As soon as I found out this class was science fiction based instead of fantasy based, my immediate thought was "crap, I know absolutely nothing about sci-fi." I realized I haven't read any of the novels that most people consider science fiction when we were discussing it within class, and my classification of science fiction landed in the realm of aliens and space travel. My definition has changed since our first class meeting, and especially since starting the readings. Looking within most science fiction books and movies, there is one prevalent theme of something versus society. For example, superhero storylines are usually considered a form of science fiction, and The Watchmen comics/movie/world illustrates my main point. The characters within the storyline, Rorschach specifically, have to deal with a world, similar to our reality but with an added impossibility (AKA Doctor Manhattan, Ozymandias, and the destruction of the world), and how it changes around them to solve the problem and eventually return to a somewhat normal state.
Other stories (mostly movies) that apply to this include War of the Worlds, basically any comic book based storyline, Jurassic Park, I Robot, Sunshine, Fahrenheit 451, 1982 (in my opinion), Minority Report, Resident Evil, Cabin in the Woods, Alien, etc.
The main difference I discern between the very similar sci-fi and fantasy genres would have to be how science fiction generally employs a use of advanced technology - within the time period for the story - as opposed to supernatural reasons that have no explanation for actions. Science fiction offers the hint of possibility that sometime in the future, technology may become so advanced that problems as seen in science fiction may occur, as opposed to fantasy which have less probability of actually occurring than science fiction. For example, it's more probable to believe that genetic mutation due to a drug would result in zombies than the idea that vampires just exist.
The shortened, non-rambling definition: Protagonists in a pseudo-reality containing technological impossibilities struggle to return to a semi-normal world despite technology glitches.
I think we ended up with very similar definitions, Ashley. I even used a zombie example myself! However, I'm not too sure about the "struggle to return to a semi-normal world" because that sounds more like a backlash against the technology, and that is not necessarily a plot point all sci-fi stories (although it is common in dystopian ones).
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