Didactic Function and Science Fiction

  Robert Heinlein, a noted science fiction writer, and theorist, argues that science fiction possesses an implicit didactic function. Focusing upon three texts, explore this understanding of science fiction as a genre impelled by a didactic function towards being a literature of social criticism. Readings: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Philip K. Dick Dr. Bloodmoney, H. G. Wells, The Time Machine and War of the Worlds