Table of Contents
Course Information
Science Fiction
ENG 2420, OL74
Spring 2021
Fully Online
Meets Online Asynchronous
Contact and Office Hours
Professor Ellis
Virtual Office Hours: Google Hangouts, Wednesdays 3:00pm-5:00pm or by appointment
Email: jellis@citytech.cuny.edu
Blog: https://dynamicsubspace.net
Course Description
We will explore the emergence of Science Fiction (SF) and examine its preeminence as interdisciplinary literary and artistic forms of pressing cultural importance. To accomplish this, we will read and watch significant examples of SF from its long history beginning with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and concluding with cyberpunk. Students will have opportunities to demonstrate their learning through note taking, weekly writing assignments, a research essay, and an essay-format final exam. This course is designated as Writing Intensive. Also, as a predominantly literature-focused class, it has a demanding reading schedule.
Learning Objectives and Prerequisites
ENG2420 Course Learning Outcomes
Required Texts
All readings and viewings are available online. Students may access texts through libraries or retailers, too. See links to readings on the tentative schedule.
Required Resources
Computer access, word processing software, and a means of saving your work securely.
Dropbox app or similar free software to create PDFs of your class notes.
Access to your City Tech email.
Access and account at openlab.citytech.cuny.edu.
– Join class: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/groups/eng2420-ol74-science-fiction-spring-2021/
– Navigate to class site: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/elliseng2420sp2021/
Grading
Weekly Writing: Summaries of Readings and Viewings, 20%
Each week, write at least 250-words summarizing assigned reading and viewing from the previous week. Your summaries should include titles, authors/directors, significant characters, plot, and your reaction/thoughts to the stories. Focus on what stands out the most to you. Include your own thoughts, observations, and connections to other SF.
Midterm Class Notebook, 20%
Students are expected to take handwritten notes of class lectures and readings. This assignment covers notes made from the beginning of the semester to the midterm. Using Dropbox (or similar app), create a PDF of your notes (https://help.dropbox.com/installs-integrations/mobile/document-scanning) and submit a copy (https://help.dropbox.com/files-folders/share/share-with-others). This assignment reinforces discussed studying best practices and demonstrates engagement with course materials. Students are encouraged to use the Cornell Note Taking System, but they may use whatever system works best for their way of studying.
Final Class Notebook, 20%
Students are expected to take handwritten notes of class lectures and readings. This assignment covers notes made from the midterm to the end of the semester. Using Dropbox (or similar app), create a PDF of your notes (https://help.dropbox.com/installs-integrations/mobile/document-scanning) and submit a copy (https://help.dropbox.com/files-folders/share/share-with-others). This assignment reinforces discussed studying best practices and demonstrates engagement with course materials.
Research Essay, 25%
Students will apply what they have learned about Science Fiction in a 1,250-1,500-word analytical essay on a single work or series of Science Fiction of their choice. Books, short stories, television series, comic books, music, theater, or other media are equally acceptable for the selected Science Fiction work to examine. However, the choice needs to be focused in consultation with the professor. The essay must follow MLA style. These essays will employ the writing process for development, feedback, and revision.
Final Exam, 15%
Due at the end of the semester, students will demonstrate what they have learned from the lecture and readings in an essay exam that covers all course content.
Attendance Policy
In general, the expectation for successful and respectful college students is to arrive on time and attend all classes. Following City Tech’s policy, attendance is recorded and reported. Since this is an online, asynchronous class, attendance is recorded based on weekly participation by completing the weekly writing assignment discussed in lecture and posted to our OpenLab site. Attendance and class participation are essential and excessive absences may affect the final grade. Students who simply stop attending will receive a grade of “WU” (unofficial withdrawal – attended at least once).
Required Format for Papers
While there will be exceptions that we will discuss in class, all writing submitted online or on printed paper should follow MLA professional style. In particular, your writing should always include a “name block,” a title, and your writing. If you quote or cite writing by others, it should be properly cited and included as an entry on a concluding “Works Cited” list. Search Google for “Purdue OWL MLA” for guidelines and sample papers.
