Science fiction film

Artificial Intelligence has been a staple of speculative fiction for many years now. Who can forget the murderous “HAL” (so named because each letter is one higher in the alphabet than IBM) from 2001: A SPACE ODESSY? But lately Artificial Intelligence, or “AI” to the techno-hipster set, has been going mainstream in a big way. Life always imitates art, and now IBM has indeed staked its future on AI in the form of their “Watson” product. It is very early in the game, but the promise of AI…

In The cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe vengeance is served viciously. Two Friends, Montresor and Fortunato destiny is determined in two ways only, revenge and murder. In the story Poe uses a feeling of betrayal to build a mysterious and seductive character before ascending to his remarkable strategy to a state of suspense. In fact, throughout the story, the reader slowly realizes that Montresor is an unreliable narrator; that whatever insult Montresor believes Fortunato committed is…

What will be humanity’s next step? This question has been addressed by every science fiction writer in the genre’s history. The predictions made by these writers in their fiction are usually based upon the current state of politics in the time in which they are writing, with some of the most famous works coming in the time following World War II at the height of the Cold War. Some write of a bright future, where all of the world’s nations have unified into one government and humans have become…

Escaping Reality with Ray Bradbury Sometimes reality is too hard to bear, it is unfair, or it is just plain simply unsatisfying. Current situations can be disappointing, leading people to seek comfort in other areas or aspects in life. Usually seeking an answer as to how it is that they ended up where they are, or what they could have done differently to have gotten a better life. Often fantasizing as to how great things could have been if people would respect one another or were treated…

world. Kurt originated from a wealthy family, but the trials of the time period initiated shifts in plans and goals that later influenced his writing career, and through his stories, both non-fiction and fiction alike, he laid out his perception on contemporary subjects in the form of satirical science fiction journeys. Born on November 11, 1922 in Indianapolis, Indiana, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. was the third and youngest…

In the short story, “There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury, all of mankind is obliterated by technology made by their very own hands. A house that can do daily tasks and chores that has a maternal figure is used to show how valuable yet threatening technology can be. In the short story “There Will Come Soft Rains”, Ray Bradbury makes people realize the importance of their true existence and take precautions so that technology would not wipe out all mankind like it is feared. In addition,…

Never Let Me Go and Frankenstein both belong to the science fiction genre, but are nearly completely different. Never Let Me Go, written by Kazuo Ishiguro in 2004, is set in the past, in post World War II Great Britain. Kathy, the narrator of the novel, is a clone, who has been created by means of science. On the other hand, Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley in 1618, is set in 18th century Europe. Victor Frankenstein, whose tale is being narrated by Robert Walton, is a scientist who has…

short story, and indeed this is what many of Kurt Vonnegut’s stories do. He crafts an argument that allows the reader to interpret his meaning as opposed to directly persuading them through an argumentative essay. Vonnegut took advantage of dystopian fiction,…

1.Introduction Thesis: Professor Robert F. Yeager generates interest in the poem Beowulf by describing the mystery that surrounds its origin, the way the story influenced others, and how the story connects people to their ancestors. 2. Mystery of Origin Written over one thousand years ago by two anonymous authors Original manuscript was small, w/o illumination (written by a journeyman) No one knows where it was for five hundred years after it was written Was saved from the dissolving of the…

There are many aspects as to what is human, ranging from what you look like to what you act like. These aspects of humanity are blown up into major themes in both Philip K. Dick’s book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and Duncan Jones’ movie Moon. One of the most influential themes in these works questions the true humanity of emotion and one’s own thoughts. At first, it seems as though Dick and Jones are arguing that emotion is not a human quality; however, in many cases of the androids and…