THE FOLLOWING WORKSHEET APPLIES ONLY TO THE 3:30 CLASS ON WEDNESDAY


With a partner, please answer the following questions in response to the Black Mirror episode you watched.


1) What ethical problems does the episode raise?


2) Do you see any technology in our world that is heading in this direction? What is it?


3) What is appealing about this form of technology? What are its benefits?


4) What might happen if this technology were to get into the wrong hands?


5) Can you see any parallels between the choice to not use the device in the show, and some aspect of our world today? How reliant are we on our devices?


6) Come up with a scenario involving this form of technology that either 1) results in a negative consequence or 2) results in a positive consequence, directly as a result of the technology's existence.

Class Survey for Prof D

What was your favorite assignment and why?

What was your least favorite assignment and why?

What was your favorite book and why?

What was your least favorite book and why?

What was your favorite tv episode or film and why? What was your least favorite tv episode or film and why?

What did you think of the reading load?

What did you think of the watching load?

Do you have any specific ideas for improving the course? Are there any topics you'd like covered that we did not cover?

HW for Wednesday

Please look for a passage that you consider to be "dangerous" to the status quo, in a book that has affected you in some way. Bring the book to class on Wednesday, along with a one page, single-spaced write up explaining why that particular passage is "dangerous" and what aspects of society it threatens.

Note: don't look for an obvious passage that speaks to blowing things up or something. Consider "Dover Beach," the poem read in Farenheit 451 by Montag to the women. It is "dangerous" in that society because it encourages people to feel emotions from the past, to consider the brevity of life and its cruelty, and to place love as the most important thing above all. In that society, obedience to laws, cheap entertainment, and isolation are valued, and this is why the poem is dangerous.

1) Re-read "the firemen are hardly necessary" speech--how do you see this playing out in our world today? Can you think of any category of people or institutions that play the role of "firemen"? (p 83)

2) What does Faber mean when he says, "It's not the books you need, but some of the things that were once in books"? Do you think his criticism of TV and radio still holds up? Give some specific examples from mass media in your response. (p 78-80)

3) Break down the three things Faber says are missing from current media, and discuss whether each of these things is present or not present in our current mass media forms and society today. If they are not, what is impeding them? If they are, where can we find them? How might we create more of them? (p 79-81)

4) What is one thing you would add to Faber's list that books give us, that you see as missing in our world today?

Snapshot Presentations Schedule

1:30 class

4/25
Tori
Miranda
Danielle
Oliver


4/27

Bryan
Jake
Zeke
Delaney

4/29

Alex
Elise
Mia
Maria

 5/2

Gabriela
Jasmin
Li
Luis

3:30 class

4/25

Will
Arthur
Brie
Dominic
Kelsey 

4/27

Daniel
Nick
Tess
Sam

4/29

Alex
Ashton
Frankie
Mukewele

Reminder: there are two components to your presentation. 1) Your future "snapshot"--which is a creative story, video, website, etc that creates a speculative future. 2) A 3-4 page essay which analyzes your snapshot critically, discussing the elements of our world that inspired it, the influences on your work from our class (the novels and films and shows), your process, etc. 

“Give me a [person] who has read a thousand books and you give me an interesting companion. Give me a [person] who has read perhaps three and you give me a very dangerous enemy indeed.”

-Anne Rice

PLEASE BRING WRITING UTENSILS (LAPTOPS, PENS, PAPER) FOR CLASS ON FRIDAY

Questions for Advantageous

1) Describe the world of the film. What does it have in common with our world? How does it differ? Did you notice anything peculiar that you have questions about?

 2) Are there any specific, troubling aspects of our world that the filmmaker projected into a speculative future? What are those aspects?

3) Compare this film to Eye of the Beholder. What do the films have in common? How do they differ?

4) If you had to summarize the central dilemma or "problem" of the film, what would it be?

5) What do you make of the ending of the film? Is it sweet or bittersweet?

6)  How does the film deal with the subject of race? What about gender?

Final Revision Assignment (we will discuss this on Monday in class)

For your final essay, due finals week via email only, you are required to do an extensive re-write of essay 1 or essay 2. You will be expected to incorporate at least two more outside research sources than your original ones and to make revisions to every single paragraph in the essay.


Please note that the books themselves (Parable and Wrinkle) do not count as outside research sources, though you should also incorporate them into your papers.


For those of you revising the in class essay, you will be required to use A Wrinkle in Time, and at least two outside library resources in your final draft of your revision paper. These resources can be on the book, the Cold War, or some other relevant issue. 






Add in detail where it is lacking, correct grammar, strengthen your arguments, and re-work organization. You are required to re-write your thesis, making it clearer and stronger, unless I wrote that it was perfect on your first draft. If you would like to significantly alter your thesis and paper (shifting topics, for example), this is fine too, although it is not required. 

Your re-write should be 2 pages longer than your initial draft as well. Go back and revisit the initial instructions for each of these assignments on the blog in order to figure out how long that should be.

Please utilize the notes I have made you in grading, on your rough and final drafts (if relevant). You can also visit me during office hours to discuss your work, should you need additional input.

Your paper will be reviewed alongside your initial paper, and if the changes made are not substantial, you will not receive a passing score. Should you have already gotten a high score on your paper initially, I recommend expanding your thesis and lengthening your paper, as well as adding in more research. 


Lastly, please note that this assignment has TWO grading components. It is an assignment in itself, with its own score, but if your grade is higher than your initial grade on the assignment, you also have the opportunity to bump up your initial paper score one full letter grade.








 Due: noon on Thursday 5/5, email only, .doc or .docx or pdf format. A google doc is fine as well.

In Class Essay Prompts

Hi everyone,


Here are the prompts for the in class essay, for those of you who choose to revise that particular essay for your revision assignment in this course.


Remember, you may revise either essay #1 (about Parable of the Sower) or essay #2 (the in class essay about A Wrinkle in Time) for your final revision assignment.


Please make sure to carefully read the following blog post detailing the instructions for this assignment before beginning to work on your revision. We will go over these guidelines on Monday in class, but a few people wanted to get started early, so I am providing this on the blog now.


As always, if you have questions, let me know.


***


A Wrinkle in Time In Class Essay Prompts (choose one):


In a Wrinkle in Time, L'Engle wages war against the ideologies of collectivism (emphasis on the group rather than the individual) and totalitarianism (absolute control by the state or a governing branch of a highly centralized institution).

For your response on this paper, answer one of the following prompts in a cohesive essay, providing thorough examples and analysis from your memory of the reading.

1) Why is L'Engle waging war against these ideologies? What values do they threaten?

2) Do you see these ideologies manifesting in any form in our world today? If so, where? How do we combat them?

3) Is there any value in collectivism? What might L'Engle be missing in her emphasis on the individual over the group?