Abra Forman                                                                                                   

Professor Rodas

Utopian Fiction

2/9/06

Conference Paper Proposal

 

Rationale

 

            I propose to write two separate shorter conference papers (15-20 pages each), on the topics of post-apocalyptic adult fiction and young-adult survival fiction respectively. The two are obviously connected thematically, but in analyzing the two types of literature I will not attempt, in the longer papers, to draw direct connections. After these two papers are written, I will write a short paper describing the links I have found between them.

            Post-apocalyptic fiction is abundant and not, of course, all good. What is most fascinating to me is the incredible range of ideas authors have about the “end of the world”, which, for the purposes of my conference project, does not just describe a literal, physical destruction, but includes nuclear war, natural disasters, epidemic diseases, government coups or revolutions—in sum, anything that destroys a large part of the human population or destroys its ability to live comfortably on Earth (assuming that our current situation is “comfortable”). In general, I think I will find that it means a collapse of order or regulation in a national or global sense.

            The main idea of this paper will be analyses of human reactions to the apocalypse. Having only very small tastes of what a modern apocalypse might be like—taking the atom bombings of Japan or the Holocaust as examples—it is nearly impossible for us to conceive of the most probable human reaction to such an event. Indeed, authors are not even convinced that they have found the answer or a likely one. James Kunetka and Whitley Striber, the authors of Warday and Nature’s End, envision in each two very different outcomes post-apocalypse. The gaps between interpretations of human reactions according to different authors—or simply different books—are what will drive my analysis of this genre.

 

            My second conference paper will concern young-adult survival fiction. While researching possible literature to include in the project, I realized that in elementary school I had been assigned an inordinate amount of these sorts of books—definitely more than I was of any other young-adult genre. Rarely were the characters of books happy, healthy, or safe at home. Rather, they were abandoned—runaways—alone in some bizarre adventure—struggling with their own importance and abilities to survive. In fifth grade alone I read Island of the Blue Dolphins, in which a native girl is left alone when her tribe leaves their island; Z for Zachariah, in which the entire population of the world is wiped out by radiation, save for one girl and one man; Timothy of the Cay, about a young boy and an older man shipwrecked on an island; The Sign of the Beaver, telling the story of a young man in colonial America, living alone through a harsh winter in a log cabin he and his father built in a land of wilderness; and probably several more which I don’t remember well. Why are so many of these books geared towards young boys and girls? When I researched them, I came up with dozens of lists, hundreds of books—many were teachers’ recommendations. My idea is that they all emphasize contrast, whether between different types of people or opposite kinds of places. The use of contrast is intended to thrust characters out of comfort zones and demand that they recognize themselves as individuals. Rarely if ever do these books place importance on any sort of authority, like parent figures or guardians. Are any of these books without a moral undertone? I will attempt to discover, or at least to satisfy my own curiosity about, whether each author intended his or her book to teach a lesson, using endings of books in particular to derive what message the author wished to convey.

 

Plan of Conference Progression

By 2nd Conference (Feb 9):

--Have read Warday, Nature’s End, and Julie of the Wolves

--Have created conference proposal

 

By 3rd Conference (Feb 23)

--Have read three or more of the following: Hiroshima, Alas, Babylon, Earth Abides, The Stand, On the Beach (Note: Dependant on timely arrival of books from Amazon. If this doesn’t happen, I’ll find whatever books from the list below are in our library.)

--Drawn up notes on my conclusions and analysis—very rough outline of paper

 

By 4th Conference (March 9)

--Have finished reading the above selection and what I can find in the library

--Have written the first paper on post-apocalyptic fiction

 

By 5th Conference (April 6)

--Have read three or more of the following: Island of the Blue Dolphins, Hatchet, The River, Timothy of the Cay, The Sign of the Beaver, Z for Zachariah.

--Have written up notes and a rough outline of my paper and arguments.

