The Analytical Essay

INTRODUCTION

Throughout the semester, you have used various types of writing activities to give you a better understanding of the texts and concepts of the course. For instance, you have participated on the discussion board to share your knowledge and make meaning together with your peers. Also, you have written personal responses to various readings in your journal entries.

And you have produced an Adaptation Assignment, critically analyzing the adaptation of H.G. Wells novel The War of the Worlds into a 2005 film adaptation by Steven Spielberg or writing your very own adaptation of a key scene in the novel. For this assignment, you will continue to use writing as a means of learning and inquiry, using the essay writing genre to think critically about Octavia Butlers novel, Kindred.

PURPOSE

Knowledge

After completing this assignment, you will understand:

1.     How to use critical reading and thinking to understand a literary work.

2.     How literary works are classified according to specific genres.

3.     How writers use a combination of literary devices to shape and express meaning in a literary work.

4.     How to communicate your understanding of literature through the act of writing an analytical essay.

Skills

After completing this assignment, you will be able to:

1.     Demonstrate understanding of forms and conventions of a given genre in the context of an historical period or theme.

2.     Analyze texts through a historical, rhetorical, and/or theoretical framework.

3.     Generate a logical argument or article based on evidence from primary and secondary sources: clear thesis statement or statement of purpose, appropriate sources, transitional language, and progressive development of ideas or generate a sustained creative work or collection of works.

4.     Apply and synthesize appropriate knowledge to produce clear and effective writing.

TASK

For this assignment, you will write a two to three-page analytical essay on one of the following topics:

1. In a persuasive/argumentative essay, take a position on the question of Kindred being classified as a work of science fiction. To what extent do you think the novel is an example of science fiction? To what extent is it not? Your position in the argument should be based on the definitions and criteria of science fiction that we established at the beginning of the course. If you choose this option, it may be helpful for you to review the video The Definitions of Science Fiction, since this video provides clear definitions and the criteria of science fiction, which you will need to understand fully in order to respond to this prompt effectively.

CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS

Part I: The Criteria

Producing an effective analytical essay involves the consideration of seven criteria:

1.     Structure and Organization – An effective essay will contain the key ingredients of a literary analysis flowing together to create a coherent, whole piece.

2.     Content and Development – An effective essay will contain relevant, poignant, and compelling content, illustrating the writers expertise on the subject.

3.     Context and Purpose for Writing – An effective essay will demonstrate the writers understanding of the assignment, its purpose, and the audience.

4.     Genre and Disciplinary Conventions – An effective essay will demonstrate the writers knowledge and application of genre and disciplinary conventions, including an adherence to the MLA format.

5.     Control of Syntax, Grammar and Punctuation – An effective essay will demonstrate the writers graceful use of language and ability to skillfully communicate meaning to readers with clarity and fluency and will be virtually error-free.

6.     The Writing Process – The writer will take full advantage of the writing process, including the production and workshopping of multiple drafts for revision and editing.

7.     Peer Collaboration – The writing process involves not only the production of multiple drafts but providing constructive feedback to guide peers during the revision and editing phases of the writing process.

SOLUTION

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Date of Submission

The Analytical Essay

Literary work often takes various forms and styles depending on how they are conveyed by the authors. These differences have led to the classification of literary works into various categories, such as real and imaginary science fiction, neo-slave narrative, grim fantasy, and initiation novel (Hubble & Mousoutzanis 67). One has to understand these classes of literary works to place a book in the most appropriate category.

To better understand the context of these assertions, this paper will explore a case study of the Kindred by Octavia E. Butler and classify it. Kindred is a complex novel with elements of time travel, history, social changes, and so on, which makes it significantly challenging to classify. Even though Kindred incorporates some fantastic elements of science fiction, it fails to justify and emphasize the possibility, plausibility, and practicality of the scientific concept, thereby making it more of a neo-slave narrative and grim fantasy genre.

Science Fiction (SF) Explanation

As seen in the video by Rothman (slide 3), science fiction (SF) is a popular genre of literary work that tends to embody real or imaginary science and technology in telling a story. The scientific concept can be critiqued, used in making predictions, and evaluated for its impacts on human life and scientific consciences (Various Authors 20). SF differs from fantasy in terms of plausibility and how the working of the universe is explained. SF results from plausible scientific advances, while fantasy is based on supernatural or mystical explanations and occurrences. From this understanding, one can distinguish whether Kindred should be categorized under science fiction or not.

Kindred Synopsis

Kindred by Octavia Butler depicts a story of a young, black woman named Dana (26 years old) leading a happy and normal life in Los Angeles – California in 1976. She then starts to experience mysterious time-travels to the past and comes back to the present on several occasions (Butler 13a). Specifically, she found herself in the Antebellum South; on a plantation in Maryland in the early 19th century, a time when slavery was largely legal and common.

On arrival, she realized that she was pulled into the past while dizzying to save a young white boy named Rufus (a son to a slave owner, Weylin) from drowning. She was drawn back to the present when Weylin was about to shoot her to save her life. She makes six more trips to the past to save Rufus until he fathered Hagar, who would become her ancestor.

Each time she journeyed to the past, she was pulled back to the present whenever her life was in danger. In her last escape, Rufus was trying to rape her. She killed Rufus but lost her arm in the struggle and came back to 1976 without it. As a black woman living in the 19th century, she was forced to live as a slave. She explores how African Americans and their white oppressors struggled to survive and maneuver slavery and brings the contract between life during and after slavery.

Not a Science Fiction

It is safe to disregard Kindred as a science fiction based on its content and the lack of a technological or scientific element. Kindred has been argued to be an SF genre because of the element of time travel it possesses. Even though time travel is a scientific concept, Octavia leaves out the part about how it happened. Dana’s travels into the past were mysterious and had no scientific plausibility or reproducibility (Butler 13a).

If it were scientific or technological, one would expect the existence of a means of transportation or teleportation intentionally or accidentally discovered or developed. However, in the case of Kindred, Dana jumps into the mysteriously in her sleep, making it more of a supernatural occurrence, wistful though, or a dream, hence not a science fiction (Hubble & Mousoutzanis 67). Besides, should there be any scientific explanation for all these, the writer does not give it.

Secondly, Kindred mostly explores the life people live during the 19th century when slavery was at its peak. The accuracy of timelines makes it more of a historical fiction. The fact it covers the struggles of African Americans in the fight and survival against racial discrimination and how slavery has continuously shaped their lives makes the book more of a neo-slave narrative than a science fiction (Butler 269b). Given that Dana was able to mysteriously travel to the future only to face oppression and violence, which were not consequences of a scientific or technological concept qualifies the book as grim fantasy as opposed to science fiction (Butler 269b).

Conclusion

Kindred is not solely science fiction. The book qualifies to be classified under many other genres, including grim fantasy, historical narrative, and neo-slave narrative. The aspect of time travel may place it under SF though it fails in many qualifying features, including the accidental or intentional invention or discovery of the technology and its plausibility to merit the genre. Still, it is agreeable that this book fits in the category of the speculative fiction genre.

Works Cited

Butler, Octavia E. Kindred. Beacon Press, 2004.

Butler, Octavia E. Kindred, Gift Edition. Beacon Press, 2022.

Mousoutzanis, Aris, and Nick Hubble. “The Science Fiction Handbook.” Bloomsbury Academic.  (2013).

Rothman, Tammi. “Defining Science Fiction.” YouTube, YouTube, 6 Feb. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxIArKiYCKE.

Various Authors. Routledge Library Editions: Science Fiction. Taylor & Francis. 2022.