General Questions About Fantasy Fiction
Formalist
- What is the most important element in a work of fantasy?
- Does fantasy fiction take longer to set up because you have to explain the world, the characters, etc.?
- How does the story move along?
- Is the phrase "No book is original" from How to Read Literature Like a Professor actually true or not?
- What actually makes something fantasy fiction?
- What are some of the structures and conventions of fantasy fiction?
- Where do many of the concepts and ideas of fantasy fiction come from?
- What are the most important elements that define a work of fantasy fiction?
- Can a story be considered fantasy if it does not include magic?
- Are heroes and villains necessary for a story to be considered fantasy?
- How do the main characters in fantasy novels relate to each other? What makes some of these characters heroes?
- If all fantasy novels were compared using the hero formula (separation/initiation/return), would they all relate?
- Is there a difference between male and female heroes?
- What novels outside of the class could be considered fantasy fiction?
- Can short stories be considered fantasy fiction?
- Are there fantasy plays and poems, or are they all novels, tales, and prose?
- Does there have to be a form of "magic" to make it a fantasy?
- Do fantasy books tend to stay within the confines of "old earth but with magic and monsters"? Is that part of what fantasy is?
- What "types" of fantasy fiction are there?
- What types of fantasy worlds (portal/secondary/alternate history) have been invented?
- Do the best works of fantasy need their own universes (Wonderland, Middle Earth, Fairyland, Oz, Westeros and Essos, Narnia, etc.) or do/can great works of fantasy take place in the world we know? Does good fantasy require world-building?
- What is the range of fantasy fiction?
- What are the limitations of fantasy fiction?
- Is fantasy fiction limited to only specific conventions, tropes, and other stereotypical scenarios?
- How widespread is fantasy fiction and what makes it so different from the rest of the world?
- Is there a distinction between fantasy and broader unrealistic fiction?
- Is there any work or subgenre that could be argued as realistic fantasy fiction?
- What makes fantasy fiction different from other forms of fiction? What dictates it to be fantasy?
- Where is the line between fairy tales and fantasy fiction?
- Where is the line drawn between fantasy fiction and science fiction?
- How well can fantasy fiction and science fiction mesh together? Must they reject each other?
- Could magical realism and fantasy ever be combined or connected?
- Can't all genre fiction fit into the fantasy fiction genre?
- Is there such a thing as mainstream fantasy (e.g., Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter) and, if so, how is it different from non-mainstream fantasy?
- Does fantasy translate better from book to film than any other literary genre? If so, why? If not, why not?
- How progressive can fantasy fiction be?
Reader-Response/Cultural Studies
- Why haven't I received my Hogwarts letter yet?
- What is it about magic that is so appealing?
- Will we learn a lot from the readings, both intellectually and emotionally?
- It is said that any fantasy stories are good for children's education--what aspects of these stories affect them or appeal to them?
- How does fantasy fiction keep the reader interested?
- While reading should one take into account the time and culture during which the piece was written, even if one is supposed to be engulfed in "the fantasy"?
- What do you expect of a fantasy novel to consider it "good"?
- Do I truly enjoy fantasy fiction or are Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings just the best out there?
- Should these works be taken on their own merit or must we analyze what symbolism and other devices are used to make commentary on the real world? Does this analysis ruin the magic?
- How far detached from "real life" is it safe to become while reading these works?
- How can we compare the worlds of fantasy with the worlds of religions? More specifically, how readers and followers truly believe that maybe someday they will get a Hogwarts letter, or that if they worship a certain god, they'll achieve a paradise after life?
- Why do some people prefer fantasy fiction over science fiction, and vice versa?
- Why is fantasy socially acceptable?
- The resurgence of fantasy (books, tv shows, movies) in popular culture is due to what, exactly (economic issues, social issues, etc.)?
- Is it fair to say that fantasy is the most popular literary genre today? If so, why?
- Does escapism have anything to do with the current wave of fantasy fiction fans?
- Would fantasy fiction be as popular or socially acceptable if most of these books weren't adapted to successful motion pictures/television series?