By 6th Conference (April 20)

--Have finished reading the above selection and whatever else I can find from the below list in the library

--Have written the second paper on young adult survival fiction

 

By 7th Conference (May 4)

--Have written the final short paper on the connections I see between the two papers/genres.

 

Working Bibliography

Post-Apocalyptic Fiction

Baxter, Stephen. Moonseed. New York: HarperPrism, 1998.

Boulle, Pierre. Fielding, Xan, trans. Planet of the Apes. New York: Vanguard Press,     1963.

Brin, David. The Postman. Toronto: Bantam Books, 1985.

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. London: Hart-Davis, 1967.

Brinkley, William. Last Ship. New York: Viking, 1988.

Burgess, Melvin. Bloodtide. New York: TOR, 2001.

Butler, Octavia E. Parable of the Sower. New York: Warner Books, 1993.

Card, Orson Scott. The Folk of the Fringe. West Bloomfield: Phantasia Press, 1989.

Clayton, Bruce D. Life After Doomsday. New York: The Dial Press, 1980.

Crichton, Michael. The Andromeda Strain. New York: Knopf, 1969.

Danvers, Dennis. Circuit of Heaven. New York: Avon Eos, 1998.

DuBois, Brendan. Resurrection Day. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1999.

Frank, Pat. Alas, Babylon. New York: Bantam Books, 1959.

Graham, David. Down to a Sunless Sea. London: R. Hale, 1979.

Goonan, Kathleen. Queen City Jazz. New York: TOR, 1994.

Hendrix, Howard. Empty Cities of the Full Moon. New York: Ace Books, 2001.

Hersey, John. Hiroshima. New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1946.

Johnson, George Clayton; Nolan, William F. Logan’s Run. New York: Dial Press, 1907.

Kerr, Philip. The Second Angel. New York: H. Holt, 1999.

King, Steven. The Stand. New York: Doubleday Books, 1990.                                               

Kunetka, James; Strieber, Whitley. Nature’s End. New York: Warner Books, 1986.

Kunetka, James; Strieber, Whitley. Warday. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston,    1984.

McDevitt, Jack. Eternity Road. New York: HarperPrism, 1997.

Miller, Walter A. A Canticle for Leibowitz. New York: Bantam Books, 1959.

Morrow, James. This is the Way the World Ends. New York: H. Holt, 1986.

Niven, Larry. Lucifer’s Hammer. Chicago: Playboy Press, 1977.

Read, Piers Paul. Alive. New York: HarperCollins, 2005.

Shute, Nevil. On the Beach. New York: Ballantine Books, 1957.

Silverberg, Robert. The Alien Years. New York: HarperPrism, 1998.

Stewart, George R. Earth Abides. Greenwich: Fawcett Publications, Inc, 1949.

Stirling, S. M. Dies the Fire. New York: New American Library, 2004.

Updike, John. Toward the End of Time. New York: Knopf, 1997.

Williamson, Jack. Terraforming Earth. New York: TOR, 2001.

Wren, M. K. A Gift Upon the Shore. New York: Ballantine Books, 1990.

 

Useful Websites:

Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues. November 2005. National Science Digital       Library; Washington and Lee University; Nuclear Pathways. February 6, 2006.          <http://alsos.wlu.edu/default.aspx>

 

Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic science fiction. February 2006. Wikipedia. February 4,         2006.             <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalyptic_and_postapocalyptic_science_fiction>

 

Empty World. October 2005. February 5, 2006.          <http://www.emptyworld.info/book_index.html>

 

Keene, Brian. Brian Keene’s Message Board Madness. June 2004. February 6, 2006.             <http://p201.ezboard.com/fbriankeenesmessageboardmadnessfrm46.showMessag        e?topicID=156.topic>

 

Lockley, Lucy. The Afternoon After the End of the World. October 1997. Morton Grove         Public Library. February 5, 2006.   <http://www.webrary.org/rs/flbklists/Apoc.html>

 

Sanes, Ken. Transparency. 2000. February 4, 2006.    <http://www.transparencynow.com/tableapoc.htm>

 

Tom Morton. Post Apocalyptic Media. 1997. February 6, 2006.          <http://www.pamedia.com/>

 

Young Adult Survival Fiction

Baird, Thomas. Walk out a Brother. New York: Harper & Row, 1983.

