Assignments

Basic Formatting Requirements:  Any work you do outside of class to turn in must be typed and should follow all of the following guidelines. It should

• use 12 point Times New Roman font (this means you will almost certainly have to change the default font and font size)
• be set to one-inch margins on all sides
• be double-spaced (this means the spacing of the lines, not spaces between words or sentences)
• follow MLA format when citing sources
• include your name and the date at the top of the page
• have no additional space between paragraphs

Assignments:

• Final response paper – due Tuesday, December 9th. This is your last chance to get credit for a response paper. Since we don’t have any reading for that day, the assignment will be a bit different, however. It will focus on preparing for our work in writing questions for the final exam. For this response, do the following: Write a one-page paper in which you 1) write a possible essay question to propose for the final exam (which will cover all the texts since the midterm exam), 2) describe why you think this would be a good essay question for the exam and how you might answer it, 3) write a possible short answer question to propose for the final exam, and 4) describe why you think this would be a good short answer question and how you might answer it.
• Participation Report [70 points] – due Tuesday, December 9th
• Creative Writing Project or Fandom Project (you will complete only one of these projects, not both) [80 points] – due no later than Wednesday, December 17th
• Extra Credit Essay – due by Tuesday, November 25th

Weekly Twitter Prompts:

Week 1: What kind of sf do you like/dislike?
Week 2: Option 1 – Tweet one of your discussion questions about one of the readings for this week. Try to avoid repeating others’ questions.
Option 2 – Watch the video linked here and reply to this tweet: “The Machine proceeds–but not to our goal.” How do Kelly’s ideas here compare? What does technology want? https://www.ted.com/talks/kevin_kelly_on_how_technology_evolves
Option 3 – Which story from this week most meets your expectations of science fiction? Why?
Week 3: Option 1 – Tweet one of your discussion questions about one of the readings for this week. Try to avoid repeating others’ questions.
Option 2 – Consider the quote from the editors preceding Hamilton’s story: “pulp sf should be judged not by the accuracy of its science but by the imposing aura of scientism it evokes.” What are the consequences or effects of judging pulp sf this way?
Week 4: Tweet one of your discussion questions about one of the readings for this week. Try to avoid repeating others’ questions.
Week 5: Option 1 – Tweet one of your discussion questions about one of the readings for this week. Try to avoid repeating others’ questions.
Option 2 – Now that we’re leaving the Golden Age, consider the category itself. What makes that the Golden Age? Is the title appropriate?
Week 6: Tweet one of your discussion questions about one of the readings for this week. Try to avoid repeating others’ questions.
Week 7: Since we don’t have any new readings this week, this is a week off from Twitter. Feel free to continue conversations or ask questions there, but we’ll focus on preparing for the exam and come back to Twitter conversations when we start reading Dawn next week.
Week 8: Option 1 – Tweet one of your discussion questions about one of the readings for this week. Try to avoid repeating others’ questions.
Option 2 – SF has been largely white. Butler herself & Lilith are exceptions. What other exceptions can you think of? Where is race in SF?