What defines the "adventure story" genre? In your opinion, is it distinct from other genres of story? If not, with which other genres does it share certain characteristics?
1. List the characteristics that you believe define "adventure story".
2. Explain how these characteristics are unique to adventure stories OR explain with which other genres it shares these characteristics.
3. Give an example of an adventure story and a non-example, and justify your choices. If you have mentioned Harry Potter in any blog response thus far this year, please go beyond it for the purposes of this post.
(all three parts are required for full credit.)
Remember:
Your posts and responses for this nine weeks are DUE by March 31st! Don't let three big "not-handed-ins" pull down your grade!
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33 comments:
hey guys this is bedell21e. i think that the most important characteristic of a "adventure story" is action. The story is not adventurous unless it has action. It also has to have intriguing characters. It shares these characteristics with most every other good fiction novel, so i dont think it has a set of specific characteristics. An example of a good adventure story is Ice Station, by Matthew Reilly. It is full of action and has lots of good characters. A non-example is "A Long Walk To Freedom", by Nelson Mandela. Although it is a good book, it is nonfiction.
Hello! It's BEDELL11M.
1)An adventure story has to be exciting, attention-getting, suspenseful, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes gory, and always fast-paced.
2)An action/adventure story has characteristics from many combined genres; any story can be attention-getting or exciting. Horror stories are gory and suspenseful, romantic stories are heartbreaking, but action stories are always fast-paced.(as well as all the other characteristics combined!)
3)Example:Killing Britney-by Sean Olin-it is fast-paced, gory, suspenseful, and attention-grabbing.
Non-example:Edagar Allen Poe-He writes depresiong poems and melancholy stories.
This has been BEDELL11M! Over and out 10-4
Hey guys its bedell24l!!
I believe that an adventure story is a novel where the main character literally travels beyond his/her back yard, whether it is imaginary to the character or not. These stories are normally fast- paced for most of the plot and tend to have many cliff hangers. Many other genres may have similarities, but never will have all of the same characteristics. Mysteries, for example, will have many cliff hangers, but may not be very "fast- paced" throughout the entire novel/story. No genres can have the the exact same characteristics as another or they would be listed under the same genre. Each genre must be unique in some way to another in order to even be a different catagory. Treasure Island is an example of an adventure story because a)the main character goes beyond his own yard on an "adventure" b)it is very fast paced and gets the reader excited and c) it has many cliff- hangers
I think an adventure story needs to have a plot, be somewhat exciting,(be a story), and to have a problem to be solved. Only adventure stories are gripping, but almost every story has a plot and a problem. An example of an adventure story is the Children of the Lamp series, as it has all of the above listed traits. A non-example is an acrostic poem because it doesn't have a plot, its not problem-solution, and most of the time its not exciting. (how many times have you been totally on the edge of your seat by an acrostic?)Also, its not even a story.
By the way, Children of the Lamp is a pretty good series...
Hey classmates this is bedell13m
1.) I believe an adventure story must get the readers attention immediately. Then the story must continue to be exciting, entertaining, gripping, fast moving and energetic.
2.) An adventure story is made up of numerous genres. These stories basically put all the genres together and make one entertaining piece. An adventure story gets a lot of it’s characteristics from a horror story. They both are fast paced, gripping, and entertaining. Although, an adventure story can also be romantic and dreamy, like in a love story.
3.) Two good examples of adventure stories are “Uglies” and “The adventures of tom sawyer”. These two stories were thrilling and kept me interested throughout the whole entire book. A non-example is “Across five Aprils.” This book was dull to me and not very interesting.
bedell24l is back!
This is in response to bedell21e.
I completely agree with you about the setup of an adventure story. It should have a lot of excitment and action. Your post just confused me a little bit when you said that "A Long Walk To Freedom" wasn't an adventure story, and then you stated that it was nonfiction. Do you mean that it isn't an adventure story because it's nonfiction. I have never read the book, so I couldn't tell you if it is adventurous or not, but I can tell you that there are some nonfiction peices that are adventurous. Just putting that out there.
Hey guys! It's Bedell01L.
1... I think that there are many important characteristics that define adventure stories. Action is definitely one of the most important aspects of an adventure story; at least a good one. The adventure is not complete without some sort of fight/climatic scene. Also for a good action story, you need tension. Some sort of suspense or emotion has to happen. I also think that for it to be an adventure story, the plot must be exciting and it should involve investigation or travel.
