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
“Another Reason” – Jose Ramos
My project is a short story response to the story “Reason” by Isaac Asimov. My story starts years later from the original storyline, where Cutie is still alive, but he grows concern about the two humans Powell and Donovan. He leaves his sector to go to Earth, he finds out that there a evil robot ruling over New York City. The evil Robot called Android knows about Cutie and the two humans Powell and Donovan. Both Powell and Donovan are caged up like dogs, and they tell Cutie that the Android is evil and eventually will kill him. Cutie gets mad at the Android and doesn’t like any of Android ideas, he choose to fight against the Android for the Humans on Earth thus giving the title of my story “Another Reason”.
Thanks, Jose!
“Translated but Not Lost: Cognitive Estrangement Across Media” – Robert Plummer
My project is an essay that reviews how cognitive estrangement supports the novum of a SF work, and explains how the estrangement process is related to the medium that is used. I wrote this paper because I felt that it was important to understand how different mediums use different information, and that there are multiple ways of explaining the same idea. The two works I chose, “Roadside Picnic” by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky and “Stalker” by Andrei Tarkovsky, are used as an example of good cognitive estrangement across media. Many of the same plot elements are adapted or “translated” from the novel to the film, and they are represented differently, but they still represent the same idea and the novum’s ideas are not “lost”.
The uploaded file also fixed a typo in the bibliography. The director of “Stalker” is Andrei Tarkovsky, not Andrei Strugatsky
Thanks, Robert!
Just like us
I decided to do my research paper on how robots are similar to you and I.I focused mainly on imperfections, that’s what connects us both. For instance humans get sick, but robots can get viruses & even malfunction from time to time, we can’t all be at our best at all time.We’re just as imperfect as them for numerous reasons. I backed up my statements from the texts Terminator 3 Rise of the Machine which was directed by Jonathan Mostow and Fondly Fahrenheit written by Alfred Bester.
Thanks!
My project titled “Narrative Point of View” focuses on the effect that narrative point of view have on the story and audience relationship. Narrative point of view is important to the overall story because not only does it gives readers a chance to speculate from the perspective the author intends, it also provides insight into the decision making processes of characters. I choose this topic because most people don’t consider the narrative point of view when reading stories. Choosing certain narrative point of view can have varrying levels
of impact on the audience, particularly their interpretation of the story. I feel Alfred Bester’s “Fondly Fahrenheit” is a great story to use for my research as it uses a variety of narrative point of view, which at first seemed confusing but later made sense, because it served to form the plot of the story.
Thanks! I love the thesis!!!!!! This idea that narrative point of view becomes the plot of the story (or at least an important part of it) is utterly fascinating!!!!!!!!
Thanks! I love the thesis!!!!!! This idea that narrative point of view becomes the plot of the story (or at least an important part of it) is utterly fascinating!!!!!!!!
“Ape Men in Caves of Fear or Outer Space Enlightenment: The Machines Destiny”
The research project is an analysis of two science fiction works, and how they compare and differ from the main theme in both, of the influence technology has on evolution. This project is meant to gain an understanding of the subject by reviewing two works of fiction. It is not meant to have a decisive answer as there are no scientific sources emulated in the project, only historical and philosophical sources to help get a better understanding of where these two text came from, and there reason to exist.
Thanks! I love the title.
“Replaced Memory” – Vlad Podadaev
My research paper is about a technology that allows to implant or remove someone’s memory and how dramatically it can effect an individual who went through a procedure of memory implantation with or without their consent. In order to do this I am going to use two texts, a film Ghost in the Shell inspired by a Japanese manga artist Masanori Ota and a short story “We can Remember for you Wholesale” by an American science fiction writer Philip Kindred Dick (P.K.D.), where I analyzed both texts in a way where I could determine “if” and “how” the main characters are effected by memory implantation technology.
Thanks!
Precious Memories – David Roman
My research project is about manipulating someones memory can change an entire outlook on society in good and bad ways. As examples for my project i used, Philip K. Dicks, “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale and the video game published by Capcom, “Remember Me”. I used these two as examples because they both express how memory can be changed, or in other cases deleted, in order to keep surveillance or get rid of an individual that oppose the society they are currently in.
My research project is about evolution of robots replacing the homo sapiens which what are the issues of the total outbreak. The Asimov’s Laws is the source of the main issue in the robots because robots can alternate their programming in order to protect its own creator. Also, comparing and contrast one scene from “I Robot” and short story the “Reason” by Isaac Asimov how the Asimov’s Laws is set up his idea into the research using his idea as inspiration.
My research project is about the idea of the “self”? and if there is such a thing as the “self”? for this I compare Lao Tzu’s analects and “Helen O’loy” by Lester Del Rey and see if it holds some truth of the reality we live in or much rather society and the environment we live in.
The Great Tokyo Empire – Jonathan Samuel
My project focuses on the idea of novum being distorted across different media. My paper examines Akira, by Katsuhiro Otomo. This cyberpunk sci-fi started as a graphic novel and was later adapted in to a movie. While identifying their similarities, I focus on what sets these two works apart. My main objective is to focus on why Otomo chose to make drastic changes to the novum in his movie. My findings suggest that there is more to these alterations than just the constraints of cinema.
My research project is a story that borrows the idea of mind alteration from P.K.D’s “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” and explores the possibilities and outcomes of the use of mind alteration. The story revolves around a young man who replaces his memories with false ones, giving him a false life with a false pretense to live by. As the story progresses, we see the consequences of mind alteration, how certain memories make the person the way they’re supposed to be, how uninformed people can be in regards to memory alteration, and much more. All in all, it elaborates the peculiar situation that is free reigns on your mind, what you could or would do, and what would possibly happen.
My research paper is about my learning and writing experience after reading Octavia Butler’s story “Speech Sounds”. It is about what I understood about the story and what the story is a reflections of. I wrote a short story as a response to Butler and in doing so I learned about how skilled a writer she is. I learned about different techniques used in SF writing. In comparing my response with Butler’s story, I grew as a writer and explain how speechlessness as a theme can represent multiple facets of society. In general I gained a greater appreciation for the application of skills needed for writing SF.
This project gave me the opportunity to say/explore something that has bothered me for some time. My research project essentially discussed “audience” and perspective. More specifically, I wrote about science fi bin unfair to women and on another scale, people of color. I discussed how limited I thought several female characters were, how two dimensional they were portrayed and how science fiction often asks us to suspend our beliefs yet we are supposed to belief that men are not multi faceted.
Sorry I’m late prof. I came to you after class to take a photo of my paragraph and honestly still forgot to post it.
My Research project involves the option 2.3, the comic strip and the story I chose is “Reason” by Isaac Asimov. My project focuses heavy on what my understanding of the short story was. So it focuses on free will, which is what I thought was a less talked about big topic, that and the laws of robots, but mostly free will. I try to define and explain free will from my research first and then secondly try to show how it goes with “Reason.” I third briefly explained my point of view or experience with “Reason” and the comic strip.