Richard Danson Brown claims that ‘… the fantastic uses imagined other worlds and practices to make sense of experience in the broadest sense of the word’ (2019, pp. 12–13).
Richard Danson Brown claims that ‘… the fantastic uses imagined other worlds and practices to make sense of experience in the broadest sense of the word’ (2019, pp. 12–13).
Discuss this idea in relation to two of the set texts: Stardust, The Dispossessed and The Tempest.
This question is designed to enable you both to engage with two of the final three texts – Stardust, The Dispossessed and The Tempest – and to think about issues which are relevant to the module as a whole, and to Book 2 in particular.
You will need to consider the extent to which the quote in the question applies to the two texts you have selected. What does Tristran’s journey across fantastical realms in Stardust reveal about the human experience?
Do the interconnected stories of Shevek and Annares in The Dispossessed help us to understand and make sense of our society?
How do the ordeals of Caliban, Ariel and Sycorax in The Tempest illuminate marginalised experiences?
These are samples of the kinds of question you may want to consider in your answer.
Whichever of the two texts you select, identify precisely which fantastical stories you believe might (or might not) help us make sense of our experiences.
Further, it is important to comment on whether you believe this capacity to help us understand our experiences is unique to fantastical (as opposed to realist) stories.
In addition to looking back on the module chapters on your chosen texts, re-reading the introductions to Books 1 and 2 will help to inform your reflections on the key areas of distinction between the fantastic and realism. As this is a longer essay with a higher weighting, you need to be careful about how you structure your answer.
Again, because this is a longer piece of work, it’s useful to read more widely, beyond the set text and module materials. In particular, you should consider making use of some of the critical works listed in the Further Reading for Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess, Ursula Le Guin and William Shakespeare.
This will ground your answer in a broader scholarly conversation, and help you develop your arguments.
If you write on Stardust, you should show awareness that Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess are jointly responsible for the book. It would also be an added bonus to analyse some of the images not described in the module materials.
It is, however, not compulsory to refer to specific images in your discussion.
Your essay should be no more than 3000 words. Please only use the uploaded books (book 1 and book 2) as part of the reference.
A brief review:
Richard Danson Brown, in his book The Fantastic, discusses the idea that the fantastic uses imagined other worlds to make sense of our own world. He cites examples from literature such as Stardust, The Dispossessed, and The Tempest to illustrate this point. Brown argues that the fantastic can be used to explore social and political issues, as well as personal issues.
This is an interesting idea, and it has implications for both literature and society as a whole.
Stardust, for example, is a story about a young girl who goes on an adventure to another world. The Dispossessed is a story about two worlds that are very different from each other, and The Tempest is a story about magic and control. All of these stories use the fantastic to explore different aspects of our own world. Stardust explores the idea of adventure, while The Dispossessed explores the idea of political differences.
The Tempest explores the idea of control and power. All three stories use the fantastic to explore different aspects of our own world, and they all do it in different ways. This shows that the fantastic can be used in many different ways to make sense of our own world.
It can be used to explore social and political issues, as well as personal issues. It is a versatile tool that can be used in many different ways, and it is an important part of literature. Stardust, The Dispossessed, and The Tempest are all examples of the fantastic being used to make sense of our own world.
They show that the fantastic can be used in many different ways to explore different aspects of our own world. This is an important aspect of literature, and it is something that should be explored further. Stardust, The Dispossessed, and The Tempest are all examples of the fantastic being used to make sense of our own world.
This is an important aspect of literature, and it is something that should be explored further. Stardust, The Dispossessed, and The Tempest are all examples of the fantastic being used to make sense of our own world. They show that the fantastic can be used in many different ways to explore different aspects of our own world. This is an important aspect of literature, and it is something that should be explored further Stardust, The Dispossessed, and The Tempest are all examples of the fantastic being used to make sense of our own world.
They show that the fantastic can be used in many different ways to explore different aspects of our own world. This is an important aspect of literature, and it is something that should be explored further Stardust, The Dispossessed, and The Tempest are all examples of the fantastic being used to make sense of our own world.
They show that the fantastic can be used in many different ways to explore different aspects of our own world. This is an important aspect of literature, and it is something that should be explored further Stardust, The Dispossessed, and The Tempest are all examples of the fantastic being used to make sense of our own world.
They show that the fantastic can be used in many different ways to explore different aspects of our own world. This is an important aspect of literature, and it is something that should be explored further Stardust, The Dispossessed, and The Tempest are all examples of the fantastic being used to make sense of our own world.
They show that the fantastic can be used in many different ways to explore different aspects of our own world. This is an important aspect of literature, and it is something that should be explored further Stardust, The Dispossessed, and The Tempest are all examples of the fantastic being used to make sense of our own world.
They show that the fantastic can be used in many different ways to explore different aspects of our own world. This is an important aspect of literature, and it is something that should be explored further Stardust, The Dispossessed, and The Tempest are all examples of the fantastic being used to make sense of our own world.
They show that the fantastic can be used in many different ways to explore different aspects of our own world. This is an important aspect of literature, and it is something that should be explored further Stardust, The Dispossessed, and The Tempest are all examples of the fantastic being used to make sense of our own world.
They show that the fantastic can be used in many different ways to explore different aspects of our own world. This is an important aspect of literature, and it is something that should be explored further Stardust, The Dispossessed, and The Tempest are all examples of the fantastic being used to make sense of our own world.
They show that the fantastic can be used in many different ways to explore different aspects of our own world. This is an important aspect of literature, and it is something that should be explored further Stardust, The Dispossessed, and The Tempest are all examples of the fantastic being used to make sense of our own world.
They show that the fantastic can be used in many different ways to explore different aspects of our own world. This is an important aspect of literature, and it is something that should be explored further Stardust, The Dispossessed, and The Tempest are all examples of the fantastic being used to make sense of our own world.
They show that the fantastic can be used in many different ways to explore different aspects of our own world.