2... I think that together these characteristics make up an adventure story, but each individual one could apply to many genres. Action is in pretty much every good book, especially mysteries or fantasies. Suspense definitely applies to mysteries, and emotion is in practically every type of book out there. Emotion can be found in everything from non-fiction to romance to fantasy. And finally, exciting plots. These are common, and investigation or travel is also common. This would apply to many books, most of all, mysteries and science fiction.
3... An example of an adventure story is Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements. It could probably also be classified as science fiction because it's about a boy who becomes invisible, but I believe that a book can a book can be classified into more than one category. It is definitely an adventure, though, because it's got action, suspense, emotion, investigation, and travel all in one. A non-example of an adventure story would be a dictionary because it has no emotion, no action, no travel, no investigation, no suspense, and no plot.
-BEDELL01L!
ps: Harry Potter is still the best adventure story out there.
This is in response to BEDELL24L:
I definitely agree with you about the characteristics of an adventure story. Travel is most definitely necessary. Also, they must be fast-paced. I agree with what you said about different genres having different characteristics, but I do believe that a book can be more than one genre. For example: I would describe many fantasies and mysteries to be adventures also. However, they may not have every single characteristic of an adventure story.
I agree also that Treasure Island is an adventure story, but I don't think that it's really fast-paced. It might just be a personal thing, though, because I really didn't like that book.
-BEDELL01L
1) An adventure story is a story with lots of thrilling action. It doesn’t have to be the type of action like fighting and car chases; but it often includes exciting events among the characters. (Or conflict with nature, themselves, etc.) Adventure stories should be fast-paced.
2) I think drama is very similar to adventure. Drama had lots of action going on at once; just not always the same kind of action. It may be lots of social action going on at once.
3) An example of an adventure story is Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. This is an adventure because it has quick moving action and lots going on at once. An example of a Non-adventure is Lobotomy by DeeDee Ramone. It is a biography that does not have a lot of quick moving action. It more focuses on short entertaining stories that don’t have a fast-paced plot.
-bedell06e
My name is bedell25j and over spring break I got to eat dinner 4 feet away from Samuel L. Jackson. Some characteristics of an adventure story include the following:
-the book should have exiting, unusual, and possibly dangerous events in it.
-the book must have a conflict.
-the book is probably fiction, although an adventure story can be nonfiction.
-the book should never slow down and have a never ending tidal wave of plot twisting, audience shocking events!
There are many genres that share at least one charactersistic with adventure stories including horror, suspense/thriller, fantasy, even romance. In horror, suspense/thriller, and adventure stories there is always usually some dangerous and exiting events. In fantasy and adventure stories, there is always at least 1 unusual or unreal thing like "Magic is real!" or "My mother is a robot!" or even "I found out magic was real and accidentally used it to turn my mother into a robot!" In adventure and romance, there are always plot twists.
A good example of an adventure story is the adventure/fantasy book "The Time Machine" by H. G. Wells. It never slows down and is filled with exciting, dangerous, and unusual events. A non-example of an adventure story is "Chess for Kids" by Micheal Basman. It is boring, has no plot twists, and worst of all, it's educational.
signing off,
bedell25j
I am bedell25j and over the spring break I got to see ducks walk down a red carpet. I agree with bedell18e about what makes a story and adventure story, but I disagree with the fact that only adventure stories can be gripping. Aren't suspense and thriller stories meant to be gripping? Heck, even horror stories can be gripping. Anyway, that's all I have to say. I need to go work on my other english homework now.
bedell25j
Adventure Stories are classified by a fast pace and many unexpected twists and turns. They are very different from say a romance novel in which a character is much less likely to be abducted by aliens or trapped on a desert island.
Adventure stories are much like action stories but the adventure can be more subtle and less defined. Also a mystery story is a sub category of an adventure book. Sherlock Holmes stories are defiantly adventure but Tom Sawyer
is not a mystery.
A adventure book is Treasure Island
because you can't put it down and are very into the exciting happenings of poor Jim.
A non adventure book would be War and Peace as it is slightly long to be pertinaciously gripping or adventurous.
bedell16J
hi its bedell15d here
- i think adventure genre has to include a good amount of action, and cliff-hanger, life-or-death moments that keep the story going (fast-paced, of course). good action is usually fueled by a good conflict, of course. i also think that many good adventure stories involve some sort of journey for the main character.
