Hit: Fantasy Elements

[Jenn Landy <JennLandy@AOL.COM>]

Thanks to all who reponded!
Here is what people had to say:

I love the writer Orson Scott Card's definition: he says, if it
has rivets on the cover, it's science fiction; if it has trees on
the cover, it's fantasy. It hardly every fails.
GraceAnne DeCandido


I've done many presentations for 4th and 5th graders on what makes a book
Fantasy. Here are some elements that you could have them think about:

Animal Fantasy: do the animals use speech? do they have human characteristics
(homes, chairs/furniture, cook dinner, etc.)? A good animal fantasy will have
a character that retains its natural animal characteristics (a rabbit will be
a fast runner and frightened easily) but will otherwise behave in human
terms.
Personified toys or objects: Toy Story is the best example - are inanimate
objects (in real life) animated in the story? Pinocchio, Mike Mulligan and
the Steam Shovel, The Castle in the Attic are all examples of toys or
machines that come to life or have feelings/personalities.

Exaggerated reality: the fantasy element of the story is reached through an
element of reality (Alice in Wonderland, James and the Giant Peach are two
good examples). Tuck Everlasting by Babbitt is a good example of this - it is
historically accurate in its portrayal of the characters and the time but the
element of the "fountain of youth" exaggerates reality to explore a fantasy
we've all thought about.

Little People: are there characters in the story that are miniature people
(The Borrowers, for example).

Supernatural/Mystery fantasy: ghost stories; stories of witches, warlocks,
and wizards (Harry Potter). Are there elements of the supernatural in the
story? Are the characters trying to solve a mystery that seems to have
supernatural connotations?

Historical fantasy: you could also call this the time-warp or time-travel
fantasy where characters, through some machine or mysterious portal, travel
back in time. Most people think of traveling forward in time to fall into the
science fiction category and I suppose there is an argument that if the time
travel is accomplished by machine then regardless of when they travel to,
it's science fiction. That's your call as to how you want to present it. (The
Root Cellar, Time-Warp Trio series, Honus & Me)

Quest stories: adventure stories with a search motif - usually looking for a
magic talisman, love of a pure heart, hidden treasure or some such. They're
usually serious in tone and sometimes known as high fantasy. Lloyd Alexander
writes many of these; look also for the Merlin series by Barron, Wren series
by Smith, and Anne McCaffrey's books about Pern.

Science fiction/fantasy: a fantasy story based on real scientific facts
and/or principles. Look for stories by William Sleator (Interstellar Pig)
John Christopher (The White Mountain series), Heinlein (Have Spacesuit Will
Travel).

Much of this information I'm giving you came from Essentials of Children's
Literature (2nd ed) by Carl Tomlinson and Carol Lynch-Brown (Allyn and Bacon,
1996). Hope this gets you started! Have fun!



Susan K. S. Grigsby, LMS
Virtual Reference Desk Volunteer
Midvale Elementary, DeKalb County, Georgia
skg0577@dcss.dekalb.k12.ga.us

Those who don't understand aren't committed...those who do should be.


I tell kids to ask themselves "Could this happen in the real
world?"  Do people fly through the air on broomsticks?  Do
animals talk to people in English?  Do people travel through
time?  Do magic spells really work?

By 5th grade, kids have a handle on what is real and what isn't,
and can distinguish fantasy w/ pretty good reliability.

Benita


I posed this question to some of our 5-6 grade students with a mixed result on what 
is fantasy.  For example, the Star Trek material has some validity now or War of 
the Worlds which was fantasy in 1938!  Don't know if this helps or not as an 
approach.
Imagination or fantasy has lent itself to a lot of our new inventions.  Check out 
some of the stuff about George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

Carla Haney
Shirland Cons. School


In Literature and the Child, 5th edition, Galda and Cullinan, there is a
teaching idea about distinguishing between Fantasy and Realism.
"Choose two picture books--one realistic (it could possibly happen) and one
fantasy (it could not happen).  Read aloud both books; compare them on
relevant points as in the example."
here's the 2 books in the example.  (I don't have time to type the whole
chart!)
Coy, John.  Night Driving. Peter McCarty, illustrator. Holt, 1996
Raschka, Chris, The Blushful HIppopotamus. Jackson/ Orchard, 1996.
They then compare the genre, characters, plot, setting, theme, and a few
details.[Night Driving: Where did the drivers go?  How did the boy help Dad?
The Blushful Hoppopotamus: Are talking animals real or make-believe? What
gave Roosevelt confidence?] These questions are at the bottom:  How did you
know which story was real, and which one was make-believe? Which pictures
and sentences prove it?
If you don't have this book, BUY IT!!
Check your public library ISBN 0534246877
Linda Walkup
Tulsa Public Schools
walkuli@tulsaschools.org


Everyone else who responded wanted a "hit" posted-- enjoy!!!

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