DAILY ASSIGNMENTS

Wednesday, September 2, 2020

• First day of class

Friday, September 4, 2020

• Read the instructions and complete the Contact Information handout .
• Read the instructions and complete the Student Contract handout.
• Read the instructions and complete the "Introduce Yourself" assignment.
• Read and mark the following selections found in the Course Materials section of our Blackboard Site:
• "How to Really Read This Book"
• "A Brief Introduction to Science Fiction and Its History"
• [skim only, no need to mark] "A Selective Guide to Science Fiction Research"
• from The War of the Worlds—H.G. Wells
• "A Martian Odyssey" –Stanley G. Weinbaum
• "The Fact of Blackness"—Frantz Fanon

Monday, September 7, 2020

• NO CLASS Labor Day
• Please arrange to watch Blade Runner (Final Cut Version)

Tuesday, September 8, 2020

• NO CLASS. We do not meet on Tuesdays.
• Last day to Add the course.

Wednesday, September 9, 2020

• Read and mark Acts I and II of Karel Čapek's R.U.R. (Found in Course Materials)
• Be prepared to discuss Blade Runner (Final Cut)

Friday, September 11, 2020

• Finish reading and marking Act III and the Epilogue of Karel Čapek's R.U.R (Found in Course Materials)

Monday, September 14, 2020

• Read and mark "A Cyborg Manifesto"—Donna J. Haraway (Found in Course Materials). WARNING: This text is going to challenge you and will require multiple nights to complete. Start on Friday night. This is a 10-point reading.

Wednesday, September 16, 2020

• Read and mark "Liar!"—Issac Asimov (Found in Course Materials)

Friday, September 18, 2020

• Read and mark "Burning Chrome"—William Gibson (Found in Course Materials)

Monday, September 21, 2020

• Read and mark "Second Variety" by Philip K. Dick (Found in Course Materials)

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

• NO CLASS. We do not meet on Tuesdays.
• Last day to Drop the course.

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

• Read and mark selection From Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex (Found in Course Materials)
• Withdrawal period without faculty signature starts

Friday, September 25, 2020

• Read and mark "When I Was Miss Dow" (Found in Course Materials)

Monday, September 28, 2020

• Read and mark "The Girl Who Was Plugged In" (Found in Course Materials)

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

• Read and mark "The Algorithms for Love" by Ken Liu (Found in Course Materials)
• Read and mark "Mars Is Heaven!"—Ray Bradbury (Found in Course Materials)

Friday, October 2, 2020

• Exam Quotation Assignment Due.  Submit to Blackboard Drop Box.
• Read and mark "Bloodchild"—Octavia E. Butler (Found in Course Materials)

Monday, October 5, 2020

• Draft of Paper #1 due.  Post a copy in the "Paper #1: Draft" forum of the class discussion board. Posting is worth five points.
• We will have a workshop on your drafts today worth 20 points. You must attend class with a completed draft to get those points. Incomplete drafts will be prorated, but it is better to come with a partial draft than to skip class.

Wednesday, October 7, 2020

• Midterm Exam. Please post a copy of your outline to the "Midterm Exam Outline" dropbox prior to the start of class today.
• See Assignments for more details on the Midterm.

Friday, October 9, 2020

• Reading Check Day.
• Each of you will need to show me your marked texts in your online cameras so we can collect the points for all the texts you marked. First come, first done. We will not do anything else today, so if you are one of the first folks, you can leave sooner.

Monday, October 12, 2020

• NO CLASS.
• Final draft of Paper #1 due by 10 AM in the appropriate Dropbox on the class web site and on the Discussion Board.  See checklist for details.

Wednesday, October 14, 2020

• Read and mark Robert Silverberg's "Passengers" (see course documents)

Friday, October 16, 2020

• Read and mark "The Historian and His Facts"—E. H. Carr (Found in Course Materials)

Monday, October 19, 2020

• Read and mark "Ideology and Terror: A Novel Form of Government"—Hannah Arendt (Found in Course Materials).  This non-fiction theoretical piece is a bit challenging.

