posted
There are a few fields in literature that are mostly neglected, especially when introducing literature to kids. While fantasy is getting a lot attention all of a sudden, many others are not. Trouble is, these are important--far better, I think, than general fiction. It's a good thing for children to read good science fiction and fantasy, and especially good comic books.
(Note: By children, I mean grade school age)
For some reason, these genres--and this medium--are regarded as somewhat sub-par. I'd argue that this is not the case; I would say they are superior to those typically called "literature", offering far more opportunities for thought and personal growth.
Why you should give your kids science fiction: Good science fiction encourages patterns of thought that are rarely developed in the outside world, though they are unquestionably important. Authors like Heinlein, Asimov, Card, and Clarke slowly develop scientific thinking, moral reasoning, a sociological perspective, and an affinity for philosophical thought.
1. They develop scientific thought because they often deal with scientific problems. Moreover, to understand science fiction concepts one must have some level of scientific understanding, or quickly develop it. By scientific understanding, we do not mean the ability to name off parts of a generator or explain the workings of theoretical cold fusion. I mean an ability to reduce a problem to its essentials, to explore different options, and to come to a logical conclusion. Readers are forced to look at the world with the skepticality, curiosity, rationality, and wonder of a scientist.
Science understanding tends to be abysmal in this country (sidenote: 57% of students in the graduate journalism program at Columbia university believe in pseudosciences like reading auras, ESP, etc--how's that for good critical thinking skills?). Perhaps this is because to understand and--naturally--debunk scientific ideas, one must be able to use scientific thought patterns. It is never too early to begin establishing these in a child's mind.
2. Sociological thought is developed again in understanding premises and storylines. For one, a good science fiction writer who sets his work in the future will attempt to extrapolate the nature of that future by following the cycles of trends. For another, many of the greats deal with specifically sociological problems (Asimov, Heinlein). One learns to follow a sociological argument and to make sociological predictions.
3. Face it, the good guys in the field are masters of character as well. Their characters usually struggle with moral conflicts. This isn't the wishy-washy emotional stuff of "serious" literature; these are usually attempts to deal with morality on an analytical basis--a far more useful tool.
4. Philosophical thought belongs to the realm of science fiction. Science fiction allows you to create a new world with a few different rules but without discarding the rules of the old. "Serious" literature usually works within the real world, strictly by real world rules. Science fiction allows you to change a few rules and settings, but holds most things constant. This allows you to set up thought experiments and follow through on them. It strikes a careful balance between fantasy (where anything can happen, so you can't follow a thought experiment) and general fiction (where very little out of the strictly possible ever occurs).
These characteristics are distinct from general fiction. General fiction encourages examination and interpretation of the world and characters of the book, with the careful caveat that it is all, after all, fiction. Science fiction gives the mind tools to see the world, then encourages the eye to turn outward and examine it under a microscope. Do you see? Most fiction, therefore, is somewhat sterile, encouraging self-contained reflection; science fiction is a teacher, forming the mind to be able to create and understand the world outside the book.
Also: what is science fiction today is often reality tomorrow. I recently read a science fiction novel from the 1970s where a character carefully explained what the word "mutate" means. This surprised me; the concept of mutation is a standard one to the modern mind. Science fiction makes it easier for the brain to constantly surf the wave of new knowledge.
Why you should give your kids fantasy: I go to hear creative people speak fairly often: mostly writers, sometimes artists and directors.
The most common and groan-worthy question that is always asked is, "Where do you get your ideas?" A lot of the time, the moment some dude asks this you can see the speakers developing facial tics.
I am a somewhat creative person. I hate this question--both hearing it and being asked it--because it presumes there is a place to go where ideas come from, or a strategy. This is not so--not at all.
The fact is, everybody has "ideas" to start out. Watch little children playing or telling stories: they are far, far more imaginative than the most creative adults will ever manage to be. They explore new ideas constantly, and always allow for impossibilities.
It is not a question of where the artist "gets" his ideas. It's a question of at what point the fan lost his.
Children do this less and less as they grow older, to the point where highly imaginative people become rarer in the adult world. You might ask me, then, why imagination is important if you don't intend to work in a creative field. The fact is, imaginative ability is required to see your way around corners. We tend to rule out certain solutions to problems because we see them as utterly impossible before really investigating them; we need the ability to ask "what if" we pursued unprecedented avenues of thought.
Fantasy encourages this. When reading a fantasy novel--though good fantasy, as well, has strong rules--almost anything can happen. This requires a reader to maintain an open mind, and to accept new ways to understand the world. It keeps the imagination constantly open and capable.
