DAILY ASSIGNMENTS

Note: bulleted items are due on the date immediately above the bulleted list at the start of class unless otherwise noted.

Thursday, January 20, 2022

• First Class.

Tuesday, January 25, 2022

• Read the instructions and complete the Contact Information handout (See Assignments page).
• Read the instructions and complete the Student Contract handout (See Assignments page).
• Read the instructions and complete the Introduce Yourself assignment (See Assignments page).
• 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
• Last day to add without signature.

Thursday, January 27, 2022

• Read and mark "Liar!"—Issac Asimov (Found in Course Materials)
• Watch and take notes on Blade Runner (Final Cut Version). View available streaming options here or pick up a copy at your local library.

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

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

Thursday, February 3, 2022

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

Tuesday, February 8, 2022

• 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. This is a 10-point reading.
• Last day to drop

Wednesday, February 9:

• NO CLASS: We do not meet on Wednesdays.
• Withdrawal without signature period starts

Thursday, February 10, 2022

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

Tuesday, February 15, 2022

• Read and mark “No Woman Born” (Found in Course Materials)

Thursday, February 17, 2022

• Read and mark "The Girl Who Was Plugged In" (Found in Course Materials)
• Read “How to Deal with Titles” in the Handouts section.
• How to Integrate a Quote into a Paper (MLA Style) in the Handouts section.

Tuesday, February 22, 2022

• Scholarly Article Analysis Project due. Read the article “Trying to Plug In: Posthuman Cyborgs and the Search for Connection” by Melissa Colleen Stevenson found in the Course Materials section of the class Blackboard site.

Thursday, February 24, 2022

• Read and mark "The Algorithms for Love" by Ken Liu (Found in Course Materials)
• Quotation Assignment #1 Due.

Tuesday, March 1, 2022

• 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.

Thursday, March 3, 2022

• Read and mark "Mars Is Heaven!"—Ray Bradbury (Found in Course Materials)
• Read and mark "Bloodchild"—Octavia E. Butler (Found in Course Materials)
• If you need accommodations for the midterm, please let me know by today.

Tuesday, March 8, 2022

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

Thursday, March 10, 2022

• Midterm exam. See Assignments page for essay questions, quotation guide, and exam card preparation instructions.

Tuesday, March 15, 2022

• NO CLASS: Spring Break

Thursday, March 17, 2022

• NO CLASS: Spring Break

Tuesday, March 22, 2022

• Read and mark Robert Silverberg’s “Passengers” (see course documents)
• Watch and take notes on Gattaca. See available streaming options or get a copy from your local library.

Thursday, March 24, 2022

• 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.

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

• Read and mark Section 1, Chapters 1-8 of 1984. Pages 1-106
• Last day to withdraw without a signature

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

• NO CLASS. We do not meet on Wednesdays
• Withdrawal with faculty signature begins

Thursday, March 31, 2022

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

Tuesday, April 5, 2022

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

Thursday, April 7, 2022

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

Tuesday, April 12, 2022

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

Thursday, April 14, 2022

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

Friday, April 15, 2022

• NO CLASS. We do not meet on Fridays
• Any withdrawals starting today are Excused Withdrawals (WEX) and require approval form Academic Affairs.

Tuesday, April 19, 2022

• Read and mark chapters 1-6 of Watchmen. Do not skip the text pieces.

Thursday, April 21, 2022

• Finish reading and marking Watchmen. Do not skip the text pieces.
• Quotation Assignment #2 due.

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

• 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.

Thursday, April 28, 2022

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

Tuesday, May 3, 2022

• Finish reading and marking The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
• Last Class.

Thursday, May 5, 2022

• Sci-Fi Final Exam 10:30 AM -12:30 PM. Please see Assignments page for Quotation Guide, Essay Question Options, and instructions for your exam card.
• Today is the last day to reconcile missing work.
• Click here for all Final Exam Times, MC3 portal log-in required.

Monday, May 9, 2022

• NO CLASS. We no longer meet as a class.
• Paper #2 Final Draft due. Post a copy of your MS Word file to the dropbox and to the discussion board. See Checklist for complete details.
• Optional Major Paper Rewrite Option due by noon today. Email a copy of your MS Word file to hhalbert@mc3.edu with the following subject line: “ENG 245 Major Paper Rewrite.”

Thursday, May 12, 2022

• Grades due by 11:59 PM.