Belden, Wilanne Schneider. Mind-Hold. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1987.

Blackwood, Gary L. Wild Timothy. New York: Atheneum, 1987.

Byars, Betsy Cromer. Trouble River. New York: Viking Press, 1969.

Campbell, Eric. The Shark Callers. San Diego: Harcourt Brace, 1994.

Carter, Alden R. Between a Rock and a Hard Place. New York: Scholastic, 1995.

Christopher, Matt. Stranded. Boston: Little, Brown, 1974.

Clark, Mavis Thorpe. If the Earth Falls In. New York: Seabury Press, 1975.

Cleaver, Vera. Where the Lilies Bloom. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1970.

Clifford, E. The Curse of the Moonraker. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1977.

Dyer, Thomas. AWay of His Own. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1981.

Eckert, Allan W. Incident at Hawk’s Hill. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1971.

Forman, James D. Doomsday Plus Twelve. New York: Scribner, 1984.

George, Jean C. Julie of the Wolves. Harper Trophy, 1972.

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Coward-McCann, 1955.

Heinlein, Robert. Tunnel in the Sky. New York: Scribner, 1955.

Hill, David. Take it Easy. New York: Dutton Children’s Books, 1997.

Hobbs, Will. Far North. New York: Morrow Junior books, 1996.

Hobbs, Will. River Thunder. New York: Delacorte Press, 1997.

Houston, James. Frozen Fire. New York: Atheneum, 1977.

Hyde, Dayton. Island of the Loons. New York: Atheneum, 1984.

Johnson, Annabell. Finders, Keepers. New York: Four Winds Press, 1981.

Kehret, Peg. Night of Fear. New York: Cobblehill Books, 1994.

Lawrence, Louise. Children of the Dust. New York: Harper & Row, 1985.

Marsden, J. Tommorrow, When the World Began.

Masterton, David. Get Out of My Face. New York: Atheneum; Maxwell McMillian      International, 1991.

Mathieson, David. Trial By Wilderness. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1985.

Mazer, Harry. Cave Under the City. New York: T. Y. Crowell, 1986.

---. The Island Keeper.  New York: Delacorte Press, 1981.

Moeri, L. Save Queen of Sheba. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1981.

Myers, Edward. Hostage. New York: Hyperion Books, 1996.

O’Dell, Scott. Island of the Blue Dolphins. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1960.

Orlev, Uri. The Island on Bird Street. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1984.

Paulsen, Gary. Brian’s Winter. New York: Delacorte Press, 1996.

---. Hatchet. New York: Bradbury Press, 1987.

---. The River. New York: Delacorte Press, 1991.

---. The Voyage of the Frog. New York: Orchard Books, 1989.

Peck, Robert Newton. Jo Silver. Englewood, Fla: Pineapple Press, 1985.

Phipson, Joan. Hit and Run. New York: Atheneum, 1985.

Ruckman, Ivy. No Way Out. New York: Crowell, 1988.

Skurzynski, Gloria. Trapped in the Slickrock Canyon. New York: Lothrop, Lee &        Shepard, 1984.
Smith, Roland. Thunder Cave. New York: Hyperion Books, 1995.

Speare, Elizabeth George. The Sign of the Beaver. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1983.

Swindells, Robert E. Brother in the Land. New York: Holiday House, 1984.

Taylor, Theodore. Timothy of the Cay. New York, NY, U.S.A.: Harcourt Children's    Books, 1993.

Ure, Jean. The Plague. New York: Penguin/Puffin, 1993.