Besides, good fantasy often relies on a lot of research. A reader can take away a lot of knowledge of world cultures, mythology, folklore, and any number of subjects from an excellent fantasy novel.
Fantasy has a strong tendency towards escapism, which is often decried. I ask why. Escapism is healthy--it is often the best way to survive a harsh outside environment. It doesn't mean you're avoiding or not dealing with problems in the outside world; it just means you're taking a break from them and possibly ruminating on new ways to handle them. Not only that, escapism gives you the opportunity to ride in someone else's brain for a little while, and hey, the world could use a bit more understanding. Interpretive fiction often makes you more aware of the technical aspects of the work, losing ground to the simplicity of the new world presented.
Why you should give your kids comic books Oh comics. My loves. My heart. Why are you so much maligned? Why are you percieved as prurient and worthless? Granted, some of the content fits the definition, but all of it?--surely not.
Comics are the most important. Perhaps this is simply because the medium deserves as much recognition as any other. Perhaps it is because one must actually learn to read comics as much as one must learn to read any other book.
Mostly, though, it's because comics are the most effective medium of visual communication out there today. They are cheaper and easier to transport and view than film, and far more efficient at dispersing information than text.
Consider how much comics show up in our daily life: the little safety diagrams on the airline, before-and-after pictures in ads, and of course the newspaper funnies. The political cartoon has proben a powerful instrument of opinion. All of these are forms that depend on quick and full comprehension on the part of the audience. Imagine that power harnessed to almost any end in communication. Until you can print a video in a magazine, I don't think we'll see its match for quite a while.
Besides, comics change the way the brain processes information, and makes it develop an incredible multitasking ability. Consider:
When you view a page of comics, you are doing many things:
You are reading and processing the text and the information contained therein.
You are looking at and processing the image and the information contained therein.
You are putting the text and image together to make a coherent whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
You are processing this set of information in the context of a longer narrative, attempting to fit it into the structure of the story and--with your imagination--providing all the details that occur in between the panels.
All this is done in the blink of an eye. The brain is processing at incredible rates when reading comics with almost no effort. The brain is stronger for it.
Conclusion The genres of science fiction and fantasy and the comics medium are usually disregarded beside "serious" literature. The escapism and unrealistic nature of these are usually cited as strikes against them, when they are indeed the fields' strengths. These are more effective than "serious" literature, and more capable of developing important patterns of critical thinking that are essential to a child's intellectual growth.
Posts: 1735 | Registered: Oct 2004
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quote:The most common and groan-worthy question that is always asked is, "Where do you get your ideas?" A lot of the time, the moment some dude asks this you can see the speakers developing facial tics.
I am a somewhat creative person. I hate this question--both hearing it and being asked it--because it presumes there is a place to go where ideas come from, or a strategy. This is not so--not at all.
The fact is, everybody has "ideas" to start out. Watch little children playing or telling stories: they are far, far more imaginative than the most creative adults will ever manage to be. They explore new ideas constantly, and always allow for impossibilities.
It is not a question of where the artist "gets" his ideas. It's a question of at what point the fan lost his.
Pshaw. I love this question. A chance to talk about how I think, how I make art? OF COURSE I love it! Are you kidding? I'd sit and talk about this one question all day.
If your Beloved Author rolls his eyes at you when you ask this question, he's simply a jerk. Come over and read MY fiction instead. I'm a good writer, and I love you, and I'll treat you right, baby.
quote:The most common and groan-worthy question that is always asked is, "Where do you get your ideas?" A lot of the time, the moment some dude asks this you can see the speakers developing facial tics.
I am a somewhat creative person. I hate this question--both hearing it and being asked it--because it presumes there is a place to go where ideas come from, or a strategy. This is not so--not at all.
The fact is, everybody has "ideas" to start out. Watch little children playing or telling stories: they are far, far more imaginative than the most creative adults will ever manage to be. They explore new ideas constantly, and always allow for impossibilities.
It is not a question of where the artist "gets" his ideas. It's a question of at what point the fan lost his.
Pshaw. I love this question. A chance to talk about how I think, how I make art? OF COURSE I love it! Are you kidding? I'd sit and talk about this one question all day.
If your Beloved Author rolls his eyes at you when you ask this question, he's simply a jerk. Come over and read MY fiction instead. I'm a good writer, and I love you, and I'll treat you right, baby.
Yes, I will.
It's fun talking about how you make art. Of course it is. Being an artist is somewhat about self-absorbtion.
But there is no "place" to get ideas, and that's the point. I mean, where do you get your ideas? Is it a forced process, or do they just grow organically? I've yet to meet an artist who says he actually DOES something to get ideas; every one I meet says she just runs across a concept or an image and keeps playing with it until it grows into something new. In essence, what a child does.
