Without Feathers Review; Humorous Writing; The Martian Chronicles (Sci-Fi/Fantasy)

Period 3:

This morning, please take the first 5-10 minutes to review the book Without Feathers on YOUR blog.

Then, it's off to the library to pick up our last book for the year: Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury.

When we return, we'll read the first story or two in that collection, until period 4.

Period 4:

During period 4, please complete any of the following task(s):

1. Finish your humorous story draft. Your draft will be due Tuesday, June 4 by end of day. Once you complete your draft, please upload and submit it to our Google Classroom. You may include this draft in your final writing portfolio/final exam for this course (see above).
2. EXTRA CREDIT: write a science fiction story draft or a fantasy (swords & sorcery only!) draft. See below for tips, tricks, and ideas or prompts. This assignment (if completed) will count as extra credit writing for this marking period. It may also be included in your final portfolio.
3. Work on your final portfolio. Select the pieces that you will be revising and writing about in your evaluation/final portfolio reflection. You will be able to work on this project for the next two weeks in both Ms. Gamzon's and my class periods.

Science Fiction/Fantasy Writing Themes/Tips/Prompts:

Start here:

• How to Build a Fictional World (video, 5 minutes)
• Science Fiction Genre Characteristics (video, 18 minutes)
• BRAINSTORMING (it's good idea to think a bit before you dive in; brainstorming is the first step in the writing process--we've got to come up with an idea first! Follow these steps to help you do that): 
• select sci-fi or fantasy (or a combination of both...?) as your genre. Are you working in the past or future? Consider: how far past? how far in the future?
• Go deeper with your choice. Is your story going to be soft or hard sci-fi, swords & sorcery, science fantasy, or perhaps cyberpunk, steampunk, dystopian sci-fi, space opera, colonization (like The Martian Chronicles), dying planet genre, time travel, apocalyptic science fiction, superhero, or lost worlds? See the video on "science fiction genre characteristics" for details!  
• Create a timeline of important events that helped to shape your imaginary world. Is this after a cataclysmic event, just after the creation of the world, after the death of a king or queen, after the galactic enslavement by the empire, before or after a war, or just before a tribe is threatened by an outside force or roving band of barbarians? Draw your timeline in your journal. 
• What rules are in place in this fictional world? What has changed from the world we know and the physical laws of our Earth? Are there spells, telepathy, space travel, hyperspace travel, laser guns, teleportation, dragons, alien races, etc.? How is the society in your fictional world similar or different from our own reality? Is this culture a monarchy? Are androids hunted down as a threat to society or are the robots hunting humans down as a threat? Is there an ancient evil that threatens the innocent farmers of your land? Is there a terrible disease or plague sweeping the nation or the world? Consider and write down some ideas about the environment of your setting in which you are creating. Who has power and who doesn't? Can everyone cast spells, or only special mutants or people who risk their mortal souls for these powers? What is the technology level of the society you are creating? Can everyone fly a spaceship or colonize a planet? Or are corporations (big business) calling all the shots? What do the people believe or value most in the world? Freedom? Power? Love? Wealth? Knowledge or science? Use your notes to help create a setting. 
• Create and design a protagonist who lives in this imaginary world. Give them a goal to accomplish and then start writing!
• Or take one of these 13 speculative ideas and run with it...(the first item is sci-fi; the second fantasy...):
• All citizens are temporarily neutered at birth. Would-be parents must prove to the government that they’ll be suitable caretakers and providers before they are allowed to procreate; citizens of a kingdom that does not allow magic are marked at birth. When the protagonist reaches a certain age he/she begins to realize he/she has magical powers which must remain hidden to keep his/her family (or self) safe from persecution.
• The government, which analyzes massive amounts of data to predict the success of a person's ability in a competitive field or useful skills, cracks down on a protagonist who is either unskilled or too skilled that he/she poses a threat to the status quo; a knight or wizard's apprentice is challenged to save a village or family or kingdom, but his/her skills have an ancient curse that causes further complications or problems for the society. 
• Global warming prompts rapid mutations in the human species; a dark force threatens the mystical realm, stealing all the magic from the land. A small band of heroes (or at least the protagonist) must face this dark force and defeat it.
• The world’s leaders broker a deal with the alien invaders that many see as unfair; a princess/prince has to accept a marriage proposal from a neighboring kingdom, but there is one big problem...
• Humans have discovered a way to communicate directly with animals, and then the animals start expecting equal rights; a village girl or boy can communicate with animals or a mystical creature (like a unicorn or wyvern, etc.)--then he/she finds out a dark secret....
• Extreme elective surgery is the societal norm, and humans undergo creative modifications that include extra limbs, cartoon-like features, and so on, but then there's a problem with that sort of lifestyle...; wizards alter the physical/emotional or mental capacity of people in the kingdom until they go too far, creating an angry sub-race of beings that threaten to revolt.
• Breeding modern humans with large amounts of Neanderthal DNA leads to interesting results; a princess is betrothed to a barbarian king who is less than perfect husband material...
• People can time travel as an option for a vacation. One family decides to picnic during prehistoric times and there are complications.; At a joust or festival one knight is bested by a mysterious knight who we later find out is actually...
• An alien from a planet where no one else experiences empathy comes to live on Earth, believing they will fit in better there. Do they?; An evil wizard casts a dark spell over a medieval city. Only one hero has the courage to find a cure and break the spell.
• A drug that makes people docile or non-confrontational has been added to the public water supply and to all beverages sold by major corporations. We must find out why the corporations want this to happen...; a plague of some unknown source is threatening the land. A cure must be found. 
• A low-level employee in a bureaucratic government office realizes the paperwork he/she files every day contains codes that determine others’ fates. What does he/she do with this information?
• A human and alien fall in love, causing an interplanetary crisis; a human and a demi-human or monster fall in love (woman & centaur, woman & dragon, boy & unicorn, boy & elf & ghost, etc.) causing a problem for a repressed kingdom.
• Humans colonize an alien planet, thinking that they are alone--but then they find out otherwise; a kingdom goes to war to obtain some magical treasure (which turns out not to be what they expected.)

HOMEWORK: Please read through "The Third Expedition" (complete "Ylla", "The Summer Night", "The Earthmen", "The Taxpayer", and "The Third Expedition" in The Martian Chronicles.