Policy for Late Work
Due dates for weekly assignments and major projects are provided on the schedule below. Assignments submitted late will incur point reductions. However, students should always follow my advice to submit something rather than nothing. The last day that any assignment may be submitted is the last day of class as indicated on the schedule below. If a student knows that work cannot be completed on time, he or she should contact me or visit my office hours to discuss options for getting caught up and completing the class successfully.
Accessibility Statement
City Tech is committed to supporting the educational goals of enrolled students with disabilities in the areas of enrollment, academic advisement, tutoring, assistive technologies and testing accommodations. If you have or think you may have a disability, you may be eligible for reasonable accommodations or academic adjustments as provided under applicable federal, state and city laws. You may also request services for temporary conditions or medical issues under certain circumstances. If you have questions about your eligibility or would like to seek accommodation services or academic adjustments, please contact the Center for Student Accessibility at 300 Jay Street room L-237, 718-260-5143 or http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/accessibility/.
College Policy on Academic Integrity
Students who work with information, ideas, and texts owe their audience and sources accuracy and honesty in using, crediting, and citing sources. As a community of intellectual and professional workers, the College recognizes its responsibility for providing instruction in information literacy and academic integrity, offering models of good practice, and responding vigilantly and appropriately to infractions of academic integrity. Accordingly, academic dishonesty is prohibited in CUNY and at New York City College of Technology, and is punishable by penalties, including failing grades, suspension, and expulsion. The complete text of the College policy on Academic Integrity may be found in the Academic Catalog here.
Tentative Class Schedule
Because the class meets asynchronously, we will not have a set meeting time for class. Instead, the class lectures and assignments are set according to a weekly schedule on Wednesdays. Below, each class describes what will be covered in the video lecture posted to our OpenLab site on that day, what reading or viewing should be done by the next week (Wednesday), and what assignments are due by the next week (Wednesday). It’s important for each student to look at the schedule carefully and plan ahead to stay on track with readings and assignments.
Week 1, Wednesday, Feb. 3
Lecture this week: What is Science Fiction, and successful asynchronous class study habits.
Read by next week: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42324, Introduction, Preface, Letters, and Chapters 1-8.
Due by next week: 250-word reply to Weekly Writing Assignment on OpenLab.
Week 2, Wednesday, Feb. 10
Lecture this week: Begin Frankenstein.
Read by next week: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42324, Chapters 9-17.
Due by next week: 250-word reply to Weekly Writing Assignment on OpenLab.
Week 3, Wednesday, Feb. 17
Lecture this week: Continue Frankenstein.
Read by next week: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42324, Chapters 18-24.
Due by next week: 250-word reply to Weekly Writing Assignment on OpenLab.
Week 4, Wednesday, Feb. 24
Lecture this week: Conclude Frankenstein.
Read by next week: H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine (abridged), http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks13/1302961h.html, and E.M. Forster’s “The Machine Stops,” https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.32044092948223?urlappend=%3Bseq=239.
Due by next week: 250-word reply to Weekly Writing Assignment on OpenLab.
Week 5, Wednesday, Mar. 3
Lecture this week: Proto-Science Fiction.
Read by next week: Hugo Gernsback’s “A New Kind of Magazine,” https://archive.org/details/amazing_stories_april_1926/page/n3/mode/2up, E.E. “Doc” Smith and Lee Hawkings Garby’s “The Skylark of Space,” Part 1, https://archive.org/details/Amazing_Stories_v03n05_1928-08_ATLPM-Urf/page/n7/mode/2up, and C. L. Moore, “Shambleau,” https://archive.org/details/Weird_Tales_v22n05_1933-11_ELPM-SliV.
Due by next week: Midterm Notebook and 250-word reply to Weekly Writing Assignment on OpenLab.
Week 6, Wednesday, Mar. 10
Lecture this week: Pulp Science Fiction.
Watch by next week: Flash Gordon, Episode 1 and 2, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgHKEaGbyDo&list=PLESDrGLwFOLXT0jfvQVzzvQzEaV-3F13u.
