English 3840 Science
Fiction
MW
1240-205 pm,
Peck Hall 327
Fall
2010
100
Best SF
Brian
Attebery's Comments on the NBSF Stories
Cyberpunk
"A
Letter from God" (by Ian Watson)
The
Norton Book of Science Fiction
On
Science
On
Space
Reading Guides to the NBSF Essay
Guide
Sample
Student Essays
SF Authors
SF
Definitions
SF
Genres
SF
Lexicon
SF
on the Web
Utopias
and Dystopias Take-Home
Final Exam
Dr. David Lavery
Office:
PH 372 | Office
Hours: M: 205-400; T, TH: 300-420; other times by arrangement
|
E-mail:
david.lavery@gmail.com
|
Office
Phone/Voice-Mail: 615-898-5648 |
Home
Page: http://davidlavery.net
Dr.
David Lavery
is Professor of English at MTSU (1993- ). The author of over one hundred twenty
published essays, chapters, and reviews, he is author / co-author / editor /
co-editor of twenty three books, including Joss: A Creative Portrait of the
Maker of the Whedonverses and The Essential Cult Television Reader.
The organizer of international conferences on Buffy the Vampire Slayer
and The Sopranos, a founding co-editor of the journals Slayage: The
Online International Journal of Buffy Studies and Critical Studies in
Television, he has lectured around the world on the subject of television
(Australia, Turkey, the UK, Portugal, New Zealand, Ireland, Germany) and has
been a guest/source for the BBC, NPR, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, The
New York Times, A Folha de Sao Paulo (Brazil), Publica (Portugal),
Information (Netherlands), AP, The Toronto Star, USA Today. From
2006-2008, he taught at Brunel University in London.
COURSE
REQUIREMENTS
| Critical
Essays |
You
owe me two critical essays (not less than 1,000 words each) on science fiction subjects
of your choice and approved by me.
I will accept these papers at any time prior to or on the
"drop dead" dates indicated below. Go
here for some guidelines.
|
25%
each
|
| Final
Exam, Part One |
A take-home
exam, consisting of a menu of topics, from which you will select two,
responding with essay answers. These topics will all be "leading
questions," intended to inspire your own comprehensive synthesis of
course ideas, questions, problems. 20% of grade. |
20%
|
| Final
Exam, Part Two |
An
in-class cognitive-memory test, consisting of a variety of matching,
identification, short answer questions (on authors, works, literary terms).
It will be a piece of cake for anyone who has been present and attentive in
class throughout the semester. 20% of grade. |
20%
|
| Class
Participation |
Active involvement in class
discussion. May include quiz grades. |
10%
|
COURSE
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
| Manuscript
form |
All written assignments must be word-processed
and must be submitted in digital form, as a
Microsoft Word or Rich Text attachment, either as an e-mail sent to david.lavery@gmail.com
or via D2L. Please be sure to carefully edit and proofread your own work.
Do not simply rely on your computer's spell checker. (Go
here to read a poem that demonstrates the untrustworthiness of spell checkers.)
A list of "Things to be Aware of"
as you write your essays can be found here. |
| Reading
Assignments |
You
are responsible for having read the entirety of each assignment and keeping
up with the required reading. |
| Participation
& involvement |
Please
come prepared for each day’s class. I encourage you to become an active
participant in class discussion and to ask constructive and meaningful
questions at all times--even when I appear to be "lecturing." I will interpret
lack of participation as evidence that you are not reading and will respond
with daily quizzes. |
| Plagiarism
/ Cheating |
The
unacknowledged use of the words/ideas/ insights/ original research of another
is, of course, prohibited. Should I catch you plagiarizing, or cheating
in any way, you will receive a grade of "0" on the assignment in question,
the violation may be reported to University authorities, and you may fail
the course. |
| Students
with Disabilities |
Any student with a disability will be given all the
rights and privileges guaranteed under the Americans with Disabilities Act if
he/she is registered with Disabled
Student Services (call/contact John Harris, KUC 120/2783). |
| University
Writing Center: |
The University
Writing Center, sponsored by the English Department and staffed by
full-time and adjunct faculty and graduate teaching assistants, is located in
PH 326. At the UWC you can get constructive help with a variety of writing
problems, from pre-writing to organization to grammatical errors. (Please be
aware, however, that the UWC does not do proofreading.) |
| Grading Scale |
|
90-99%=A
|
80-89%=B
|
70-79%=C
|
60-69%=D
|
0-59%=F
|
|
Texts
|
 |
Norton Book of Science Fiction,
ed. LeGuin & Attebery |
James
Tiptree, Jr., Her Smoke Rose Up Forever |
| Click
on a cover to order the book from Amazon. |
AGENDA
Nota bene: All readings
are in The Norton Book of Science Fiction text unless otherwise
specified.
