Science Fiction:

The Forgotten Fiction

Of The Classroom

Jonathan Yani

It was not overly long ago that I graduated high school and looking back on the books that we read I felt that there was a category of literary fiction that was glossed over as pointless. I am referring to Science Fiction. My teachers treated them as dime novels not worthy of the paper they were printed on, but they were wrong. Through science fiction many things can be taught.

One of the best reasons to teach science fiction to young adults is that one day they may work to make it a reality. One of the greatest examples of this is when Dr. Steven Hawking was doing a cameo for an episode of Star Trek The Next Generation. He rolled by the set for the engine room and warp core and said that he was working on those.

The other reason for teaching science fiction is that they can be used as allegories to human societies past and present. The best example of this can be seen in Frank Herbert�s Dune. This novel can easily be tied in with British history during the time of the War Of Roses.

In Dune there are several houses all competing for dominance over the others. Do to this there is a lot of subterfuge and backstabbing. Paul is heir to the house of Atreides. His family is forced to take over the governing of a planet called Arrakis. The planets first impression would make most people wonder its importance, it is mostly desert with hardly any water, there are sandworms that cause massive destruction, and there are the mysterious Fremen who wander the deep deserts. The only reason the planet is of any importance is due to the fact that it is the only place to get spice. Without spice the navigators on the spaceships would not be able to make the intricate calculations to pilot their crafts. The novel follows Paul and his adventures to end up as leader of all of the houses.

Launching The Unit

Music is a great way to get peoples minds turning so in order to get people thinking play songs from these selections.

1) Everybody Wants To Rule The World Tears For Fears

2) The World Is A Vampire The Smashing Pumpkins

3) People Are People Depeche Mode

After playing the songs it is possible to initiate a discussion in the class comparing the songs lyrics for similarities. All of these songs can easily be tied back to the book. Everybody Wants To Rule The World can be tied back to the central theme of the story, the power struggle. The World Is A Vampire can be used to talk about how when things are not going well it can seem like the world takes a lot out of you and �despite all [your] rage [you�re] still just a rat in a cage.�

Working Through The Text

Nothing Else Matters by Metallica was not part of the previous list of launching songs. This was because it can be better utilized as a prompt for reading logs. Instead of having students do free writing summaries of the chapter have them take the lyrics from Nothing Else Matters and write how they apply to the story. For example the first line can talk about Paul moving to Arrakis. The second verse can be talking about the Bene Gesserit tests. The possibilities are endless.

So close no matter how far Couldn't be much more from the heart Forever trusting who we are And nothing else matters Never opened myself this way Life is ours, we live it our way All these words I don't just say And nothing else matters Trust I seek and I find in you Every day for us something new Open mind for a different view And nothing else matters Never cared for what they do Never cared for what they know But I know So close no matter how far Couldn't be much more from the heart Forever trusting who we are And nothing else matters

Never cared for what the do Never cared for what they know But I know Trust I seek and I find in you Every day for us something new Open mind for a different view And nothing else matters Never cared for what they say Never cared for games they play Never cared for what they do Never cared for what they know And I know So close no matter how far Couldn't be much more from the heart Forever trusting who we are No nothing else matters

Most students have never experienced what it is like to be in a desert climate. For one day it would be interesting to cover the floor in sand turn the thermostat up to eighty degrees. This will give the students an idea of how inhospitable Arrakis is. Another fun thing about this is that you could �sell� the children water. This way they could learn what it would be like to be one of the poor on the planet. The easy thing to trade is journal entries for bottles of water. It would be highly recommended to make certain that each student drinks at least one bottle of water. This is important because they will be sweating like all heck and will need the water replaced or you might have students pass out from dehydration.

Due to all of the forces fighting for control in the book it is highly layered and possible to look at from many angles. The next assignment could be to look at a group from Dune and to write whether or not they identify/agree with the groups motives. For examples for the students the Saudukar�s motive is to get off of the prison planet and to have a chance to distinguish themselves. The Bene Gesserit are looking for the Kwisatz Haderach and are willing to manipulate anyone to get it. The Kwisatz Haderach is a reference to Kabbalistic mysticism in Judaism.

It is also possible to look at it from the point of the Saurdukar. They are stripped all hope when they are set on a prison planet. The only way off is to survive long enough to be drafted into the Saurdukar and become one of the emperor�s elite army. The only thing that makes them any good is the fact that they are ruthless do to their time on the planet.

The easiest way to go is to look at the book from the points of views of the different houses. They are all struggling for ultimate control over the other houses by using marriages to form political alliances.

The last point of view is that of the Fremen who control the desert. They are the only people not involved in all of the intrigue. This is mostly do to their isolation. However, minor influences have come in such as the legend of the Great Mother from the Bene Gesserit.

Other Works To Tie In

Star Wars: Episode I: This would be good resource for the final. This is due to many parallels that can be drawn. You have a young hero who rises up on a desert planet. Both of them have a huge potential to live up to and have to go through vigorous tests to prove themselves. The best way to utilize this is to show the movie after students have finished reading the book

Brave New World: This book would actually be a good tie in as it deals with a distopia where emotions are controlled towards the positive in order to keep the populace docile. This can easily be compared to the Bene Gesserit�s attempts to control fear, or the Mentat training to eliminate emotion to allow for clear thinking and precise judgement.

Equilibrium: This movie can be used in much the same way as Brave New World since it deals with a similar style of distopia. Using the Sarduakar it would be possible to bring up a good discussion on tactics and parallels between the Sarduakar and the Grammaton Clerics.

Gattaca: The main point of the story of Gattaca is that people can exceed weighed expectations of themselves. This is still the story in Dune. Paul is told by the Great Mother that she does not initially believe that he is a human. The Great Mother even comments that Paul lasted longer than most did with the test. She still does not go further with him to see if he is the one that they are looking for.
Herbert, Frank. Dune. Pennsylvania: Ace Science Fiction, 1990.

Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: Harpers Collin, 1998.

Equilibrium. Screen Play by Kurt Wimmer Dir. Kurt Wimmer. Perf. Christian Bale, Emily Watson, Taye Diggs. Blue Tulip/Dimension Films. USA 2002

Gattaca. Screen Play by Andrew Niccol Dir. Andrew Niccol. Perf. Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Jude Law. Columbia Pictures Corporation /Jersey Films. USA 1997.

Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. Screen Play by George Lucas Dir. George Lucas. Perf. Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd. 20^th Century Fox/ Lucas Film. USA 1999.