EPICAC

The following entry is for JUNIORS only.

Science ficiton author Frank Herbert (author of the Dune series) once caimed:

"The function of science fiction is not always to predict the future

but sometimes to prevent it."

In other words, instead of a sci-fi author telling us what will happen, a sci-fi author will instead tell us what should not happen - but will if we don't change the path we're currently on. Good science fiction, therefore, isn't about the future...it's about the present - what we're doing now that will corrupt and ruin the future if we don't change our attitudes now, and how!

Here are a few of the these exigencies (real-world problem, lacks, or needs) that commonly appear in science fiction books, games, and films:

1. Our over-reliance on technology will lead to our dehumanization.
2. Like Frankenstein’s monster, technology often destroys its creator.
3. Super-realistic media blurs the line between fiction and reality.
4. We often relinquish our right to be free-thinkers.
5. We too often seek out diversions that merely grant instantaneous gratification and create an “automatic reflex.”
6. Hyper-kinetic media strips us of our ability to focus and think.
7. We can become too dependent on technology to perform common tasks that we should be able to perform with relative ease.
8. We lose our ability to reason when we seldom practice that skill.
9. Television make us dum.
10. We are at times ruled by fear and ignorance.
11. We allow small groups (or individuals) with loud voices to make decisions that, in part, determine the fate of the masses.

Your task: Select one of the exigencies listed above and in a thoughtful, thorough paragraph explain how author Kurt Vonnegut explores the exigence in his short story, "EPICAC." Your paragraph, obviously, needs to include the followin components:

1. topic sentence in whcih you make your central claim
2. evidence in which you set up your quotation, state your quotations, and cite your quotation
3. explanation in which you explain in detail just how your evidence proves your claim (topic sentence)

You are also responsible, as always, for grammar, mechanics, fragments, run ons, spelling, etc. No first or second person. No informal language. And for your citation, please just write 'Vonnegut' in the parenthesis, as we do not have page numbers for the story.

If you have any questions or concers, please don't hesitate to ask.