Posts: 1735 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
You mean I wasted my money at www.ideas-R-us.com? They had a special, buy one brainstorm, get a new theorem for half price.
Posts: 11895 | Registered: Apr 2002
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posted
I'm going to preface this with I love Heinlein's books. But for the love of life, DON'T give them to grade school kids. Not most of them. I read my first Heinlein at 13, and I was barely old enough to handle the sex and innuendo. I certainly didn't see past it to the meat of the book. High school age at the very least, I'd say.
Other than that, I whole-heartedly agree.
Posts: 354 | Registered: Jan 2006
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posted
"But there is no "place" to get ideas, and that's the point. I mean, where do you get your ideas? Is it a forced process, or do they just grow organically? I've yet to meet an artist who says he actually DOES something to get ideas; every one I meet says she just runs across a concept or an image and keeps playing with it until it grows into something new. In essence, what a child does. "
What a child does?
I know I've always done exactly that, it comes absolutely naturally to me, but this is generally considered the sort of thing children and not so much adults do?
Am I understanding this right?
Posts: 1577 | Registered: Sep 2005
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quote:I've yet to meet an artist who says he actually DOES something to get ideas; every one I meet says she just runs across a concept or an image and keeps playing with it until it grows into something new.
Hmm... well, that's one way it works. For me, keeping an eye open to the world around me is a way to get ideas. But's it's not THE way.
I get ideas by looking at maps; by free association; by combing through magazines; by looking at old photos; by talking to people. Some of these things are passive; some, I actively have to hunt down ideas.
Mmmm...hunting.
Writing is Work. I don't buy into the idea that artists just come by ideas. I believe that it can happen, but should not be relied upon.
Posts: 14554 | Registered: Dec 1999
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quote:Pshaw. I love this question. A chance to talk about how I think, how I make art? OF COURSE I love it! Are you kidding? I'd sit and talk about this one question all day.
I agree with ScottR. I know this question comes up a lot, but I think it's a perfectly fair one. I think what people are asking is not necessarily "where/how do you get ideas?" but how, in everyday life, a writer turns what may seem ordinary to a non-writer into the basis of the story/book/poem. Non-writers or aspiring writers want to know what makes an everyday occurrence, discovery, bit of knowledge a good idea for a story.
Both Robert Charles Wilson and Robert J. Sawyer were both asked this question when I saw them speak and gave a good answer that assumed this extension of the question was implicit. Sawyer (I remember his answer well) said he came across metaphorical concept, such as "I feel young again" and wondered what it would be like if it were literal, an answer that probably isn't true of all his writing but gives the listeners a good method to try for themselves- a jumping-off point.
quote:some, I actively have to hunt down ideas.
Mmmm...hunting.
Writing is Work. I don't buy into the idea that artists just come by ideas. I believe that it can happen, but should not be relied upon.
I'm a bit of a hunter, too and a big fan of libraries. About half the time of the time I can't even pinpoint where the idea actually came from, because the original leaping off point might no longer be in the story or be very minor, or changed.
quote:Is it a forced process
Using that word 'forced' makes it sound like ramming an unwilling sheep through a small round hole (no actual sheep were hurt in this thought experiment). I would say that is accurate, at least for part of the time.
For me, at least ScottR is right. I tend to make 'leaps' of random ideas that come to me in the middle of a class, for example, but the rest of it is pure work... like growing a particularly difficult plant. It doesn't just grow all green and flourishing by itself, you have look after it and water it and prune it and feed it, etc.
(I love that blog entry, ScottR.)
Posts: 8473 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
Neil Gaiman still has the best response for this I've heard. After joking about all the cutesy, sarcastic answer writers use for that dreaded question, he talked about speaking at his 7-year-old daughter's English class:
quote:They sat on the floor, I had a chair, fifty seven-year-old-eyes gazed up at me. 'When I was your age, people told me not to make things up,' I told them. 'These days, they give me money for it.' For twenty minutes I talked, then they asked questions.
And eventually one of them asked it.
'Where do you get your ideas?'
And I realized I owed them an answer. They weren't old enough to know any better. And it's a perfectly reasonable question, if you aren't asked it weekly.
He goes on with an excellent, easy to understand answer.
Re: Heinlein. He wrote most of his books for a Boy Scout audience. I have no problem giving any child those.
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
Also re: Heinlein. The books that are appropriate, however, I find rather thin and simplistic. However! this may be perfect for children learning to enjoy sci fi so it's probably a good thing more than a bad one.
Posts: 8473 | Registered: Apr 2003
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