- i think that most stories that are considered another genre can also be considered adventure, i.e. sci-fi or mystery or horror stories that are fast-paced, captivating, and involving some sort of journey.
- a good example of an action story i think would be the Uglies trilogy by Scott Westerfeld. these books are fast paced and suspenseful, and involve the journey of Tally, Shay, and in the final book, Aya. A non-example would be Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell. This book, while it does involve Scarlett's 'journey' is too slow, with not enough action to qualify as adventure, and is considered a romance novel, not adventure
hey this is Bedell07s here!!
1.The most important qualities are
- it has to be fast-passed
- it must be suspenseful
- it has to have a good climax
- it needs to have a good ending unless it is a series.
2. I think that an "adventure story" is pretty much a story that is exciting. For a story to be really exciting it HAS to be fast passed or else the reader does not want to keep reading, and for an adventure story it is really important to keep the reader interested. The story HAS to be suspenseful or else it is not an adventure story. If a story is suspenseful(which an adventure story should be) then it has to have a good climax or the suspense is for nothing. Last but not least, any book SHOULD have a good clean ending, unless it is going to be continued.
3. I think that a GOOD example would be The Goose Girl By Shannon Hale. It keeps you reading, has a lot of suspense, has an awesome climax, and has a good clean ending. I think that a BAD example would be The Mediator By Meg Cabot. It has no suspense AT ALL, has a really bad climax, and nothing at all really happens in the WHOLE book!
well that is all for now
see ya!!
In response to Bedell13m.
I totally agree with you. I hate "adventure stories" that are slow. You have to keep the reader interested and you have to keep it energetic.
Hey guys! It's bedell10e.
In response to bedell01l:
I definitely agree with you that the most important thing that defines an adventure story is action. Without a final fight/climatic scene the book seems kind of pointless and the ending usually disappointes you. I also agree that you need the tension, otherwise it's easy to put the book down and never finish it. The plot definitely should be exciting, and without investigation or travel there really can't be any adventure.
I'm in the middle of reading "Things Not Seen" by Andrew Clements, and I can already tell it is an adventure story. Like you said, it has suspense, action, emotion, investigation and travel in it.
-bedell10e
Hey
I think that an adventure story does have certain distinct characteristics but that these characteristics are not exclusive to adventure stories. I think that most good adventure stories have some sort of conflict between good and evil or a story that includes the protagonist trying to find or gain something. These characteristics are not exclusive to adventure stories for example mysteries also can have a conflict between good and evil and fantasy stories often have the protagonist trying to find or gain something.
I think that one example of an adventure story is Harry Potter because there is a definite conflict between good and evil and also Harry is trying to find a way to destroy the evil in the story.
I think that a book like Heavier than Heaven would not be an adventure story because it is a biography and just tells about what happened in Kurt Cobain's life.
Sincerely bedell05s
IN response to BEDELL11m
Your post was pretty good, however you might have focused a little much on adventure books being gory, even though you said they did not have to be I think that some of them being gory was a little irrelevant.
overall good post
sincerely bedell05s
hey,
this is bedell17m. 1)Adventure stories are all about the adrenaline. The story should make you want to be there killing the guy or running away whatever its saying. It has to be thrilling and exciting to the point you finally notice that your stopped breathing because you held your breath. I personally dont like adventure stories but I know people that do.2)Adventure stories can be a mix of a lot of different kinda of genres such as horror or mystery. The difference is that the story doesnt show little details like what the character is thinking or how he/she is changing as far as mentally. Horror and mystery can be just as adrenaline rushing as adventure but you dont hold your breath and hear about peoples thoughts that get in the way of the action.3)Lord Of The Flies, that is one book that is adventure. I mean come on there are some kids stuck on an island with endless possibilities. That is definately adventure but a non example would probably be Twilight where you hear more about Bellas feelings and thoughts to what is happening around her.
~bedell17m~
This is in response to bedell16j comment. I agree with him. Most Adventure stories do have to be fast paced if not the story kind of dies...I agree also that adventure stories are a LOT like action stories accept they have a LOT of cliff hangers that just completely annoy you. It is quite different from romances and i agree with that too. I believe the most important part of what you said is that its fast paced.
~bedell17m~
Hey this is in response to bedell16j,
I agree with your thoughts on adventure stories and I think that the characteristics of an adventure story are unique to the genre. I also really like your use of the book Treasure Island as an example.