- How does censorship and pop culture come into how fantasy books are adapted into film?
- Some fantasy novels or series have been adapted into films that are either less adult (Eragon) or more adult (The Hobbit) than the audiences for which they were originally written. Why?
- How have fantasy fiction affected audiences all over the world?
- Why are so many people involved in reading fantasy fiction?
- Where do you believe fantasy fiction is headed?
Mimesis/Representation/Reality/The World/Truth
- How do the expectations of society impact the fantasy genre?
- Where do many of the concepts and ideas of fantasy fiction come from?
- How can fantasy fiction apply to the real world?
- How do characters in fantasy relate to us in real life?
- Can fantasy fiction really be considered plausible?
- Literature can be read as a whole bunch of allusions/symbols meaning something different that the literal text, so are fantasy "worlds" literary devices or meant to be believed as truth?
- Can fantasy still have morals and points? Do all fantasy works have them?
- Does fantasy always examine morality?
- Does good fantasy always need to tackle moral issues?
- Does religion play a huge role in these novels, and why?
- How progressive can fantasy fiction be?
- Why is there such a male dominance as role characters in fantasy fiction? (Even though there is a slight rise in female lead characters, it still seems the male protagonist is the dominating role.)
- Why different worlds?
- Dreams vs. reality vs. magic realms: what defines the difference between them? is it subjective?
- What do dreams tell about a dreamer? Do they have meaning?
- What is life? Is it real, or an invention of someone?
- What is real?
- Why do fantasy fiction authors use their initials in their names?
- Would all the authors of the works we're going to be reading consider their writing fantasy fiction?
- Where do many of the concepts and ideas of fantasy fiction come from?
- Is "escaping" a popular reason why fantasy fiction is continually being written?
- How do authors refine a story from ideas of monsters and magic into fantasy fiction?
- How do authors make up a world? Is it all imagination or influences from other stories, real life, etc.?
- Do fantasy writers translate what is happening in their world into their novels?
- In a lot of fantasy fiction there is this battle of good vs. evil that tends to repeat itself, so does the time period influence the writer into setting the storyline in a war-immersed setting? (For example, Tolkien influenced by WW I...)
- Are there any great fantasy fictions influenced by the colonial era?
- What is the history of fantasy fiction?
- How old is fantasy fiction? How did it begin?
- Is fantasy just a continuation of mythology?
- Were the origins of fantasy based more in medieval times or that of fairy tales?
- Why is fantasy fiction more often based in the medieval era instead of modern times?
- Does fantasy fiction share elements of Enlightenment, Romantic, and/or Victorian fiction?
- When did fantasy fiction become mainstream? Which books/series started the fad for fantasy films?
- When was the transition when fantasy fiction became pop culture?
- Do you think the large focus on fantasy has to do with the rise of gaming and video games in the last 30-40 years?
- How does fantasy fiction evolve between writers?
- What have various fantasy writers done to make their work stand out/expand upon the fantasy genre?
- How progressive can fantasy fiction be?
- What has Disney done to the original stories that now seem to be forgotten compared to their Disney movie versions?
- J.R.R. Tolkien has been referred to as the "father of fantasy"--is this a fair statement, and if so, why?
- How have other authors responded to C.S. Lewis's works?
- What were some of the biggest influences on the most prominent of recent fantasy writers (J.K. Rowling, George R.R. Martin, etc.)?
- How visible is George R.R. Martin's science fiction background in Game of Thrones?
- Can you combine science fiction and fantasy fiction?
- How does one go about writing fantasy fiction?
Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass Questions
- How is a raven like a writing desk?
- The baby turned into a piglet? Why? How?
- Is Wonderland a different view of our world or a new world?
- Was all of Wonderland just a dream or actually real because Alice believed it to be?
- How does Wonderland work? What are the rules of its universe? Can you even have a world when the laws of existence seem fluid at best and everyone is a raving lunatic? Can you ever have meaningful change without consistency? Is Wonderland just forever stagnant and repetitive? Are all the characters stuck in this mad loop forever? Are they all so mad as to stay on their one-track moebius strips?
