Welcome! April 30th, 2018 Monday Do Now Take a weekly Bell Ringer sheet from the front table. Once the bell rings, we’ll watch a video, and you will have five minutes to respond to the question in at least five sentences. Remember: Do Now's are INDEPENDENT and QUIET exercises. Thank you 

Click on the link below to watch a video clip Click on the link below to watch a video clip. Respond in writing by providing your thoughts on the following question: If you could invite anyone, living or dead, to a dinner party, who would you ask? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZACV_vtD9U © Presto Plans

Intro to Science Fiction For the remaining weeks of school, we’re going to explore a genre in depth – Science Fiction! We’re going to read some short stories, watch some films, and, for your final, you’re going to write your own Sci-Fi story. I’m going to give a quick presentation on what you’ll need to know about Sci-Fi, and then we’ll read one of the most famous examples of the genre – “Harrison Bergeron.”

What is Science Fiction? “A good science fiction story is a story about human beings with a human problem and human solution that would not have happened without its scientific content.” – Theodore Sturgeon Science Fiction is a writing style that combines – just like it sounds like! – science and fiction It evolved in response to fantasy, where an author can use elements of the supernatural (magic, ghosts, faries, unicorns, dragons, etc.) Science Fiction, on the other hand, has fantastical elements that can be potentially explained by science (space ships, aliens, artificial intelligence, mutants, etc.)

The First Science Fiction Novel “Frankenstein” written by Mary Shelley in 1818 Surgery was making advancements, which frightened people Mary Shelley wanted people to question what it means to be human

Brief History of Sci-Fi Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (1880) Science Fiction blew up (especially in film) in the 1950s- 1980s After Hiroshima, people started questioning if science had gone too far Fascination with aliens, the atomic apocalypse, space travel, and robots filled pop culture

Remains extremely popular today in written and cinematic fiction! Recognize these?

Traits of the Genre Science Fiction can include… Space travel Aliens Robots and artificial intelligence Time travel (to the future or past) Settings in the near or distant future Settings in alien worlds or alternate universes Characters that experience changes due to experimentation or mutation

Questions of the Genre Science Fiction almost always questions… What does it mean to be human? When is it okay to defy authority?

“Harrison Bergeron” Today, we’re going to read “Harrison Bergeron,” a famous science fiction story by Kurt Vonnegut. As I read, keep the essential questions in mind: What does it mean to be human? When is it okay to defy authority? You will be expected to answer some questions about the text, so be sure to annotate anything you think will be important as we read. 

“Harrison Bergeron” Your job for the rest of class will be to respond to the questions on your handout. To make grading quicker for me (and you!) we’re going to type this assignment. Open up a word document, title it “Harrison Bergeron”, and share it with my email: lanea@jenningsk12.us Please make sure you answers are thorough, thoughtful, and integrate evidence when necessary.