Class
Meeting | Date | Subject | Readings/Viewings | Course Requirements
Week
1
1
| 8/30 | Introduction to the Course | Defining SF | SF
Definitions Powerpoint
2
| 9/1 | SF Lit:
"A Letter from God" | Defining
SF (cont.)
Week
2
3
| 9/6 | Labor Day: No
Class
4
| 9/8 | SF Lit: Warlord
of Saturn’s Moons, 305-12 | The Gernsback
Continuum, 457-65 | Invaders,
830-50 | Silent
Star Wars
Week
3
5
| 9/13 | SF Film and TV: Twilight Zone
| Twilight Zone Power
Point
6
| 9/15 | SF Lit: Over
the River and Through the Woods, 125-32 | Frozen
Journey, 386-401| Schrödinger’s
Plague, 477-84
Week
4
7
| 9/20 | SF Film and TV | The
Day the Earth Stood Still (Robert Wise, 1951) and Forbidden Planet (Fred M. Wilcox, 1956)| Day
& Forbidden Power
Point
8
| 9/22 | SF Lit:
The
World as We Know It, 485-500 | Speech
Sounds, 513-24 | We
See Things Differently, 762-79
Week
5
9
| 9/27 | SF Film and TV: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Philip Kaufman,
1978) | Read
David Lavery's "Departure of the Body Snatchers, or the Confessions of a
Carbon Chauvinist" | Invasion
of the Body Snatchers Power
Point
10
| 9/29 | SF Lit: Out
of All Them Bright Stars, 647-53 | The
Handler, 45-48 | Good
News from the Vatican, 242-49 | Private
War of Private Jacob, 300-304
Week
6
11
| 10/4 | SF Film and TV: The Terminator Franchise | Terminator
Franchise Power Point | All-Time
Worldwide Box Office
12
| 10/6 | SF Lit: How
Beautiful With Banners, 133-41 | Strange
Wine, 350-56 | Nine
Hundred Grandmothers, 142-50 | Feather
Tigers, 280-86
Week
7
13
| 10/11 | SF Film and TV: Star
Trek IV (Leonard Nimoy, 1986) or The Hidden (Jack Sholder, 1987)
14
| 10/13 | SF Film and TV: Continued
Week
8
15
| 10/18 | Fall Break--No Class
16
| 10/20 | SF Lit: Distant
Signals, 525-37 | Life
of Anybody, 569-70 | The
War
at Home, 577-79 | Snow,
591-604 | Drop Dead Date for First Essay
Week
9
17
| 10/25 | SF Film and TV:
The
X-Files ("Jose Chung's From Outer Space") | X-Files
Power Point | Lavery on The X-Files: "Generation
X" | 50 Key TV
Programmes | Encyclopedia
of American Conspiracy Theory
18
| 10/26 | SF Film and TV:
Lost | LOST
Power Point
Week
10
19
| 11/1 | SF Film and TV: Lost (continued)
20
| 11/3 | Gender and Science Fiction: Few
Things . . . About Whileaway, 337-49 | Start
of the End of the World, 466-76 | When
I Was Miss Dow, 151-60 | His
Vegetable Wife, 628-32 | Griffin Power Point
Week
11
21
| 11/8 | SF Film and TV: The Matrix (The Wachowski
Brothers, 1999)
22
| 11/10 | Cyberpunk: Rat,
654-64 | Stable
Strategies for Middle Management, 705-15 | (Learning
About) Machine Sex, 746-61 | Cyberpunk
Power Point
Week
12
23
| 11/15 | SF Film and TV: Firefly and Serenity | Firefly
on Castle
| Firefly
and Serenity Power
Point
24
| 11/17 |
SF Film and TV: Firefly and Serenity (continued)
Week
13
25
| 11/22 | SF Film and TV: Futurama
and Mystery Science Theater 3000 | Futurama
and MST3000 Power
Point
26
| 11/24 | SF Film and TV: No class
11/25:
Thanksgiving
Week
14
26
| 11/29 | Futurama and MST3000 (continued)
27
| 12/1 | James Tiptree, Jr.:
Tiptree
Power Point | "Magic Terminal Trip"
| "The Girl Who Was Plugged In" (HSRUF 43); "The
Women Men Don't See" (HSRUF 115) | "'This
Wondrous Death': Erotic Power in the Science Fiction of James Tiptree, Jr."
Week
15
28
| 12/6 | Tiptree (continued): "Love is the Plan, the Plan is
Death" (HSRUF 403); "On the Last Afternoon" (HSRUF
421); "A Momentary Taste of Being" (HSRUF
275)
29
| 12/8 | Tiptree (continued): "The Last Flight of Doctor Ain" (HSRUF
1); "The Screwfly Solution" (HSRUF 9) | Drop Dead Date for Second
Essay
12/10-16 | Final Exam
Week | Final Exam Part Two in
Class: Monday, December 13th, 1230-230 | In-Class
Exam Study Sheet | Final Exam Part One
Due