There are two parts to this week’s assignment:

Part 1/RWA3.1: Reading Delany’s Fiction and Criticism and Part 2/RWA3.2: Responding to Course Questions.  Both are DUE BY MIDNIGHT TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21.

RWA3.1: Reading Delany’s Fiction and Criticism

Please print out a copy of Samuel Delany’s short story “Time Considered as a Helix of Precious Stones” (1969) and his 1968 essay “About 5,750 Words” (1968)  Please read both texts from start to finish.  Then, briefly write about your response to each in your reading journal.  Afterward, please read both again, this time taking notes and attending to the story’s elements as a fictional text (plot, character, setting, narrative perspective, figurative language, themes) more carefully, its relationships to various issues related to science fiction as a genre and to some recurring elements or properties of science fiction texts, and in what ways specific elements of this story may relate to Delany’s essay about the writing and study of fiction.   Afterward, please write some more about each story and the essay, what you now understand about them, and questions that you have about them.

Finally, please post three paragraphs in response to this post BY MIDNIGHT, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, the first briefly summarizing Delany’s story and describing it in terms of its elements as a fictional text, the second briefly summarizing Delany’s essay, the third explaining what you found most interesting about each text and how the two texts may relate to one another.  [Please note: if it is easier to write about each text separately, feel free to use the third paragraph to write about Delany’s story and add a fourth for the essay]  Finally, feel free to post one to three questions that you have about the texts.

Though not required, please feel free to post links that you may have consulted in the process of reading the stories and why you found them helpful.  What is required is that you read the two texts carefully, write about them in your reading journal, and think about them in the context of our class discussions, Russ’s “The Second Inquisition,” Pohl’s “Day Million,” Philip K. Dick’s short story “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale,” our discussions about that story, the issues and topics raised in the “Introduction” to the Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction and the collection of responses gathered in “Why Do You Read Science Fiction.”  We will be discussing the storiy and essay and your responses to both in our next class session.

RWA3.2: Responding to Course Questions: Please PRINT OUT a copy of our “Course Questions: Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017”   Read over the 26 questions.  Professor Rodgers has suggested that these 26 questions fall into five broad categories:  C1/ definitions of literary terms, C2/ definitions of SF terms/keywords, C3/ questions related to Russ’s and Pohl’s stories, C4/ discussion questions related to reading and interpreting science fiction texts, C5/ questions about course assignments.  Make a note of which category you would assign to each of the 26 questions.  Of the questions that you have categorized as belonging to C1, C2, or C3, select 3 questions to respond to and post your responses as a reply to this post.

Please print out a copy of Frederick Pohl’s short story “Day Million” and Joanna Russ’s short story “The Second Inquisition.”  Please read both stories from start to finish.  Then, briefly write about your response to each in your reading journal.  Afterward, please read both stories again, this time taking notes and attending to some of their elements as fictional texts (plot, character, setting, narrative perspective, figurative language, themes) more carefully, their historical and authorial contexts, and their relationships to various issues related to science fiction as a genre and to some recurring elements or properties of science fiction texts.  Afterward, please write some more about each story, what you now understand about it, and questions that you have about it.

Finally, please post three paragraphs in response to this post BY MIDNIGHT, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, the first briefly summarizing Pohl’s story and describing it in terms of its elements as a fictional text, the second briefly summarizing Russ’s story and describing it in terms of its elements as a fictional text, the third explaining what you found most interesting about each story.  [Please note: if it is easier to write about each text separately, feel free to use the third paragraph to write about Pohl’s story and add a fourth for Russ’s story.]  Finally, feel free to post one to three questions that you have about the stories or that you would like to pose to the authors of the stories.

Though not required, please feel free to post links that you may have consulted in the process of reading the stories and why you found them helpful.  What is required is that you read the stories carefully, write about them in your reading journal, and think about them in the context of our class discussions, Philip K. Dick’s short story “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale,” our discussions about that story, the issues and topics raised in the “Introduction” to the Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction and the collection of responses gathered in “Why Do You Read Science Fiction.”  We will be discussing the stories and your responses to them in our next class session.

1/ Please read over Professor Rodgers’ responses to the questions about our course posted on the OpenLab site: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/sciencefiction-rodgers-spring2017/2017/01/31/questions-about-our-course/

If you still have questions after reading through these posts, please bring them to class on Wednesday.

2/ Re-read pp. 15-17 of the “Introduction” to the Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction.  Make a list of some of the key elements of science fiction mentioned.

3/ Review your contribution to “Why Do You Read Science Fiction?” in relation to Some Elements of Fiction and Some Elements of Science Fiction (in process) and the Dick story.  Be prepared to discuss all four texts in our next class.

Please print out a copy of Philip K. Dick’s short story “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale,” which was published in 1966.  Read the story from start to finish.  Then, briefly write about your response to the story in your Reading Journal.  Afterward, please read the story again, this time taking notes on the story and attending to some of its elements (plot, character, theme, setting, figurative language, narration strategies) more carefully, its historical and authorial context, and its relationship to various issues related to science fiction as a genre and science fiction studies as laid out in the “Introduction” to the Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction.  Afterward, please write some more about the story, what you now understand about it, and questions that you have about it.

Finally, please post one paragraph in response to this post BY NOON, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, describing what you found most interesting about the story and one to three questions that you have about it.

Though not required, please feel free to post links that you may have consulted in the process of reading the story and why you found them helpful.  What is required is that you read the story carefully, write about it in your reading journal, and think about it in the context of the issues raised in the Introduction to the Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction, and then post some of your thoughts about it.  We will be discussing the story in our next class session.