- Wonderland is obviously a legitimate fantasy world--why else would it have a name? (I guess I'm just intrigued by the logistics of a fantasy world that is fundamentally nonsensical.)
- How does Wonderland relate to other fictional realms/worlds/universes? Particularly with respect to concepts of time...?
- After Wonderland, it will be interesting to see how different novel "universes" respond to rules/chaos--more or less structured? How does it matter to each plot? Defining factors of each?
- Do each of the characters control time through their own perception?
- Does the food chain apply in Wonderland? Is there any kind of animal hierarchy?
- Why do all the problems that occur in Wonderland seem to get solved almost instantaneously?
- Is this really a dream? Whose dream? Is everything a dream?
- What would great thinkers like Plato think about Alice?
- How old is Alice supposed to be?
- What is actually happening to Alice in Through the Looking-Glass? Is she wandering through her estate, talking to flowers?
- Doesn't it seem strange how quickly Alice abandons her life in the real world?
- Did Alice have some kind of disorder? Or is she just an imaginative child? If she does have a personality disorder, how can she recognize, as a child, differences between her and people in her life? Was this child a very imaginative and open-minded person, or does she suffer from any disorders such as multiple personality, schizophrenia, or depression that allows her to accept her fates?
- Is Alice's main issue with identity or growing up?
- What made Alice have this wild dream—the book her sister was reading, her imagination, or what?
- How does Alice perceive reality if she keeps living and learning in dreams? What is Alice's reality?
- How is Alice so smart and resourceful for a child? Is she an important person's daughter to be so educated and opinionated?
- Was there any inconsistency with her cleverness and lack of it?
- Would you classify Alice as a heroine or a ditzy child?
- Do you think Alice is strange or does she act the way a typical child does?
- Alice never really freaks out about the fact that she's in another dimension and hardly questions the talking animals or disappearing cats with grins. Does her acceptance make her more delightful or somehow frustrating?
- Why is Alice an effective character, one who experiences such bizarre circumstances with mostly comfort and ease?
- Why does Alice focus so much on being crazy? Is she questioning her own sanity? Or everyone else's?
- Is Alice actually mad or does being in Wonderland make her mad?
- How is Alice choosing who/what to believe in Wonderland?
- Why does Alice start to forget things (rhymes, things she's learned in school, etc.)?
- If I were Alice the story would not go smoothly because I have no courage to walk forward. What characteristics made Alice get through Wonderland?
- I feel like Alice should have been scared, especially around the queen. But her fear was mild, and that was disconcerting. To her, in the space of time, everything that happened was real. Was she not afraid of being stuck there?
- Why does Alice spend most of her time avoiding drama?
- Were the characters simply there to get Alice thinking?
- Was Alice supposed to have learned a lesson from all the events that happened in Wonderland?
- Do things going on in the magical world have something to do with her real life?
- Were Alice's sister's similar experiences of Wonderland while sleeping significant at all?
- Does the story have any meaning? (It seems to have no direction.) How do you find any significance in a book like this? What is the point of the novel? (It all seems like nonsense to me.)
- Why does the story go around in circles?
- Is the narrator unreliable? Can you have an unreliable narrator?
- Was Alice in Wonderland a political allegory or satire?
- Who/what is Alice supposed to represent?
- Does Alice's view of the world represent that of a young girl or does it refer to an ignorant, unchanging adult?
- Is Alice's adventure of going down the rabbit-hole a metaphor for something else?
- When Alice is "drowning in her own tears," could it be a metaphor for depression?
- Do some of these characters directly correlate to an aspect of Alice's life/struggles? Do they function as metaphors or personifications? What do they represent or symbolize? Are the characters symbolic of pure nonsense?
- Was there any sort of significance as to why Alice kept changing sizes?
- What metaphors are there to real life/society in the novels, if any, and how can we identify them?
- Is there any allegory for the focus on playing cards and chess?
- Why do all the characters seem to have such an absurd attitude? What was the significance of all these odd characters? What did they symbolize?