My computer was a little screwy so I,m doing the stuff now.
Bye
bedell27t
Hey , bedell27t here,
I believe that adventure stories hav a fast paced, interesting storyline and have memorable characters and places, and scenes . They also have a great hook to catch your attention.
These are unique because other books may have memorable characters and places, and scenes bu they don not have a fast paced storyline
An example of adventurestories is The Chpaos Code. It has aa fast paced, interesting storyline and have memorable characters and places, and scenes . They also have a great hook to catch your attention.
sincerly
bedell27t
this is bedell06e in response to bedell24l.
I saw you said that a mystery is unlike adventure in that it not very fast-paced. I disagree and actually think that the two genres are very close. Mystery and Adventure both seem to have quick paced plots and similar themes.
peace out
Sup class,
An adventure story is any kind of story in the which the protagonist(s) have to go through some type of trouble obsacle and usaully end up having to take a journey somewhere different where they started out to reach their goal. Adventure stories need a conflifct leading them to somewhere else, a goal that comes at the end of the journey, and an opposing force working against the protagonist(s).
I think that in a way almost all stories are adventure stories. Besides the journey part almost all stories have some sort of conflict, goal, and an opposing force. Those are some of the biggest keys to an adventue story and many others have them.
An prime example of an adventure story would be something like Star Wars. In all the star wars books and movies the protagonist(s) are going somewere, have an opposing force, and have a goal that they are trying to obtain. Rich dad Poor dad would be a non example of an adventure book. There is like no conflict what so ever and there really isnt a protagonist. Actually it really isnt like a story either.
bedell04p
yo whats going on. I think there are many aspects to an adventure story. It has action drama and suspence. It is a combination of almost every genre and thats what makes it unigue. It almost always tells a story and follows a main character. Harry Potter is a great adventure story because it combines all different genres to make a good story. Poems and non-fiction usally arent adventorous.
peace out
j.h.
bedell21e I agree in a way that the adventure stories dont really have specefic chracteristics. I think its a combination of all genres. I might just have to read that book Ice Station.
Adventure story are interesting and,should, capture your interest almost instantly. The character goes on some type of journey, whether emotionally or phisically. The character doesn't have to go to the middle of nowhere or some exotic place just for the book to have a good plot. For example, the book "Monster" by Walter Dean Myers, it was like Steve was taking an adventure within himself to try to realize what he missed and how this happened. Then there's "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants," it more of an obvious adventure/drama story plot.
bedell04a
hey it's bedell04a,
this is in response to bedell18e
i definitely agree with you in everyway. It should grip your attention from begining to end.
In response to bedell21e,
Is there anything else that you think could make a story an adventure. There are plenty of types of books that have action but arent neccesarily adventure books. I think you should think about that a little bit more.
bedell04p
Hey everybody this is bedell19m. An adventure story would usually fall under fiction. It has to pull you in but it can’t have to much action or it would fall under the action genre. When I think of adventure I think little kids searching through their yard pretending to be forest rangers. Adventure stories and action stories have many similarities. They both have suspenseful moments that make you keep reading and they both pull you into the story. I would consider the uglies series to be adventure stories because Tally has to go on a long journey (or adventure) to get to her destination.
An adventure story, in my opinion, usually has some sort of quest. Whether it is to find a lost puppy or save the nutcracker people, there is some sort of problem that the protagonist must go out and solve. Characters in the story have their own special personalities. Agreeing with bedell18e, good adventure stories are somewhat gripping, and exciting. Another genre that is often affiliated with adventure is action. Action stories are also gripping and exciting.
One of my favorite adventure series is the trilogy “the Mortal Instrument” series, by Cassandra Clare. Two books have already come out, “City of Bones”, and “City of Ashes”. A non-example would be the poem “Nobody” by Shel Silverstien(not how you spell it?)
This is bedell 19m.
In response to Bedell21e, I agree that adventure stories need to have intriguing characters. That's what makes adventure stories. Without intriguing characters it wouldn't be an adventure story. I don't agree though when you say that an adventure story has to have action. Although the two genres have many similarities they don't have to include each other. An action story doesn't have to include an adventure and an adventure story doesn't always have to include action. But most really good action stories do involve adventure.
in response to bedell24l's post.
I agree with your thoughts on what an adventure story is. I think that the
definition of it being the character leaving his/her back yard because thats kinda what an adventure is.
sincerely, bedell05s
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