Help me with my project...again. - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

guthmund · 03-05-2007, 08:01 PM

Howdy all,

The last time I had a conundrum, I posted here and you guys had a ton of great suggestions. (BTW, the last project--Intro to film class?-- 98%) So, I thought you could help me out again, if ye be willing.

This time it's for a popular lit class with a focus on science fiction. We cover all the basics..Dune, Neuromancer and some Ursula Le Guin book that I can't remember the name of...to name a few. For the big final project, I have to...well, I don't think there are any requirements as to what I can talk about, as long as I can tie it to a common science fiction theme and pull examples from across mediums. Book to film, to comic book...excuse me, graphic novel for instance.

I've read the "biggies" of science fiction, but I'm not nearly as well versed as this guy seems to be and I'm looking for help. Not to mention, I dislike these kind of assignments. Give me something to write about and I can go on for days, but when confronted with open-ended assignments with vague parameters and interpretive instructions, I fold like cheap, card board box in the rain.

So, I guess I'd just like to hear what would you guys write about? What series of books would you pull from? Help me get the ball rolling yet again.

Willravel · 03-05-2007, 08:18 PM

I pull a great deal from Verne, Orwell, Herbert, and Clark, who are probably my all time favorites, but I've found that Issac Asimov, Ray Bradbury (on occasion) Daniel Keyes, Phyllis Dorothy James, John Christopher, James McConnell, John Brunner, J.G. Ballard, Geo. Alec Effinger, Howard Fast (read The First Men), Lester Del Rey, Tom Herzog, Kim Stanley Robinson (Mars Trilogy), Orson Scott Card (Enders series),Algis Budrys (read Rogue Moon), Robert J. Sawyer (read The Neanderthal Parallax, not Calculating God), Anthony Burgess, and Rog Phillips.

I read way too much. Do you have any idea what you'd like to set as your own path to follow on this?

guthmund · 03-06-2007, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willravel

I pull a great deal from Verne, Orwell, Herbert, and Clark, who are probably my all time favorites, but I've found that Issac Asimov, Ray Bradbury (on occasion) Daniel Keyes, Phyllis Dorothy James, John Christopher, James McConnell, John Brunner, J.G. Ballard, Geo. Alec Effinger, Howard Fast (read The First Men), Lester Del Rey, Tom Herzog, Kim Stanley Robinson (Mars Trilogy), Orson Scott Card (Enders series),Algis Budrys (read Rogue Moon), Robert J. Sawyer (read The Neanderthal Parallax, not Calculating God), Anthony Burgess, and Rog Phillips.

I read way too much. Do you have any idea what you'd like to set as your own path to follow on this?

Good gravy...

I don't know. I don't really have any preference. Like I said, I can write about anything. Point me in a direction and I'm off, so to speak.

Maybe a run through Ender's Game and making the connection with modern military training and its future....but then where would you go?

Maybe discuss Verne and how a lot of the technology in his book has made its way into the modern world and then connect it to modern sf and the technology of the future.

I really don't know.

Sorcha · 03-06-2007, 08:15 AM

Oooo I hate open ended assignments too. I've managed to avoid those this year.

Scifi is not my specialty (I'm more of a dark fantasy/end of the world scifi type girl) but I found these themes listed on a website:

Speculative Science Fiction
Space Opera
Hard Science Fiction
Temporal/Alternate Dimension
Media Tie-Ins

I don't know if I'm allowed to link to the site, but it has some good stuff. Just google themes in science fiction. It's the first hit. Might give you some ideas on what to write

Even gives authors in each genre.

pixelbend · 03-06-2007, 09:54 AM

Throw them a curve ball with an L. Ron Hubbard retrospective

But then, of course, you'd have to read them.

Anxst · 03-06-2007, 10:10 AM

Work with the thread of libertarianism to socialism and social change present in the works of Robert Heinlein, and how they mirror/don't mirror changes in the post-industrialist world of today.

Pip · 03-06-2007, 01:19 PM

Last time I got an open-ish assignment I wrote an essay on why the chickens like the brackish water in Maule's well in "The House of the Seven Gables" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. That ought to have taught Mr. Professor Guy not to give assignments like that in the future.

