Class 12 NCERT English Kaleidoscope Non Fiction Lesson 6 On Science Fiction Question and Answers.
Question and Answer:
1. What is the parallel drawn between myths and legends of the past and science fiction?
2. What gives science fiction its validity?
3. Which literary works does the authors have in mind when he refers to ‘Open Sesame’ or the concept of winged horses or flying carpets?
Answer:
1. What is the parallel drawn between myths and legends of the past and science fiction?
The author draws several parallels between myths and legends of the past and science fiction:
- Fulfillment of Emotional Needs: Both satisfy the same emotional need – the longing for wonder.
- Depiction of the Unknown: Both aim for the depiction of life as we don’t know it.
- Exploration of Transcendent Powers: Both feature tales of beings or mechanisms that transcend ordinary human capabilities.
- Invention Based on the Familiar: Just as ancient myths created unusual beings by combining animal characteristics, science fiction often builds extraterrestrials on similar principles.
- Narrative Structure: Both follow analogous paths in telling exciting adventure stories, even if set in different kinds of universes.
2. What gives science fiction its validity?
Science fiction derives its validity, in a narrow sense for today, from the fact that as far as we can tell, the Universe does follow the dictates of the laws of nature and is not at the mercy of gods and demons. Its grounding in a universe governed by impersonal and unswervable laws, which can be understood and potentially manipulated through science, makes it relevant to our current understanding of reality.
3. Which literary works does the author have in mind when he refers to ‘Open Sesame’ or the concept of winged horses or flying carpets?
The author likely has in mind the collection of Middle Eastern folk tales known as “One Thousand and One Nights” (also called “Arabian Nights”) when he refers to:
- ‘Open Sesame’: This is the magical phrase that opens the treasure cave in the famous story of “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.”
- Winged horses and flying carpets: These are recurring motifs in various tales from “One Thousand and One Nights” and other ancient myths and legends. For instance, the concept of a magical flying carpet is central to stories like “The Magic Carpet.” Winged horses, while perhaps most famously associated with Greek mythology (like Pegasus), also appear in similar fantastical narratives across different cultures.
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?
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?
3. What are the pitfalls that the writer of science fiction mystery must guard aganist?
Answer:
1. What makes for the distinction between the various genres of fiction—’a sports story’, ‘a Western story’, ‘a jungle story’ and science fiction?
The distinction lies in what the author identifies as content versus background:
- Sports story, Western story, and jungle story are defined by their content. A sports story must involve competitive athletic activity, a Western story must involve the life of a cowboy in the American West, and a jungle story must involve the dangers of a tropical wilderness.
- Science fiction, on the other hand, is primarily defined by its background. You can take the content of any other genre and place it against a background that involves a society significantly different from our own (often due to scientific or technological advancements), and it becomes science fiction. The nature of the story itself doesn’t change; the altered societal context is what makes it science fiction.
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?
Asimov establishes that John Campbell was wrong by:
- Arguing that the rules of the game can still be upheld in science fiction mysteries. Just like in classical mysteries, the author can establish a set of rules and conditions within the fictional world and adhere to them.
- Outlining the necessary conditions for a fair science fiction mystery. He states that the writer must clearly explain the boundary conditions of the imaginary society, making it clear what is possible and what is not. The reader must have access to the same information as the investigator.
- Acknowledging the potential for misdirection but emphasizing that the solution should remain logically deducible for the reader.
- Providing his own works, “The Caves of Steel” and “The Naked Sun,” as concrete examples of science fiction mysteries that he wrote specifically to demonstrate the feasibility and fairness of the genre.
3. What are the pitfalls that the writer of science fiction mystery must guard against?
The writer of a science fiction mystery must guard against the following pitfalls:
- The temptation to suddenly change the rules of the fictional world without warning in the middle of the story to solve the mystery in an unfair way (like Holmes suddenly revealing an unknown Q-ray technology).
- The pitfall of the detective having extraordinary, unexplained abilities that the reader has no way of anticipating or understanding.
- Making scientific bloopers due to a lack of scientific knowledge, which can undermine the credibility of the science fiction element and potentially ruin the plot (as illustrated by the examples of John Dickson Carr’s errors with antimony and carbon monoxide/dioxide, and Dorothy Sayers’ unrealistic thyroid hormone effects).
- Failing to rationally extrapolate or modify existing science when introducing new scientific or technological elements into the fictional world. The science, even if fictional, should have a logical basis within the established rules of that universe.
Talking about the Text
Discuss in small groups
1. Imagination and fantasy help human being to speculate upon the possible explanations of 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.
Answer:
Discussion Point 1: Imagination and fantasy help human beings to speculate upon the possible explanations of the complexity and unpredictability of the phenomena in the universe.
Initial Thoughts to Spark Discussion:
- Connecting to the Text: The author discusses how ancient myths and legends arose from a human need to explain the unpredictable and often frightening forces of nature. Gods and demons, controlled by magic, provided those explanations. Imagination and fantasy were central to creating these systems of belief.
- Modern Parallel: Science fiction, in a way, continues this tradition of speculation. Instead of supernatural beings, it often uses extrapolated science and technology to explore the complexities and potential futures of the universe and human existence.
- The “What If” Question: Both mythology and science fiction thrive on the “what if” question. What if the stars were gods? What if we could travel faster than light? Imagination allows us to venture beyond current understanding.