Due by next week: Research Essay Proposal Email to Professor Ellis, and 250-word reply to Weekly Writing Assignment on OpenLab.
Week 7, Wednesday, Mar. 17
Lecture this week: Science Fiction Serials.
Read by next week: Isaac Asimov’s “Reason,” https://archive.org/details/Astounding_v27n02_1941-04_dtsg0318, and Ray Bradbury’s “The Fireman,” https://archive.org/details/Galaxy_v01n05_1951-02.
Due by next week: 250-word reply to Weekly Writing Assignment on OpenLab.
Week 8, Wednesday, Mar. 24
Lecture this week: Golden Age Science Fiction.
Read by next week: Robert Heinlein’s “—All You Zombies,” https://archive.org/details/Fantasy_Science_Fiction_v016n03_1959-03_PDF, and Tom Godwin’s “The Cold Equations,” https://archive.org/details/Astounding_v53n06_1954-08_Sirius-Starhome. Watch by next week: Forbidden Planet, https://archive.org/details/ForbiddenPlanet1956_201707.
Due by next week: 250-word reply to Weekly Writing Assignment on OpenLab.
*Spring Recess*
Week 9, Wednesday, Apr. 7
Lecture this week: Golden Age SF Continued.
Read by next week: Harlan Ellison’s “Repent, Harlequin, Said the Ticktockman!”,
https://web.archive.org/web/20150226125018/https://cunycomposers.wikispaces.com/file/view/Ellison,+Harlan+–+Repent,+Harlequin+Said+the+Ticktockman.pdf, and Philip K. Dick’s “The Electric Ant,” https://archive.org/details/Fantasy_Science_Fiction_v037n04_1969-10_PDF.
Due by next week: 250-word reply to Weekly Writing Assignment on OpenLab.
Week 10, Wednesday, Apr. 14
Lecture this week: New Wave SF.
Read by next week: Samuel R. Delany’s “Aye, and Gomorrah,”
http://strangehorizons.com/fiction/aye-and-gomorrah/, and James Tiptree, Jr.’s “The Women Men Don’t See,” https://archive.org/details/Fantasy_Science_Fiction_v045n06_1973-12.
Due by next week: 250-word reply to Weekly Writing Assignment on OpenLab.
Week 11, Wednesday, Apr. 21
Lecture this week: New Wave SF continued.
Watch by next week: Star Trek, “The City on the Edge of Forever,” Star Trek, “The City on the Edge of Forever,” Season 1, Episode 28, https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/star-trek.
Due by next week: Draft of Research Essay for Peer Review, and 250-word reply to Weekly Writing Assignment on OpenLab.
Week 12, Wednesday, Apr. 28
Lecture this week: Star Trek and SF film and television.
Read by next week: Ursula K. LeGuin’s “Nine Lives,” http://www.baen.com/Chapters/9781625791405/9781625791405___2.htm, and Octavia Butler’s “Speech Sounds,” https://archive.org/details/Asimovs_v07n13_1983-12-Mid.
Due by next week: Peer Review responses and 250-word reply to Weekly Writing Assignment on OpenLab.
Week 13, Wednesday, May 5
Lecture this week: Feminist SF and Afrofuturuism.
Read by next week: William Gibson’s “Burning Chrome,” https://web.archive.org/web/20190519005941/http://www.housevampyr.com/training/library/books/omni/OMNI_1982_07.pdf
Watch by next week: The X-Files, “Kill Switch,” Season 5, Episode 11, https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/the-x-files, and Season 5 Extra: Behind the Truth – Kill Switch, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUTMkNagDb4.
Due by next week: Research Paper and 250-word reply to Weekly Writing Assignment on OpenLab.
Week 14, Wednesday, May 12
Lecture this week: Cyberpunk.
Due by next week: Final Notebooks, Final Exam, Research Essay, and 250-word reply to Weekly Writing Assignment on OpenLab.
Week 15, Wednesday, May 19
Due today: Final Notebooks, Final Exam, Research Essay, and 250-word reply to Weekly Writing Assignment on OpenLab.
