Mary E. Brown, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Information Science
Brown@SouthernCT.edu
Resources for Students:
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UNIT 13
UNIT 13 READING ASSIGNMENT
Read in Butler the four fantasies found on pp. 215-233 and the biography found on pp. 234-238
UNIT 13 LECTURE
Let's return to the genres.
Fantasy
Definition: Fantasy is any story of the impossible--a tale including events that contradict the laws of the natural world.
- Fantasy is an original story that can be traced to an original text and author.
- Fantasy, compared to the folktale is more complex in structure, has more character development, has more detailed settings, and is generally more polished in literary style.
- Fantasy contains some form of enchantment and can be classified according to the predominant type of enchantment in the tale.
Types of fantasy:
- Literary fairy tale
- conventional setting
- predominantly flat and stereotyped characters
- acceptable magic element
- happy ending
- Animal fantasy
- focuses on animals possessing human traits, especially human feelings -- from which we can learn something about our selves
- animals exist in a predominantly human world only they can talk and feel human emotions
- Toy fantasy
- talking toys (i.e. dolls, stuffed animals) are the major characters
- some involve transformation to human form; others are content with being toys
- Eccentric and extraordinary characters
- rely on wild exaggeration
- usually a central character possessing magical or extraordinary powers
- Enchanted journeys and imaginary lands
- goes back before Homer's Odyssey
- sending characters on a journey
- from a "real world" into an "other world"
- into a world of miniaturized characters (note similarity to children's relation to their world)
- journey may have some purpose
- Heroic or quest fantasy or high fantasy
- ero or heroine engages in monumental struggles against a seemingly all-powerful evil and the fate of an entire civilization depends on the outcome of that struggle
- real world threatened by dark forces
- passage from a primary world into a secondary world
- takes place entirely in imaginary worlds inhabited by imaginary creatures
- quests often are for identity of the hero or heroine
- plot typically consists of a series of remarkable adventures, humor is either absent or a secondary element, do not shy away from tragedy (good is not accomplished without some significant sacrifice)
- Supernatural and time fantasy (including ghost and witch stories)
- set in the primary world with fantasy element often a disturbing aspect that must be corrected by the end of the story
- Science fiction and space fantasy
- First: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818)
- usually focuses on life in the future
- some devoted to dramatizing the wonders of technology (instead of magic)
- often involves a struggle between the forces of good and evil
- many are didactic in undertone, dealing with ethical problems (technology: for human good or destruction)
Special characteristics of fantasy:
- Characteristic demanded by the reader (according to Zilpha Snyder):
- No nonsense
- No treachery
- The fantasy worlds are presented in the story as if they were real; certain rules are established--and adhered--by the author that operate within the fantasy world
- The fantasy remains past the end of the story--that is, the characters do not, for example, awake to find it was all just a dream
- Originality:
- Fantasy is an original work of fiction and not a retelling of a folktale
- Believability, achieved by:
- Massing of detail--vivid descriptions
- Maintaining consistency--for example, can only enter special world through the wardrobe in the attic
- Restraining the fantastic--there are limits to powers, etc.
- Rooted in reality and human nature
Rewards of fantasy
- Writers can explore complex ideas on a symbolic level
- Exploration of philosophical issues on a level that children can understand and appreciate
- Challenges our perceptions of reality
- Develops and exercises the imagination
UNIT 13 QUIZ ON LECTURE
See WebCT
UNIT 13 PEER EDITING
Describe the use of masks and shadows in stories and how it used in the story you selected (350 words). Enter your writing under Peer Editing.
On this class site, every effort has been made to acknowledge the work of others. Any omission is unintentional. If anyone finds an oversight, please contact me at brown@southernct.edu immediately so that any error can be corrected.
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