Suspense Story Draft; Context in The Martian Chronicles

Period 3/4:

LAB TASK #1:

• Please read the following article: "How Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles Changed Science Fiction (and Literature)" by Tyler Miller
• Post a short response to the article on your personal blog (blog post #7) before the end of today's class. Remember to summarize or paraphrase the article's main points to help your readers understand the CONTEXT of your post. Attributing your source can also be helpful.

A writer never writes anything that isn't connected to his/her life experience, memories, or topics that are happening while he/she is living. To better understand what we read, it is important to check the context of any literature we read. 

Knowing stuff makes us better informed and better able to appreciate the art that someone took the time to create. 

If you haven't checked this before, please do so now:

Martian Chronicles CONTEXT: Here's a little important history to help you understand how Bradbury uses issues of his day and infuses them into his work:

• The Frontier in American History
• 1940's American History
• Sputnik
• 1950's (look particularly at 1957 & 1959)

TASK: Please continue writing your suspense story draft. Your story, as all stories, should have a beginning, middle, end--and have at least two scenes separated by white space to indicate the shift in time, POV, or setting. You may have more than two scenes in your story.

Remember that a suspense story usually hints at something dangerous for the protagonist. Satisfaction is delayed to create suspense. Use the graphic organizers and the class notes for guidance. If you complete your suspense story today, please print out and turn in--and then work on reading or a project for Ms. Gamzon.

Not interested in writing today? Read The Martian Chronicles. When you are ready to go back to writing, do so. When writing and you get stuck or don't want to write anymore: read The Martian Chronicles (or even The Bean Trees). Repeat.

HOMEWORK: Read The Martian Chronicles. You will be posting about some of the stories on your blog next class. Bring your books with you to class on Tuesday.