DAILY ASSIGNMENTS

REVISED 12/03/2014

Thursday, August 28, 2014

·      First Class

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

•       Email contact information to me at hhalbert@gmail.com.  See handout on Blackboard  for exact information sought and link to template.  PLEASE USE THE TEMPLATE FILE.

•       Read, sign, and return your contract.

•       Read "How to Really Read This Book" (Handout)

•       Read and mark the following selections from Science Fiction: Stories and Contexts (Hereafter called "Masri"):

◦       "A Brief Introduction to Science Fiction and Its History" (1-10)

◦       [skim only, no need to mark] "A Selective Guide to Science Fiction Research" (11-16)

◦       from The War of the Worlds—H.G. Wells (18-32).

◦       "A Martian Odyssey" –Stanley G. Weinbaum (32-52)

◦       "The Fact of Blackness"—Frantz Fanon (189-193)

•       Read and mark Chapters 1-10 of Starship Troopers. Pages 1-145

Thursday, September 4, 2014

• Read and mark Chapters 11-12 of Starship Troopers. Pages 146-201
• We will begin to watch Blade Runner in class.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

• Finish reading and marking Starship Troopers, including Historical Note on last page. Pages 202-264
• We will finish Blade Runner in class.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

·      NO CLASS: I will be at Drexel University attending an academic conference.

• Read and mark the following from Masri's anthology:
• "When I Was Miss Dow"—Sonya Dorman (87-96)
• From The Second Sex—Simone de Beauvoir (179-185)

·      No office hours today.

 

Friday, September 12, 2014

·      NO CLASS: we do not meet on Fridays.

·      No office hours today.

 

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

• WARNING: Break these readings up over a few days.

• Read and mark "A Cyborg Manifesto"—Donna J. Haraway (Marsi 455-475)
• Read and mark "Liar!"—Issac Asimov (Marsi 282-295)
• Read and mark "Burning Chrome"—William Gibson (Marsi 371-386)

Thursday, September 18, 2014

• Read and mark "Mars Is Heaven!"—Ray Bradbury (Marsi 73-87)
• Read and mark "Bloodchild"—Octavia E. Butler (Marsi 119-133)

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

·      Read and mark "Second Variety" by Philip K. Dick (Marsi 296-331)

·      Read and mark "The Algorithms for Love" by Ken Liu (Marsi 415-427)

 

Thursday, September 25, 2014

·      Read and mark "The Girl Who Was Plugged In" (Marsi 342-370)

 

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

·      Read and mark "The Nine Billion Names of God" by Arthur C. Clarke (Marsi 915-921)

·      Read and mark "'All you Zombies­'"  by Robert A. Heinlein (Marsi 551-561)

·      Read and mark "Bear Discovers Fire" by Terry Bisson (Marsi 1194-1202)

·      Exam Quotation Assignment Due.  Submit to Blackboard Drop Box.

Thursday, October 2, 2014

• Read and mark "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman"—Harlin Ellison (Marsi 758-768).
• Read and mark "Ideology and Terror: A Novel Form of Government"—Hannah Arendt (Marsi 850-863)

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

• Draft of Paper #1 due.  Bring a copy to class and post a copy in the "Paper #1: Draft" forum of the class discussion board.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

·      Midterm Exam.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

• NO CLASS.
• Final draft of Paper #1 due by 9:35 AM in the appropriate Dropbox on the class web site, on Turnitin.com, and on the Discussion Board.  See checklist for details.

  Thursday, October 16, 2014

• Read and mark Section 1, Chapters 1-8 of 1984. Pages 1-106
• We will begin watching Gattaca in class.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

• Read and mark Section 2 of 1984. Pages 107-230.
• We will continue watching Gattaca in class.

  Thursday, October 23, 2014

• Finish reading and marking 1984. Pages 231-308. You do not need to read the appendix on "The Principles of Newspeak," but you may do so for five points extra credit.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014 Revised 10/25/2014

·NO CLASS. I announced this in class on October 23.

Read and mark pages 3-115 of The Handmaid's Tale. ("I: Night" until "VIII Birthday").

·      We will start watching Planet of the Apes.

 

Thursday, October 30, 2014

·      Read and mark pages 109-195 of The Handmaid's Tale ("VIII Birthday" until "XII: Jezebel's").

·      We will continue watching Planet of the Apes.

 

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

·      Finish reading and marking pages 199-211 of The Handmaid's Tale ("XII: Jezebel's" through the end of the "Historical Note").

 

Thursday, November 6, 2014

• Read and mark Chapters 1-4 of Watchmen.  You may find it easier to use large Post-it notes to mark the text.
• Bring The Handmaid's Tale.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

·       Finish reading and marking Watchmen.

• We will review the research project today.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

·      Read and mark "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes (Marsi 1110-1132).

·      Read and mark "How the World Was Saved" by Stanislaw Lem (Marsi 937-941).

• Start reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy over the weekend

  Tuesday, November 18, 2014

·      Research project prewriting due.  Post a copy to the discussion board in the "Research Paper: Prewriting" forum.

·      Meet in the library (in College Hall) to do research.  Sign in with Dr. H in the lobby of the library.

• You should continue reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

• Read and mark all of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

·      NO CLASS.

·      Annotated Bibliography Due at 9:35 AM.  Post a copy to the "Research Paper: Bibliography" forum and submit a copy to the "Annotated Bibliography" dropbox.

·      I will be in my office (PH 441) during our normal class time if you want to discuss your upcoming paper.

 

Thursday, November 27, 2014

·      NO CLASS. THANKSGIVING.

 

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

·      Draft of Paper #2 Due.  Post a copy and bring two copies to class.

Thursday, December 4, 2014

·      LAST CLASS.

·      Quote Assignment Due. Submit to Blackboard's Drop Box.

·      Print, read, and mark "The Star" by Arthur C. Clark (http://web.archive.org/web/20080718084442/http://lucis.net/stuff/clarke/star_clarke.html). A backup copy is in the "Course Documents" section of the class web page.

 

Sunday, December 14, 2014 (Updated 12/03/2014)

·      Paper #2 due by 11:59PM in Dropbox, on the Discussion Board, and to Turnitin.com.  See checklist for details.

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

·      Final Exam.  Bring your exam card.  8AM to 10AM.