The Eight Genre Pillars
This pillar describes events, powers, or transformations that ordinary real-world rules cannot explain.
What are magic or supernatural elements?
Joan Aiken’s story in which a man rescues a swan-woman and receives wishes.
What is “The Third Wish”?
The first part of the quote sandwich makes a clear claim about the genre.
What is the top bun, or topic sentence?
This word means a category or type of literature.
What is genre?
A character casts a spell that cannot be explained by ordinary rules. Is this magic or advanced technology?
What is magic?
A character travels, searches, completes a task, or faces challenges to solve a problem. Name this fantasy pillar.
What is a quest or journey?
Isaac Asimov’s story about future children who discover an old paper book and compare it with computerized schooling.
What is “The Fun They Had”?
This part of the paragraph uses an exact quotation and identifies where it came from when possible.
What is the filling, or direct quote and citation?
This is specific information from a text—such as words, phrases, details, or events—that supports an idea.
What is textual evidence?
A future classroom uses computers to teach students. Is this more likely a fantasy or science fiction element?
What is a science fiction element?
Dragons, fairies, giants, gods, or talking animals are examples of this fantasy pillar.
What are mythical beings or figures?
In this Ray Bradbury story, children living on Venus experience sunlight and struggle with cruelty, memory, and belonging.
What is “All Summer in a Day”?
This final part explains in the writer’s own words how the evidence proves the claim.
What is the bottom bun, or explanation?
This word means an arguable statement.
What is a claim?
A story takes place on another planet. Which science fiction pillar does the setting best illustrate?
What is a future or altered time/setting?
This science fiction pillar explores what might happen if a scientific or technological possibility became real.
What is a scientific “what if?” idea?
Edward D. Hoch’s story features a traveling interplanetary zoo and a surprise ending that changes how readers understand the story.
What is “Zoo”?
A writer includes an exact line from a story and gives its page number. What two elements of the quote sandwich are being used?
What are a direct quote and a citation?
This term means extending a current idea or trend into a possible future.
What is extrapolation?
A story includes an impossible transformation caused by supernatural forces. Use the rule of thumb: is this best explained by science and technology, or by magic and the supernatural?
What is magic and the supernatural?
A story includes unusual events, but they are explained by science or technology rather than magic. Which science fiction pillar does this demonstrate?
What are realistic rules?
Frank R. Stockton’s story asks readers to consider a princess’s impossible choice between two doors in a kingdom.
What is “The Lady, or the Tiger?”
A paragraph makes a genre claim and gives a quotation, but never explains why the quotation supports the claim. What part of the quote sandwich is missing?
What is the explanation, or bottom bun?
This term means a combination of elements from more than one genre.
What is a blend?
A story includes an advanced machine that seems impossible today. What question from the rule of thumb can help decide whether it is science fiction rather than fantasy?
What is “Could science or technology explain how this works, even in the future?”