- Are there antagonists? (The Queen is likely the best example, but when it comes to those giving Alice a hard time, there is certainly no shortage.)
- Are the animals used as a form of symbolism? Why are they all small animals?
- Could the animals represent the adults in Alice's life?
- What is the significance of it being a rabbit that Alice follows, the creature that leads Alice to Wonderland?
- What can birds represent in the novel? Is Alice's experience with the birds supposed to be an analogy of sorts for multiculturalism and stepping into an unfamiliar culture?
- Why does the caterpillar smoke if this is a children's book? Does this start controversy?
- Because the novel ends with Alice discovering it was all a dream, do you believe it made her entire journey of shrinking and growing, arguing, and such irrelevant?
- What happens after?!
- Do the novels actually have nothing to do with the real world or logic? Is it simply meant to be a dream-like sequence? Can it be as much about daydreaming, making believe, and pretending as dreaming?
- Is there a real-world connection?
- What does this book reveal about its time and our time?
- Is there a connection to morality or reason?
- What defines nonsense? What is real if you are gifted with an imagination?
- What is madness? Is it anything that strays from conventional logic? Is it an objective state, or dependent on the person?
- What if this were how children actually feel and think of things in their everyday life? How can we say it's madness when children can't accurately convey how they feel and think?
- Who controls language? Decides what is acceptable?
- Does any part of the story have something to do with what was going on in Lewis Carroll's world at the time he wrote it?
- Is this a statement of her individual self-realization or a statement on Victorian society?
- Is the story tackling more than one issue, or is it more of an overview of the Victorian era? (cf. caucus race, potions and cakes, executions...)
- Are these works an exception to the rule that rules/laws and consistent, logical, structured world-building are necessary to create really good fantasy fiction? Why do the Alice stories work with so few rules/laws, but Game of Thrones and Harry Potter need so many to flourish?
- Was the book considered fast-paced for its time?
- Who was the target audience of Alice in Wonderland? Is this supposed to be geared for children or adults? Or trying to entertain both at the same time?
- What prompted Carroll to write these novels? What was his motivation? Why did he set out to write such a dream-like, non-sensical story? Was it intended to be an allegory at all?
- Should Carroll's relationship with Alice define the books?
- How did Carroll get inspiration for the scenes in the novels?
- With the education scenes with the Gryphon and Mock Turtle, was Carroll making fun of a specific educational system?
- Could Carroll have been using nonsense to attack some math ideas, challenging the validity of ideas by testing its premises and taking them to their logical extremes?
- Why Wonderland? Why involve a little girl in a world of talking animals and nonsense? Is it to contrast with conventional education? To challenge traditional logic and deduction? Why does Alice become a voice of reason to many characters?
- Is the use of nonsense a way to bring back the confusion of childhood, or a manner of questioning reality and the universe?
- Does Carroll understand the use of a transition? How can he expect flow?
- Besides the beginning and end I felt like the middle didn't have an inherent order and scenes changed sort of rapidly. Was this on purpose? Did the author have a reason for having events play out in the way they did?
- Did Carroll think of Alice as a sympathetic character?
- Why did the author constantly manipulate Alice's knowledge?
- What drugs was Carroll on?
- Why is this story still so popular?
- How did Carroll leave readers with such a lasting impression of characters after introducing most only once or twice in a seemingly orderless universe? Is it their pure creative nature that is memorable, or perhaps the unique personality of each and how they antagonize Alice?
- If you were in Wonderland, which character would you trust most and why?
- What can/should we as readers do with the themes of dreaming and reality in Carroll's novels?
- Is Wonderland supposed to make the reader mad?
- How do we relate Alice in Wonderland to our lives?
- Wonderland makes us think a child's favorite question: why?
- Do the black-and-white drawings add anything to the book?
- Why are the film adaptations so morbid for a book that, I felt, was entirely light-hearted and whimsical?
- Why does Tim Burton's film adaptation include so much lead-up to Alice following the rabbit to Wonderland?