Anyways. Theme. Time travel and some of the more or less amusing paradoxes and ethical dilemmas it brings. Stanislaw Lem's "The Star Diaries", Harry Harrison's "The Technicolor Time Machine", Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever", the "Back to the Future" movies, the TV series "Life on Mars".

03-05-2007, 08:01 PM	#1 (permalink)
guthmund big damn hero	Help me with my project...again. Howdy all, The last time I had a conundrum, I posted here and you guys had a ton of great suggestions. (BTW, the last project--Intro to film class?-- 98%) So, I thought you could help me out again, if ye be willing. This time it's for a popular lit class with a focus on science fiction. We cover all the basics..Dune, Neuromancer and some Ursula Le Guin book that I can't remember the name of...to name a few. For the big final project, I have to...well, I don't think there are any requirements as to what I can talk about, as long as I can tie it to a common science fiction theme and pull examples from across mediums. Book to film, to comic book...excuse me, graphic novel for instance. I've read the "biggies" of science fiction, but I'm not nearly as well versed as this guy seems to be and I'm looking for help. Not to mention, I dislike these kind of assignments. Give me something to write about and I can go on for days, but when confronted with open-ended assignments with vague parameters and interpretive instructions, I fold like cheap, card board box in the rain. So, I guess I'd just like to hear what would you guys write about? What series of books would you pull from? Help me get the ball rolling yet again. __________________ No signature. None. Seriously.

03-06-2007, 08:15 AM	#4 (permalink)
Sorcha Tilted Location: South Carolina	Oooo I hate open ended assignments too. I've managed to avoid those this year. Scifi is not my specialty (I'm more of a dark fantasy/end of the world scifi type girl) but I found these themes listed on a website: Speculative Science Fiction Space Opera Hard Science Fiction Temporal/Alternate Dimension Media Tie-Ins I don't know if I'm allowed to link to the site, but it has some good stuff. Just google themes in science fiction. It's the first hit. Might give you some ideas on what to write Even gives authors in each genre. __________________ Ew gross germs! It's all icky and corpsey!

03-06-2007, 09:54 AM	#5 (permalink)
pixelbend Too hot in the hot tub!	Throw them a curve ball with an L. Ron Hubbard retrospective But then, of course, you'd have to read them. __________________ But I don't want ANY Spam!

03-06-2007, 10:10 AM	#6 (permalink)
Anxst Condensing fact from the vapor of nuance. Location: Madison, WI	Work with the thread of libertarianism to socialism and social change present in the works of Robert Heinlein, and how they mirror/don't mirror changes in the post-industrialist world of today. __________________ Don't mind me. I'm just releasing the insanity pressure from my headvalves.

03-05-2007, 08:18 PM	#2 (permalink)
Willravel ... a sort of licensed troubleshooter.	I pull a great deal from Verne, Orwell, Herbert, and Clark, who are probably my all time favorites, but I've found that Issac Asimov, Ray Bradbury (on occasion) Daniel Keyes, Phyllis Dorothy James, John Christopher, James McConnell, John Brunner, J.G. Ballard, Geo. Alec Effinger, Howard Fast (read The First Men), Lester Del Rey, Tom Herzog, Kim Stanley Robinson (Mars Trilogy), Orson Scott Card (Enders series),Algis Budrys (read Rogue Moon), Robert J. Sawyer (read The Neanderthal Parallax, not Calculating God), Anthony Burgess, and Rog Phillips. I read way too much. Do you have any idea what you'd like to set as your own path to follow on this?

03-06-2007, 01:19 PM	#7 (permalink)
Pip Likes Hats Location: Stockholm, Sweden	Last time I got an open-ish assignment I wrote an essay on why the chickens like the brackish water in Maule's well in "The House of the Seven Gables" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. That ought to have taught Mr. Professor Guy not to give assignments like that in the future. Anyways. Theme. Time travel and some of the more or less amusing paradoxes and ethical dilemmas it brings. Stanislaw Lem's "The Star Diaries", Harry Harrison's "The Technicolor Time Machine", Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever", the "Back to the Future" movies, the TV series "Life on Mars".