- Emotional Needs: The text highlights the “longing for wonder.” Both fantasy and science fiction tap into this, offering narratives that go beyond the mundane and explore the extraordinary.
Discussion Points for the Group:
- Can you think of specific examples from the text where imagination and fantasy are used to explain the unknown in prescientific times?
- How does science fiction today use imagination to explore the complexities of the universe (e.g., time travel, alien life, artificial intelligence)?
- In what ways are the explanations offered by mythology and science fiction different? What are the underlying assumptions?
- Does science fiction replace the need for fantasy and imagination in explaining the universe, or do they serve different purposes?
- Can imagination sometimes lead to flawed or unscientific explanations? How does the scientific method attempt to address this?
- Consider current scientific mysteries (e.g., dark matter, the origin of life). How might imagination and even fantastical ideas play a role in speculating on potential explanations, even if those speculations need rigorous testing later?
Discussion Point 2: The difference that Science and technology have made to everyday life today was visualised in science fiction fifty years ago.
Initial Thoughts to Spark Discussion:
- Connecting to the Text: The author mentions crystal balls that see across distances and magic shells that transmit whispers as ancient equivalents of television and telephones. This shows that the desire for such technologies existed long before their scientific realization. Science fiction often takes these desires and imagines plausible (or sometimes implausible) scientific pathways to achieve them.
- Prophetic Nature of SF: Many science fiction stories from the mid-20th century (around fifty years ago from the text’s writing, though the text itself doesn’t specify its writing date, we can infer a similar timeframe) did indeed predict technologies that are now commonplace.
- Examples: Think about things like:
- Personal communication devices: Dick Tracy’s wrist radio predates cell phones.
- Space travel and colonization: Many 1950s and 60s stories explored these themes.
- Artificial intelligence and robots: Early science fiction often featured intelligent machines.
- Automation and computers: While perhaps not always accurately portrayed, the concept of widespread automation was present.
Discussion Points for the Group:
- Can you name specific science fiction works (books, movies, TV shows) from around fifty years ago (or a similar timeframe) that visualised technologies we use today? How accurate were these visualisations?
- What are some examples from the text that show a historical human desire for technologies that science eventually delivered?
- Why is science fiction often so good at predicting future technologies? Is it pure imagination, or is it based on extrapolating existing scientific trends?
- Are there technologies that were heavily visualised in science fiction fifty years ago that haven’t come to pass, or have developed very differently? What might be the reasons for these discrepancies?
- How does science fiction influence the development of science and technology? Does it inspire scientists and engineers?
- What are some current science fiction tropes that might become everyday realities in the next fifty years? What are the ethical and societal implications of these potential futures?
By engaging with these discussion points in small groups, you can explore the fascinating relationship between human imagination, the drive to understand the universe, and the often-prophetic nature of science fiction. Remember to share your own ideas and listen to the perspectives of your group members!
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 to the essay. Some paragraph consist of just one sentence What purpose do you think the author bad 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 references to the following mythical
Centaur
Gryphon
Satyr
Gorgon
Sphinx Harpy
Pegasus
Find out parallel creatures in Indian mythology.
(ii) Find out about the story of Achilles and Hector.
B. Pronunciation
Language very greatly in the way in which they use rhythm in fluent speech. English rhythm is based not only on word stress (i. e. the stress on a certain syllable or syllables in a word) but also on sentence stress (i. e. the basic emphasis pattern of a sentence.) Both of these elements are important for intelligibility.
Look at the following sentences
(i) Delhi is a big city.
(ii) He asked me how I felt in a big city like Delhi.
You will notice that the first sentence can be said in one breath but you may like to pause while saying the second sentence. Pauses can be indicated by the mark (/). Each pause marks the end of a ‘breath’ or tone group. Because tone groups are said in a single breath, they are limited in length and average about two seconds, or five words. We break up spoken language into tone groups because we need to breathe, so there is a physical reason for the structure. But there is also the need to think. Thus the pace of the tone groups, and the information they convey, matches the speakers’ thoughts. Tone groups can contain only one word or as many as seven or eight, as you can see in the example given below No,/I really can’t put up with it any more/good bye./
Answer:
- Pauses and Tone Groups: Pauses in speech, often indicated by the mark ( / ), signify the end of a tone group.
- Breath Groups: Tone groups are also described as ‘breath’ groups, meaning they are typically uttered within a single exhalation.
- Length Limitation: Due to the physical constraint of a single breath, tone groups tend to be relatively short, averaging around two seconds or five words.
- Reasons for Tone Groups: The division of speech into tone groups serves two primary purposes:
- Physical Necessity: The need to breathe dictates that we cannot speak continuously for extended periods.
- Cognitive Processing: The pacing and information content of tone groups align with the speaker’s thoughts. This suggests that we naturally chunk our speech into units that reflect our cognitive processing.
- Variable Length: While the average length is mentioned, the example “No,/I really can’t put up with it any more/good bye./” demonstrates that tone groups can vary in length, ranging from a single word (“No”) to longer phrases (seven or eight words in “I really can’t put up with it any more”).
In essence, this passage highlights the interplay between our physical need to breathe and our cognitive processes in shaping the natural rhythm and structure of spoken language. Tone groups are the fundamental units of this structure, marked by pauses that allow for both respiration and thought organization.