On Science Fiction
Understanding the Text
1. What makes for the distinction between the various genres of
fiction—‘a sports story’, ‘a Western story’, ‘a jungle story’ and
science fiction?
Answer:
2. How does Asimov establish that John Campbell was wrong in
his opinion that it is not possible for a science fiction mystery
to be fair to a reader in the same way as a classical mystery is?
Answer:
3. What are the pitfalls that the writer of science fiction mystery
must guard against?
Talking about the Text
Discuss in small groups
1. Imagination and fantasy help human beings to speculate upon
the possible explanations for the complexity and
unpredictability of the phenomena in the universe.
2. The difference that science and technology have made to everyday
life today was visualised in science fiction fifty years ago.
Appreciation
1. Discuss the author’s attitude towards the pre-scientific
imagination and the tone he adopts while talking about it.
2. Observe how the paragraph, as a form, has been used in the
essay. Some paragraphs consist of just one sentence. What
purpose do you think the author had in putting them in this
manner?
3. Mark the linkers used by the author to connect the point he
makes in one paragraph with that in the next. For example,
Let me explain the difference that makes in the last line of para
1 of Section II. These are called discourse markers or discourse
signalers.
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