For this week's concept, we have to write about something I had never even heard of before we were assigned it. Something called the novum. After discussing it in class and reading over the prompt, I found the idea of the novum to be very interesting. Generally in science fiction stories, there is some sort of device or machine per say that classifies the story under the genre of science fiction. Examples include a computer, a robot, or any fictional element that is plausible but not necessarily existent within our present time. I will get to a literary example from class, but first I wanted to use an example to expand my point with one of my favorite films, 2001: A Space Odyssey. In the film, one of the main characters is HAL 9000. He is an intelligent computer that controls that space ship the remaining characters are on to Jupiter. This is an example of the novum in the sense of a character. I just personally found it interesting that it was a character in the story, but also a science fiction element that enhanced the story, but I digress. One of the stories we read recently, Dead Space for the Unexpected,  we meet several characters that work in some sort of marketing or advertising firm, it never really says but that's the impression I got for some reason. At this firm, it seems as if every aspect of their daily tasks are scrutinized and eventually scored. These scores, especially for our main character, are the only thing that matters. It's almost as if what their job services or provides does not even matter. I viewed the company as selling some useless product, like a plunger or a workout machine.Only the scores determined everything. It didn't matter that what you were selling was maybe not the most honorable practice, but the way you did it. This is all, by the way, my personal interpretation, essentially what I, "read between the lines." Without getting off topic too much, I wanted to bring all of these points back to the original concept. I viewed these scores as the novum of the story. There are many similar programs at various places of employment that we today, but in no way the manner seen in the story. Thats really what validated the science fiction element for me. These scores determine every aspect of the work day, and that just seems eerie. I got this weird vibe that they were being watched. I had this picture of a huge room with hundreds of screens analyzing every move the employees made. This in turn made up a large portion of the scoring. The concept of the novum is very clear in the stories we have read this semester, particularly in the story I have talked about today. A concept I was not initially familiar with, but now have a concrete understanding of  and will apply to future readings.

We kind of got a little more freedom than usual on this week's topic. We can pick any story that we have read up until now. Thinking back I always come back to Burning Chrome. I have not written about it yet, so I will just jump in. This week we have to do what's called a Close-Focus Reading. I am pretty much going to break down a section of Burning Chrome and analyze it word by word.
I have chosen a  paragraph early on in the story. "Chrome: her pretty childhood face," to "none of them at all reassuring." (Gibson 372) In this paragraph it gives a unique, chilling description of the title character. Who is Chrome? What is she all about? Why is she such a well known, important figure of society in this futuristic world? This is the first time in the story that we get to know who she really is.
"Chrome: her pretty childhood face smooth as steel, with eyes that would have been at home on the bottom of some deep Atlantic trench, cold gray eyes that lived under terrible pressure." She is described as having a pretty but childhood face. This conveys a sense of innocence about her. Pretty, therefore has power. I love how the author describes her face as smooth as steel. Steel? Chrome? A coincidence? I think not. At first glance one might not see her as a powerful figure, but as we see the story continue, we learn that this is quite the opposite. "They said she cooked her own cancers for people who crossed her, rococo custom variations that took years to kill you." This is another example of the innocent, but powerful force that Chrome projects. She may appear to be the girl next door, but she has an effect on people that takes a lasting toll that can take a man's life. Maybe this talent that she yields is what drew the mafia to her. They know what she is capable of, and to me it sounds like she could get anyone to do anything, which means money for the mafia. "They said a lot of things about Chrome, none of them reassuring." She doesn't really sound like someone you would want to take home to your parents does she? Absolutely nothing that is said about her is reassuring? Damn, that's cold. This perhaps foreshadows the motive of our main characters. Someone has to take out this demon woman and take her for all she is worth.
I really enjoyed the way this paragraph flowed, which is why I chose to focus on it for this assignment. At the point in the story, we don't know much about the title character. But after reading this, we get a good idea of who she is, what she is all about, and perhaps why someone would plot against her. This sets the tone for the remainder of the story, as we now have an emotional connection to the main characters mission and their plan to, "burn," Chrome."

