Fantasy

Fantasyy!! I love fantasy!! The reasons I love fantasy is actually embodied in the definitions of the genre itself. That is why I'm going to create a little study guide from Chapter 10 in the Russell Text.

Fantasy
1. any story of the impossible
2. has any feature that is contrary to the laws of nature as we know them.
3. Roots in traditional folktales
4. original, unusual
5. complex, detailed

Types of Fantasy
1. Animal= animals talk and exhibit human emotions. We learn things about ourselves through their behavior. Somtimes the magic only works if one character remains childlike and innocent; a main theme in fantasies.
(Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit; E.B White's Charlotte's Web)<-- most famous of all animal fantasies.

2. Toy= Stories where toys come to life, and they most likely wish to become human.
(Collodi's Pinocchio; A.A. Milne's Winnie The Pooh)

3. Magical Fantasy and Tall Tales

• Magical= The magic becomes the very subject of the story. Typically set in the modern world, and the characters have to be convinced the magic is real (contrare to fairy tales). The magic is always conditional and operates on a set of rules. (P.L. Traver's Mary Poppins; Lindgren's Pippy Longstocking)
• Tall Tales= exaggeration is taken absurdidly. Charachters are outlandish and quite unbelievable. (Pual Bunyan and his Blue Ox)

4. Enchanted Journeys and Alternative Worlds= protagonists take a journey often to a secondary or alternative world. The journeys usually begin in the real world but by some device they enter the enchanted realm where it is only there that fanciful events occur. Dystopia= a society where people are dehumanized. ( Baum's The Wizard of Oz; Carrol's Alice in Wonderland; Barrie's Peter Pan; Rowling's Harry Potter Series)

5. Heroic and Quest Fantasies= Hero or Heroine engage in a monumental struggle against an all-powerful evil, in which often the fate of the whole society depends on the outcome of the struggle. Other times it can be in a secondary world where dark forces reside. Mostly it has to do with hero's identity. Plot consists of adventures hero has to overcome and this frequently is not accomplished without a significant sacrifice. Humor is absent. (C.S. Lewis The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; Tolkein's Lord of the Rings)

6. Supernatural and Time-Shift Fantasy= Includes ghost and witch stories, mysteries and unexplained occurrences, and time travel. All are set in the primary world. This is one of the most popular of fantasy types. (Casper the Friendly Ghost)

7. Science Fiction and Space Fantasy=

• Science Fiction= focus on life in the future on Earth or another planet. Dramatizes the wonders of technology and seldom contains much humor because its an illusion of reality. Technology is either used for humanity's benefit or destruction. (L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time)
• Space Fantasy= set in the future on distant planets, but are not concerned with scientific or technology acheivments.

Qualities of Fantasy!

1. Original, Fresh, Bold (Ronald Dahl)

2. Believable

• Massing of Detail - lush with description
• Restraining the fantasy - must have limits or they disolve with nonsense.
• Maintaine consistancy - only one way into secondary world or ghost can only be seen by certain people.
• Rooted in reality and human nature - must exhibit human traits, sense of reality.

Final thoughts: Fantasy enables us to see the thousands of possibilites of life through many perspectives. It keeps us hopeful and portrays symbolism that conveys human nature and ideas. It sometimes forces us to be imaginitive and explore new realms of thought.