For the final exam, please select ONE of the following five stories to write about:

SF 2017 Final Exam Readings (PDF packet of five short stories)

Ursula LeGuin “Nine Lives” (Playboy, 1980)

Pamela Zoline “The Heat Death of the Universe” (New Worlds Speculative Fiction, July 1967)

Stanislav Lem “How the World Was Saved” (The Cyberiad, 1965)

Philip K. Dick “Beyond Lies the Wub” (Planet Stories, July, 1952)

Arthur C. Clarke “The Sentinel” (10 Story Fantasy, Spring, 1951)

For the final exam, you will write about ONE of these five short stories in the context of what you have learned about SF studies, literary studies, and other SF texts we have read or seen this semester. For the exam, you will write a short essay explaining what the story is about by describing its fictional elements, reflecting on the importance of story in the context of literary studies and in sf studies, and finally arguing for why you believe that the story should be added to Professor Rodgers SF course syllabus by discussing the connections between the story and other SF short stories that we have read this semester.

NOTE: You will need to print out a copy of the story you select to write about for the final exam.

For some sample draft summaries, you may want to read through these posts by students summarizing “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” and critique them.  How well do they summarize the Dick story?  What might you change in these summaries?  What do you admire in these summaries?

Additionally, to prepare for the final exam, in which you will write an essay about one short story that you have selected, you will want to:

• Review SF Studies and Literary Studies Keywords and Some Elements of Fiction

• Review Course Notes (both those posted and those you have taken)

• Review your assignments

• Re-read the  “Introduction” to the Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction

• Make some notes on the short story you have selected.  What do you have to say about the story in the context of SF studies, literary studies, and the texts we have read this semester?  Although you will be writing the final exam essay in class, I expect you to come prepared with an outline of the key points that you want to make about the story.

Please post a one paragraph overview of your research project as a comment to this post.

Before our class on Wednesday, save a copy of your research paper and any documents related to it to this folder:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B-9gdCKLbfvITmhqRzB6X1pwUk0?usp=sharing

Please note that the final draft of your research project essay is due next Monday.  Please make sure that your final draft is in MLA format and includes both a title and a bibliography.  Those who have completed creative responses to texts will be handing in BOTH the final draft of the critical essay and the final draft of the creative response.

For those who would like to take their critical essay through the full revision process, here are links to worksheets for each step in that process–

Structural Revision, Line Editing, and Proofreading–here are a few links:

What Is Revision?
1. Structural Revision
2. Line Editing (see WiW 42)
3. Proofreading (see WiW 43)

Revision: Higher Order and Lower Order Concerns (Purdue OWL)

How To Write an Introduction

How To Write a Compelling Conclusion