from Cuba. Michael is gifted. He has an arm that throws baseballs super fast. But with his dad gone Michael can’t prove his age to the baseball team and the team needs his pitching skills. In the book Heat the symbol is Yankee Stadium. This symbol represents the main characters future. But the theme of the book is “family can come from the most unexpected places.”
Michaela DePrince’s book Taking Flight is a memoir about her journey from being a war orphan to ballerina. This book has impact society by teaching young people that they can do whatever they put the mind to, no matter their race or background.
The novel, “The Hot Zone”, by Richard Preston, is an extraordinary tale about a virus called the Ebola virus. The author interviews a number of different people that all had encounters with the virus and records their stories. He is very interested by what they tell him and throughout the novel he is always seeking to find more information about it. There were many different encounters in this book but in my summary I am going to explain the ones that interested me the most.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic novel written by Harper Lee. The novel is set in the depths of the Great Depression. A lawyer named Atticus Finch is called to defend a black man named Tom Robinson. The story is told from one of Atticus’s children, the mature Scout’s point of view. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, the Finch Family faces many struggles and difficulties. In To Kill a Mockingbird, theme plays an important role during the course of the novel. Theme is a central idea in a work of literature that contains more than one word. It is usually based off an author’s opinion about a subject. The theme innocence should be protected is found in conflicts, characters, and symbols.
The story moves away from how these elements spread the disease to how they can be used to solve the mysteries of the virus. Soderbergh accomplishes this by using editing to transition between shots showing individual researchers combating the virus in various cities. They use cell phones to keep in touch and computers to gather data, predict transmission, and plan intervention. They use digital models to map the virus’ surface, and to explain how it functions. The use travel to monitor outbreaks and find the source, and they study video feeds to discover patient zero. Contrasting the positive and negative aspects of technology and connectedness, he balances the dread felt by watching the spread of the disease with the hope that these same elements can reveal the weaknesses of the virus and provide a
The medical field is a vast land of beauty, but with great beauty comes immense horror. There are many deadly viruses and diseases found in the medical field. In the novel, The Hot Zone by Richard Preston, the author discusses the many deadly viruses found in the field. The viruses are widespread due to the errors that occur when the viruses are in the presence of human beings. The effects of the errors performed by the human race include a decrease in population and wildlife.
Though fictional, this novel illustrates the fear surrounding disease, viruses, and contamination and how if uncontrollable, could lead to a global spread that could jeopardize the human race. Traveling internationally, World War Z represents a zombie epidemic that brings forth infection, which can be considered an unconscious actor during this time of confusion and destruction. Scientifically, fear is defined as a natural response found in almost all organisms that revolve around the emotions and feelings induced by perceived threats and danger. Max Brooks illustrates the societal interaction with fear, “Fear of aging, fear of loneliness, fear of poverty, fear of failure. Fear is the most basic emotion we have. Fear is primal. Fear sells. That was my mantra. ‘Fear sells.’” (Brooks 55). The fear of a zombie virus spreading in fact just produces more fear into the mind of the individual. Through research and scientific advancements, fears and anxieties have been proven to put an individual more at risk of developing health issues. How ironic, right? Our fears and anxieties surrounding diseases and the spread of them cause our society to be more susceptible to obtain and contract more health related problems. The fight against the zombie metaphor within World War Z gives the reader a purpose for finding a way to hold
The Hot Zone by Richard Preston In October of 1989, Macaque monkeys, housed at the Reston Primate. Quarantine Unit in Reston, Virginia, began dying from a mysterious disease at an alarming rate of the. The monkeys, imported from the Philippines, were to be sold as laboratory animals. Twenty-nine of a shipment of one hundred died within a month.
The main way that Preston does this is by appealing to the sense of fear and the ongoing battle of good versus evil. By making people fear the virus Preston hopes that he drives the action towards preventing the virus’ spread and destruction because people fear for their friends and family as well as themselves. Preston’s illustration of good versus evil also creates a heroic aspect to fighting the Ebola virus as no job is more revered than that who combats evil for the common good. Overall Preston does a great job convincing the readers to join the crusade to not only end the Ebola virus but the evil that is in nature
Time in Love in the Time of Cholera and A Visit from the Goon Squad
Darko Suvin defines science fiction as "a literary genre whose necessary and sufficient conditions are the presence and interaction of estrangement and cognition, and whose main formal device" (Suvin 7-8) is a fictional "novum . . . a totalizing phenomenon or relationship" (Suvin 64), "locus and/or dramatis personae . . . radically or at least significantly" alternative to the author's empirical environment "simultaneously perceived as not impossible within the cognitive (cosmological and anthropological) norms of the author's epoch" (Suvin viii). Unlike fantasy, science fiction is set in a realistic world, but one strange, alien. Only there are limits to how alien another world, another culture, can be, and it is the interface between those two realms that can give science fiction its power, by making us look back at ourselves from its skewed perspective.
The author skillfully uses literary techniques to convey his purpose of giving life to a man on an extraordinary path that led to his eventual demise and truthfully telling the somber story of Christopher McCandless. Krakauer enhances the story by using irony to establish Chris’s unique personality. The author also uses Characterization the give details about Chris’s lifestyle and his choices that affect his journey. Another literary element Krakauer uses is theme. The many themes in the story attract a diverse audience. Krakauer’s telling is world famous for being the truest, and most heart-felt account of Christopher McCandless’s life. The use of literary techniques including irony, characterization and theme help convey the authors purpose and enhance Into The Wild.
The Hot Zone by Richard Preston is a true story about an outbreak of the Ebola virus, just outside of Washington D.C. in the 1980’s. Early in the story, the author describes a series of several outbreaks that took place in Africa, in order to describe the true destruction of this very lethal virus. The first appearance of this virus happens in a cave in Kenya. The virus infects Charles Monet, and then he is later taken to a hospital where his bloody death is described in detail. Later on the nurses that treated him also become infected with the disease, starting an outbreak. There are many more outbreaks to come later in the story.
Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood encompasses varying stylistic methods in the text and also allows the readers to understand his view of the setting: Holcomb, Kansas. An uneventful town he portrayed as futureless. “The inhabitants of the village, numbering two hundred and seventy, were satisfied that this should be so, quite content to exist in ordinary life…” Through Capote’s use of literary techniques such as imagery, detail, tone, and syntax, he paints a rather lonesome and unfixable image.
The use of literary devices has proven to be the key to a successful short story. An author's use of these devices makes or breaks the story for a reader. He must successfully define such things as the character, theme and setting to put the reader into their mind frame to fully understand and feel the story. In this week's readings, we are shown the authors' use of literary devices with serious ironies to show human condition and the nature of humanity. Such stories as "The Black Man and White Woman in Dark Green Rowboat," "The Rocking-Horse Winner," and "Gilded Six Bits" shine light on the essence of the human condition and the nature of humanity. While, Ellison's "Battle Royal", and Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues" define irony and draw the reader into sympathy and disbelief. Although telling powerful stories can sometimes be as easy as conveying the information, subtly introducing ironies, using correct symbolisms, and even using the right point of view, is what enhances and expands the author's vision.