Connections to the Arts Today’s science fiction is tomorrow’s reality– Was Verne crazy or a gifted visionary? Explain. Shelley speaks of the fears that people of the Industrial Age had about scientists “messing” with nature. Do we have similar concerns today? What do Munch’s people look like? What is he trying to say? What do you think the Nevinson is trying to say about soldiers in an industrial army?

Did you know… The dizzying rate of invention in the late 1800’s inspired imaginative novelists like France’s Jules Verne (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) and England’s HG Wells (War of the Worlds; The Time Machine) to pioneer a new literary form- science fiction. In his 1865 novel From Earth to the Moon, Verne created one of the earliest pictures of space travel. Source: Ellis, Elisabeth G., and Anthony Esler. World History: Connections to Today. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2001. 505. Print.

In 1816, a teenager named Mary Shelley had a nightmare vision that inspired her to write Frankenstein, a novel about a scientist who tries to make a human being but creates a monster instead. The story reflected a fear of many Europeans during the Industrial Revolution that humans were using technology to tamper with nature. Source: Ellis, Elisabeth G., and Anthony Esler. World History: Connections to Today. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2001. 505. Print.

Did you know… Some artists saw the darker side of the new industrial city. Edvard Munch believed that impressionism’s interest in colorful landscapes failed to address the “inner landscape” of man. …By distorting the human form, Munch hoped to convey the alienation he believed permeated life – especially life in the industrial city. Source: Ellis, Elisabeth G., and Anthony Esler. World History: Connections to Today. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2001. 505. Print.

Spring Evening on Karl Johan Street, Oslo, by Edvard Munch

The Scream, by Edvard Munch

Returning to the Trenches JR Nevinson

Connections to the Arts- Questions Today’s science fiction is tomorrow’s reality– Was Verne crazy or a gifted visionary? Explain. Shelley speaks of the fears that people of the Industrial Age had about scientists “messing” with nature. Do we have similar concerns today? What do Munch’s people look like? What is he trying to say? What do you think the Nevinson is trying to say about soldiers in an industrial army?