CRAFT STUDIO BY GUEST WRITER IAIN MCMASTER: THE IMPORTANCE OF SCRUTINIZING SCI-FI AND FANTASY STORIES
What I was reading:
In preparation for a genre study on transactional writing that incorporates research, I had been looking for essays and articles that connect with the interests of secondary school students. After much searching, I had a collection of texts that demonstrated good writing, but were too dense and academic to serve as mentor texts for students. There will be opportunities to use these, but they were not what I had in mind. Finally, I turned to Twitter and realized that this task would have been much easier if I had done so in the first place (I realize that this is common knowledge for most teachers by now). For instance, I found an article by Ben Lindbergh in The Ringer called “The Importance of Scrutinizing Sci-Fi and Fantasy Stories” (28 June, 2022). In it, Lindbergh makes the case for engaging thoughtfully and critically with popular sci-fi and fantasy texts. Lindbergh sets up his argument by welcoming the passionate responses that people have to these genres, both positive and negative, while objecting to one particular stance:
“There’s only one strain of responses to stories like these that truly bums me out: the suggestion that they aren’t worthy of impassioned analysis or critical inquiry, be it primarily positive or negative. That stories about space wizards or dragons or superheroes are inherently silly or unserious, and that those who have issues with their plotting or pacing or depictions of characters should just stop overthinking things. That they aren’t supposed to make sense, and that the only way to enjoy them is to turn one’s brain off before boarding the ride. That they’re purely escapist, popcorn pablum. That they’re just for kids, and that it’s a waste of time to engage with them on an intellectual level as well as a visceral level.”
What moves I noticed the author making:
In this passage, Lindbergh presents the objections of a hypothetical critic of sci-fi and fantasy. He sets up his point in a casual tone – “bums me out” – before presenting a sequence of assumptions that a sceptic might bring to sci-fi and fantasy stories. Each new sentence builds on the last, always beginning with “that,” to emphasize the point he is making. This repetition is an effective way of conveying strong emotions.
Possibilities for Writers:
- Using Lindbergh’s paragraph as a mentor text, writers might think about an assertion they are making in their writing and consider the counter-points that a hypothetical critic could make.
- Writers might use Lindbergh’s paragraph as a template and structure a paragraph around the repetition of sentences beginning with “That” to emphasize an idea they feel strongly about.
- Writers could be encouraged to think about a topic that they feel is not taken seriously and explain why they think it should be.
- Writers might try moving between a casual and a formal tone, or between a playful and a serious tone, in a single paragraph.
Meet Tamsin Lark, an aspiring Hallower, and current tarot card reader working to support her younger brother. In Tamsin’s world, a Hallower is someone who possesses a magical talent and uses those talents to find magical objects and then sell to the highest bidder. Unfortunately, Tamsin does not possess a magical talent, however her brother does. After their guardian mysteriously disappears, Tamsin and her brother, Cabell, are left to fend for themselves. The siblings work together utilizing Cabell’s magical ability and Tamsin’s photographic memory and knack for language to find displaced magical artefacts to sell. The pair’s life is turned upside down when Tamsin is offered an extremely large sum to find an artefact that would also break a curse placed on Cabell when he was young. In the process of retrieving this artefact Tamsin and Cabell become friends with their arch nemesis, Emrys and a sorceress, Neve. The four of them embark on a dangerous and fantastical journey to retrieve the magical artefact and break Cabell’s curse. This journey leads the four unlikely friends to another realm where they find others who are in more desperate need of this magical artefact that can undo curses.
The Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley tells the story of eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine Firekeeper, who struggles to feel accepted within both the White and Indigenous communities in which she belongs. Daunis attempts to stay connected with her Ojibwe side, that of her late hockey-hero father but gets dragged into a local murder investigation that hits close to home. This novel is not only fast paced and well-crafted, but it centres Indigenous teachings at its core, as Daunis fights to save those she loves and protect her community.
The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I by Douglas Brunt is a succinct chronology of the Second Industrial Revolution, highlighting the pursuits of its representative cast of preeminent innovators, political figures, and business tycoons, all striving in a tense rat race to outdo and outlast one another. Brunt’s topical chronicle follows the fascinating life of Bavarian inventor and mechanical engineer Rudolph Diesel in his tiring ambition to create a world less reliant on the petrochemicals and coal which then and now corrupt our fragile biosphere, and, in doing so, developing the engine that bears his name today. Raised in the smog-filled industrial centers of Europe, Diesel became disenchanted with the polluting and inefficient methods of production of his day and thus sought, with matchless intellect and dogged determination, to produce a mechanism in which the type of fuel could be universalized, and the fuel itself utilized more efficiently. His untimely death at sea in September 1913 lends considerable weight to the suspicion that the great coveters of political power and industry, such as the Rockefellers and Hohenzellerns, had succeeded in maintaining the status quo and therefore the continued proliferation of fossil fuels into the modern age.
Landbridge: Life in Fragments by Y-Dang Troeung is a memoir that is fundamentally a reflection of the author’s family’s experiences as Cambodian refugees who fled the Khmer Rouge regime, ultimately finding sanctuary in Canada. However, this book can also be seen as a powerful exploration of the human experience as seen through the lens of a fragmented world.
Ducks tells the emotional story of the author, Kate Beaton, and her journey from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, to the oil sands of Alberta. Her story will resonate with many Canadians, but especially those from the East Coast who so often need to leave their hometowns for financial reasons. This familiar theme makes Ducks a great addition to the classroom library as many students would have someone close to them who must travel for work, and will empathize with the issues Beaton articulates. The trials and tribulations Beaton experiences during her time in the oil sands of Alberta are very real, and because of this Ducks is best suited for mature readers who are prepared to grapple with, and reflect on, experiences of misogyny, coarse language and assault while working in the predominately male centered fields. On the whole, this slice of life story is a great way to get readers interested in different types of texts and can be a great resource to show that autobiographies can come in many more forms than students may have previously realized.