Questions/Lesson

SCIENCE FICTION 2014-2015

VISUAL REPRESENTATION: CONNECTION NOVEL AND ART

Instructions: Please choose one painting and write a one page paper about how the piece of art connects to either the characters, events, plot or theme of the HG Well’s, Time Machine.

*You may pull the connection through the history of background of that painting also.

*The more in depth answer or connection will receive a better grade.

One page paper must be typed :

12 font, double spaced

THE RAFT OF MEDUSA BY GERICAULT

BACKGROUND OF PAINTING:

“Géricault drew his inspiration from the account of two survivors of the Medusa—a French Royal Navy frigate that set sail in 1816 to colonize Senegal. It was captained by an officer of the Ancien Régime who had not sailed for over twenty years and who ran the ship aground on a sandbank. Due to the shortage of lifeboats, those who were left behind had to build a raft for 150 souls—a construction that drifted away on a bloody 13-day odyssey that was to save only 10 lives. The disaster of the shipwreck was made worse by the brutality and cannibalism that ensued.”

“The event became an international scandal, in part because its cause was widely attributed to the incompetence of the French captain perceived to be acting under the authority of the recently restored French monarchy. In reality, King Louis XVIII had no say in the captain's appointment, since monarchs were not directly involved in appointments made to vessels like a naval frigate. The appointment of the vicomte de Chaumareys as captain of the Méduse would have been a routine naval appointment, made within the Ministry of the Navy.[2]”

BRAINSTORM POSSIBLE CONNECTIONS TO TIME MACHINE• Social and political inequality from the background of the painitng connected to the the origin of

the Eloi and Morlocks and why the Eloi were allowed to evolve above ground versus the Morlocks were condemned below.

• Cannibalism and the desperate need to survive even if it means eating your own kind.

• How past/present decisions affect the future: The controversy involved with the actual incident of the Medusa and the French navy frigate and the lack of life boats led to tragedy. The criticism was against not only the captain but also the French monarchy. The public believed that appointment/choosing of the ship captain was more thorough that this tragedy could have been avoided. Much like this issue of incompetence, the Time Traveler now understand the mistakes of the present time after having experienced the future. He hopes there is still a chance to change the present so that mankind would have a better future.

OTHER PAINTINGS

Look at these paintings and find a connection to Time Machine.

TIME MACHINE BY HG WELLSGoya’s Saturn Devouring His Children

LIBERTY LEADING THE PEOPLE

TURNER’S SLAVE SHIP