Sex and Gender in SF

I really enjoyed our discussion we had last week about sex and gender. I has never really thought about it before, but the two are very different. Sex being a biological status, male or female, aka what's between your legs. Gender, on the other hand, is a much deeper concept with a vast range of variations. Much more complex than whether you can give birth or not. The world we live in today, men are seen a certain way and women are seen another.  This image has changed drastically over thousands of years of human evolution. We get a sneak peak of how one author, Joanna Russ, thinks this will carry into the future in the story "When It Changed." On a distant planet, there is a human colony called Whileaway. This colony is an all female colony, that has discovered a way to procreate and sustain life without the presence of men. This basic concept gives way to a whole new meaning of the word gender. Sex, of course, we know is female. Their sex has not been altered at in any way. Gender however, in this future world, takes on a whole new meaning. Typically we view the role of women as giving birth, protecting, and raising their children. While men are viewed as the breadwinners, those who provide for the family and put a roof over their head. Men also take the lead role in society, generally holding the positions of authority and management. This all-female colony that we read about in this story fuses the two views of gender into one. Females take on both roles as providers and the care of children. A very interesting and unique concept that science fiction literature makes possible. Astronauts, who happen to be men,  from earth arrive on the planet and discover the colony. They are in utter disbelief that a colony could survive without men. To a man this concept is impossible to understand. This is because men have always been on top and in charge. Women, on the other hand, have done nothing but dream of a world where they are dominant. In this world, not only are they dominant, they are without competition. They rely only on themselves and their fellow woman. One has to ask, could a colony of only men survive?

Style

Style of writing is almost like DNA, it defines the writer and the piece they are creating. It helps shape the message they are attempting to deliver to the reader. Depending on the topic and genre, style plays a huge part in the art of telling a story.  I have chosen to write about a story we read earlier in the semester called Liar!. I found this to be a very interesting story about humans and machines, and their interaction amongst each other. The four main characters discover that a robot they have created has the ability to read minds. They must now discover the origin to this design flaw before it gets out to the public. The author chose a unique style to write this story. He uses several mini conversations among the different characters that eventually leads to their downfall. He intertwines the different characters and slowly reveals hidden conflicts that we did not see at the beginning of the story. One character is in love with the other. Another is bitter at a certain character for holding onto a post that he wishes to obtain. These seemingly subtle conflicts, along with some well written dialogue, lead to the humans turning against each other at the hand of their own creation, the robot.  This style of writing does a great deal of justice to the story and the message the author is attempting to convey. He divides the characters and their problems and as they build upon each other, we see that there will have to be an epic climax. The climax surely comes about when the characters reunite and confront their creation. I really enjoyed the story, but especially how it was written. I think the same story could have gone a different direction, but in no way delivered as powerful of a message. I honestly believed that the style of story telling that the author chose to use gave us a great piece to read, and some useful lessons to learn about ourselves.

Hello internet surfers, my name is Alan. This is my first post on my first ever blog, so bare with me. This is required for a course I am taking, but I am actually looking forward to making an entry each week. The course I am taking is The Short Story: Science Fiction. This weeks prompt is pretty open so I can really go anywhere I want. What does science fiction mean to me? How do I define science fiction? There are several characteristics about the genre that have to be in place for it to be considered science fiction. First of all, I always think of it as being in the future, whether the near future or the distant future. Also, I see science fiction as a somewhat believable story line. Something that just cannot or would never ever happen, I lump those stories in the fantasy and adventure column. I think it is somewhat possible for computers to enslave the human race, at least it's more believable than riding unicorns into the clouds and swimming with mermaids. My experience with science fiction literature is not very extensive I must admit. Science fiction film, on the other hand, is what some may call my forte. Some of my favorite films are classified as science fiction. The Matrix, of course, and what many consider the greatest science fiction film of all time, 2001: A Space Odyssey. 2001, is actually based on a book of the same title by Arthur C. Clarke. I was so hoping we would read it in this class. Though I have not read very much science fiction literature, I feel very comfortable with the genre. I love reading or watching a story that shows something in the future that could actually happen one day. It reminds of the movie trilogy, Back to the Future. In part two, the main character goes to 2015, which in 1985, when the film came out, seemed like light years away, but now it is only 3 years away! My friends and I plan to throw a Back to the Future party. It is always cool to go into a realistic world and be apart of a story where unheard of things happen, and you think, what if this came true? What if this is all in my mind and I wake up tomorrow and the truth is revealed? Scary thought, but that's what is fun about science fiction. Cannot really say I have any fears for this class, but I am definitely excited to dive into some cool stories and pick up some knowledge on scifi. Well as I said before, this is my first ever blog post, so I am not sure how I did. I will leave you  for now, but I will surely be back. This will be a weekly thing, so we will see how my writing improves along the way. I'm outtie.