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

• Please arrange to view Gattaca.

Friday, October 23, 2020

• Read and mark Section 1, Chapters 1-8 of 1984. Pages 1-106

Monday, October 26, 2020

• Read and mark Section 2 of 1984. Pages 107-230.

Wednesday, October 28, 2020

• Finish reading and marking 1984. Pages 231-308.
• Read the final essay in 1984, "The Principles of Newspeak."

Friday, October 30, 2020

• Please arrange to watch The Matrix.

Monday, November 2, 2020

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

Wednesday, November 4, 2020

• Read and mark pages 109-195 of The Handmaid's Tale ("VIII Birthday" until "XII: Jezebel's").
• Withdrawal period without faculty signature ends

Thursday, November 5, 2020

• NO CLASS. We do not meet on Thursdays.
• Withdrawal period with faculty signature starts

Friday, November 6, 2020

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

Monday, November 9, 2020

• Read and mark chapters 1-4 of Watchmen.

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

• Read and mark chapters 5-8 of Watchmen.

Friday, November 13, 2020

• Finish reading and marking Watchmen.
• We will discuss the research project.

Monday, November 16, 2020

• Read and mark "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes (Found in Course Materials)

Wednesday, November 18, 2020

• Reading Check Day.
• Each of you will need to show me your marked texts in your online cameras so we can collect the points for all the texts you marked. First come, first done. We will not do anything else today, so if you are one of the first folks, you can leave sooner.

Thursday, November 19, 2020

• NO CLASS. We do not meet on Thursdays.
• Withdrawal period with faculty signature ends

Friday, November 20, 2020

• Research project prewriting due.  Post a copy to the discussion board in the "Research Paper: Prewriting" forum.
• Library Orientation.
• Attendance counts double today.
• All withdrawals from this day on in the semester require approval from Academic Affairs.

Monday, November 23, 2020

• Library Research Day. You do not have to log into the class site: this day is yours to use for your research and to start work on your required annotated bibliography.
• I will be available online during our normal class time to help individuals brainstorm ideas or to assist with research. Please email me to let me know you are coming.

Wednesday, November 25, 2020

• NO CLASS: Thanksgiving Break.

Friday, November 27, 2020

• NO CLASS: Thanksgiving Break.

Monday, November 30, 2020

• 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.
• Two-Minute presentation on your paper topic

Wednesday, December 2, 200

• Read and mark Chapters 1-13 of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Friday, December 4, 2020

• Finish reading and marking The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Monday, December 7, 2020

• Draft of Paper #2 Due.  Post a copy and bring two copies to class.  This draft will be graded out of 20 points for a complete paper with a works cited page (and not just a copy of the annotated bibliography) attached.  It is better to come with a page or two than to skip class.

Wednesday, December 9, 2020

• Read and mark "How the World Was Saved" by Stanislaw Lem (Found in Course Materials).
• Read and mark "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman"—Harlin Ellison (Found in Course Materials)

Friday, December 11, 2020

• Reading Check Day.
• Each of you will need to show me your marked texts in your online cameras so we can collect the points for all the texts you marked. First come, first done. We will not do anything else today, so if you are one of the first folks, you can leave sooner.

Monday, December 14, 2020

• Last day of class.
• Second Quotation Assignment Due.  Post a copy to the "Quotations for Final" Dropbox.  Make sure to use the template linked in the instructions: don't just copy and paste.
• Read and mark "The Star" by Arthur C. Clarke (Found in Course Materials).

Friday, December 18, 2020

• Final Exam: 8AM to 10AM.
• Post exam outline in the "Final Exam Outline" dropbox prior to the start of the exam.

Monday, December 21, 2020

• NO CLASS.
• Last day to submit optional major paper rewrite of paper #1.
• Post a copy to the "Major Paper Rewrite" Dropbox and email a copy directly to me. Make sure you put "Sci-Fi Major Paper Rewrite" in the subject line.
• See the Assignments section for details on expectations for the Major Paper Rewrite.

Wednesday, December 23, 2020

• NO CLASS.
• Grades due by 11:59 PM.