As we continue our work on the SF Final Project, please make sure that you are in the process of taking notes and gathering textual evidence from the texts you will be working with.  You may find these two resources helpful during this process:

Gathering Textual Evidence Handout

Research Source Cover Sheet

We will be discussing how to assemble the Research Project Proposal during our next class and how to prepare for the brief presentations that you will be giving next about your Research Project.

1. Please continue to think about your research question and how you might be able to make it more specific.  All of you now have a DRAFT Research Question.  For those of you hoping to further revise it, you may want to use this worksheet and/or refer to some resources related to research questions, which you will find by clicking this link and also on our course website.
2. Please locate three critical articles or essays related to the text(s) you will be writing about and your research question.  Please consult the SF Final Project assignment for a list of some recommended sources.

FOR OUR NEXT CLASS:  Please bring printed copies of the primary texts that you will be writing about and the bibliographic citations of three critical articles.  If possible, please print out copies of the critical articles and bring those to class also.

What we have read:

“We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” (1966) by Philip K. Dick
Umland, Samuel J., Ed. Philip K. Dick: Contemporary Critical Interpretations

“Day Million” (1966) Frederick Pohl

“The Second Inquisition” (1970) by Joanna Russ

“Time Considered as a Helix of Precious Stones” (1969) by Samuel Delany

“About 5,750 Words” by Samuel Delany

“There Will Come Soft Rains” (1950) by Ray Bradbury

“Reason” (1941) by Isaac Asimov
“Tik-Tok and the Three Laws of Robotics” by Paul A. Abrahm and Stuart Kenter (1978)

“An Interview with Isaac Asimov” (1987)

“Fondly Fahrenheit” (1954) by Alfred Bester

“Helen O’Loy” (1938) by Lester Del Rey

Common themes and concerns:

1/ there is some confusion or disorientation at the beginning of the story that is generally cleared up by the end

2/ all of the stories deal in some way with advanced technologies

3/ all of the stories are concerned in some way with the fate of humanity

4/ all of the stories try to guess what the future will look like

5/ all of the protagonists are affected or impacted by technologies, which are sometimes good and sometimes bad and usually involve a lot of tradeoffs

6/ many of the stories deal in some way with the relationships between humans and machines and/or nature and culture/society

What Do You Think About Machines That Think? (2015)
Marcus, Gary.  “Moral Machines” (2012)
Joy, Bill.  “Why The Future Doesn’t Need Us” (2000)
Lanier, Jaron.  “Who Owns the Future?” (2013)

7/ All of the stories are interconnected.  The authors write in response to the themes, characters, plots, and settings of other authors

Key questions:

1/ What may be/is the fate and/or role of humanity in a world of apparently endless technological progress?  What might be done to better address the human needs of human beings in the current socio-economic and technological context?

2/ How should relationships between humans and machines be conceived?  What differences exist between humans and machines?  What similarities?  What are the consequences of portraying or conceptualizing of humans as inferior machines?

3/ Why do “we” read science fiction?  Have the purposes of the “genre” changed over time?  If so, why?

4/ What similarities and differences exist among science fiction texts in different media?

Some Additional Articles from SFS:

http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/18/barnouw18art.htm

Science Fiction Final Project

Spring, 2017

Professor Rodgers

Choose your approach to the Research Project:

1/ critical disciplinary focus

2/ creative/critical focus

3/ comparative media focus

What You Will Do:

1/Choose a Topic, Select a SF short story or short novel to include in your Research Project, and Develop a Draft Research Question
2/Create a working bibliography of three to five sources related to your Research Project   3/Do some reading and research related to the texts you are studying and your research question
4/Finalize your research question
5/Create a deliverable (handout, video, other)
6/Prepare a 5 minute presentation for the class and present your findings and the deliverable
7/Write a five page paper, which will, present your findings, your argument, your analysis, etc.

Due Dates:

Topic and Story Selection and Draft Project Title and Draft Research Question:  Wednesday, April 19

Project Description and Proposal: Monday April 24

Review of Research Sources: Completed by Friday, April 28

Rough Drafts 5-Page Paper: May 1 (Exploratory Draft) and May 3 (Working Draft)

Presentations: May 8 and May 10

Final Draft 5-Page Paper:  Monday, May 15

For details and topics, please visit:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NTpBGinA_yJWpRvwq8dzE11lJkc6AtstpEhxQOn5WaA/edit?usp=sharing