Pattern Recognition

Review article on Pattern Recognition from John Clute

http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue305/excess.html

Discussion Questions for "The Girl who was Plugged In"

Consider the narrative voice. Who is telling the story? To whom is it told?

What is this future society like?

The story is about gender as imprisonment. Do you agree?

Might Judith Butler’s ideas about the performative dimension of gender be useful here?

Think about the story in relation to fairy tales, particularly Cinderella.

Discussion Questions for "The Start of the End of it All"

Outline the physical and psychological characteristics of the female narrator.

List all the things the aliens are doing to undermine human society. What do they have in common? What are they trying to do?

How does the story play with the stereotypical view of the ‘alien invader’?

Focus on the way the aliens speak. Are there any similarities between how the woman speaks and how the aliens speak?

Discussion Questions for "Out of All Them Bright Stars"

There is a reference to Humphrey Bogart’s hat in Casablanca on p.647 and another indirect reference to the film in the story’s title. What is the connection between the film and the story?

Every human character is prejudiced in some way. Why are they like this, and do you think Sally overcomes her own prejudice?

Think about the pronouns Sally uses to refer to the alien

Why does Sally get angry at the end of the story?

Discussion Questions on Jameson's "Progress Versus Utopia..."

In part II of the essay (p.286-289) Jameson outlines some important ways in which we might think about the effects of defamiliarization in science fiction. Summarize his argument here and try to connect it with the Ballard text (or any of the other texts on the course).

Jameson suggests that the real function of science fiction is ‘to dramatize our incapacity to imagine the future’ (p.288-9). What do you understand by this claim? Do you find it troubling? Persuasive?

Discussion Questions for "The Voices of Time"

Find out about J.G. Ballard’s biographical details.

Think about the way the story is composed. It is assembled from a lot of different documents and sources. What is the effect of this? Can you make an analogy with any other literary works?

Comment on the landscapes of the story. What are they like? Are they just ‘backgrounds’ or do they have another function within the narrative?

Focus on ‘distance markers’ and techniques of estrangement. How is this story different to realist fiction? Which passages or ideas do you find difficult to understand?

Discussion Questions for 'Speech Sounds'

Find out about Octavia Butler’s background. Does this have any impact on the story?
When and how do we become aware that this is an estranged world?
Some things are very different, transformed or simply eliminated, some things are only changed slightly. Is there a logic which determines what stays the same and what is lost?
Highlight some passages where Butler deals with the complexities of non-verbal communication
How does the story deal with traditional gender roles? Is it convincing?
Think about the emotions or affects of anger and envy as they are portrayed in the story