Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. Exhalation may be best described as speculative fiction, a genre that includes science fiction and fantasy. How does speculative fiction influence and reflect the real world around us?

Teaching Suggestion: This question will help students consider the role speculative/science fiction plays in our understanding of the actual world we live in, which is an important part of critically reading any stories of this genre, like Ted Chiang’s Exhalation. To stimulate conversation, consider introducing other works of science fiction that have influenced the real world, some of which you may find in the resources below.

• This article from London Post explores how science fiction influences reality.
• This article from The Atlantic considers how concepts in speculative and science fiction shaped the future, giving authors the freedom to explore real life in revolutionary ways.

2. What is climate fiction, and how does this genre of storytelling both sound the alarm about the climate crisis and provide hope for the future?

Teaching Suggestion: Many of Chiang’s stories in this collection ultimately connect back to the environment and the ways that we impact it, both positively and negatively.