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English
261-01 L i t e r a t u r e o f S c i e n c e F i c t i o n
Spring 2007
141854
W 6-9:50 P.M. RR207 4 Cr.
Ryan Davis,
Clackamas Community College English
Department
Office:
Rook 233 Office Hours:
MWF 10-11:15 / Th 11:30-12:30 or by appt.
Phone:
503-657-6958 x 5137 Email:
ryand@clackamas.edu
Class Webpage:
http://www.portlandwt.com/schoolhome.htm
Class Blog:
http://ryanmdavis.wordpress.com/
COURSE DESCRIPTION
ENG 261 introduces the literature of science fiction in print and film,
exploring historical and contemporary themes. We will cover a variety of
authors and films, and examine the art and function of this genre of fiction.
We will read a novel,
short stories, comic books, and essays, as well as watch films. Students will
focus on the importance of reading, discussion, presentation, and writing as
means of exploring, developing, and communicating ideas within each genre. Our
in-class course time will be spent discussing readings and watching and
discussing films, and our out-of-class time will be spent reading and responding
to posts on our course blog. The course requirements are reading and posting on
the blog, a midterm, final, two-page interest paper, five-minute presentation
chosen from an instructor-supplied topic list, and, in conjunction with the
presentation, a four-page paper on the same topic.
The
prerequisite for this course is passing RD-090 or placement in RD-115 and
passing WR-095 or placement in WR-121.
STUDENT
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Upon successful completion
of this course, students should be able to:
-
Appreciate the
literature of science fiction.
-
Develop a familiarity
with some of the theories explaining the social, historical, and narrative
function of science fiction.
-
Apply techniques of
literary analysis to science fiction texts and films.
-
Express their responses
to science fiction, both in discussion and writing.
-
Develop their responses
to class material into workable and successful papers and academic projects.
-
Use research tools as
they search for material to share with the class and pursue their own
academic projects.
REQUIRED TEXTS AND MATERIALS
Scribner
Paperback Fiction, 1997.
-
Rabkin, Eric S., ed.
Science Fiction: A Historical Anthology. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1983.
-
Shelley, Mary.
Frankenstein. Ed. J. Paul Hunter. New York: W.W. Norton, 1996.
-
Short stories, comic
books,
essays,
and films held on reserve in/through the library.
-
Access to the Internet
and an active email account (for announcements and supplemental
information).
CLASS POLICIES AND
PROCEDURES
Attendance & Participation
Work Submitted
-
All work must be
completed to pass the class.
-
All work written outside
of class must be typed, following all MLA guidelines.
-
Please keep all work on
your hard drive, a portable storage device, a CD-ROM, and in your email
account. Printer issues and lost work are no longer excuses.
Timeliness
Assignment Length
Any work shorter than the
required length loses one full letter grade.
Effective Learning
Assignments and Grading
-
Assignments
-
Blog: Weekly
readings, links to readings, and questions will be posted. You will
post at least one response to fulfill the weekly assignment.
-
Midterm: The
midterm will cover material from the beginning of class to the test
date. If missed, you can only make up the midterm with a documented
excuse.
-
Final: The final
will cover material from the midterm to the test date. The final cannot
be made up.
-
Two-Page Interest
Paper: You will write a paper on the SF work of your choice. This
paper is mainly an analysis, focusing on how and why your topic affects
you as strongly as it does, but also why it is, potentially, your
favorite.
-
Presentation: You
will deliver a five-minute presentation on a topic from
an instructor-supplied topic list, which will
also be used for the four-page paper.
-
Four-Page Paper:
You will write a paper on a topic from an
instructor-supplied topic list, which will also be used for the
presentation. This paper is an analysis, first and foremost; it
does not focus on biography, but on how and why your topic affects us as
strongly as it does.
-
Grading
SCHEDULE (subject to
change with sufficient notice)
WEEK 1
4/4 Course introduction
WEEK 2
4/11 Read
"Part I: The
Emergence of Modern Science," Cyrano de Bergerac from Other Worlds (p.
13), Jonathan Swift from Gulliver's Travels (p. 35), Voltaire's
Micromegas (p. 50) in
SF: AHA
and the blog.
WEEK 3
4/18 Read
up to Vol. II, Ch. V in the Norton Critical Ed. (page 77) of Shelley's
Frankenstein, pp. 71-74 in SF: AHA,
and the blog. Movie: Metropolis
WEEK 4
4/25
Read the rest of Shelley’s Frankenstein,
Edgar Allan Poe’s “A Descent into the Maelstrom” (p. 134) and Nathaniel
Hawthorne’s “Rappaccini’s Daughter” (p. 161) in SF: AHA, and the blog.
WEEK 5
5/2
Two-Page Interest Paper due
(click me!)
/ Read Nathaniel
Hawthorne’s “Rappaccini’s Daughter” (p. 161), "Part 3: Early Twentieth Century
(p. 219), H.G. Wells's "The Star" (p. 222), John W. Campbell's "Twilight" (p.
264) in SF: AHA, and the blog / Movie: The Day The Earth Stood Still
WEEK 6
WEEK 7
5/16 Read Asimov’s “Reason” (p. 318), Bradbury’s
“The City” (p. 351), Clarke’s “The Star” (p. 364), and Heinlein’s “All You
Zombies–” (p. 402) in SF: AHA
/
Movie: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1st half)
WEEK 8
5/23
Movie:
2001: A Space Odyssey (2nd half) / Simak’s “Desertion”
(p. 338), Finney’s “The Third Level” (p. 359), and Pohl’s “Earth Eighteen” (p.
415) in SF: AHA, plus Brown’s “The Weapon” (p. 36), Grendon’s “The
Figure” (p. 92), and Lewis’s “Who’s Cribbing? (p. 147) in
50
Short Science Fiction Tales (50 ssft)
WEEK 9
5/30
Four-Page Paper
due (click me!)
/ Read:
Arthur C. Clarke: Religion and Race
/ Movie:
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
WEEK 10
6/6
Student
presentations
(click me!)
/
Two Time Travel Stories &
Bradbury’s
“A Sound of Thunder”
/ Movie:
Primer
WEEK 11
6/13 Final
PLAGIARISM According to the CCC Instructional Standards and
Procedures, “A student who submits the work of another as her/his own or
deliberately fails to properly credit words or ideas borrowed from another
source is guilty of plagiarism.” You must adhere to the following guidelines,
borrowed from Clark College, regarding plagiarism:
What you need not
acknowledge:
-
Common knowledge.
If most readers like yourself would likely know something, you need not
cite it.
-
Facts available
from a wide variety of sources.
If a number of textbooks, encyclopedias, or almanacs include the
information, you need not cite it.
-
Your own ideas
and discoveries.
What you must
acknowledge:
-
Any direct
quotation.
You must place the exact words quoted in quotation marks.
-
Paraphrases and
summaries that provide background information, present facts not
commonly known, and explain various positions on your topic.
-
Arguable
assertions.
If an author presents an assertion that may or may not be true, you must
cite the source.
-
Statistics,
charts, tables, and graphs from any source.
You must credit all graphic material, even if you yourself create the
graph.
Purchasing research papers
and submitting them is plagiarism. Asking another party to write a paper for you
is cheating, and, in this case, will be considered plagiarism. Resubmitting or
rewriting a paper from another course for a new grade without alerting me is
plagiarism. If you are guilty of plagiarism, you will automatically fail the
course.
Remember—if you have any questions regarding
plagiarism—ask me.
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