Presentations Schedule

*Please note that your paper and creative component are due on the day on which you present.
*If you want to switch dates with another person, you may, but you need to both email me for approval at least three days before the start of the presentation week.

4/24
David R
Aaron S
Kristina
Aldore
Reggie

4/27
Hunter
Clement
Frankie
Lance
Aidan

4/29
Michael G
Jada
Aaron H
Max

4/31
Amanda
Samuel
Nicholas
Asia
Claire

Office Hours

If you want to meet with me for office hours, please simply email me to make an appt.

Hi guys,

I just updated the course schedule. Let me know if you have any questions.

Revision Option for Hunger Games Essay

If you would like to revise your in-class essay, you may do so. It will not replace your original score, but it can bring that score up one full letter grade.

Please revise according to the notes I made on your paper. Submit the revised version via email only no later than our last regular class meeting (please note that we do not meet during finals week).

Please also note that I will NOT be sending comments on these revision papers, only scores. You can ask questions about them, though, if you have them, after you receive your scores.

Additionally, I will not be grading them until after finals week, no matter when you send them, due to time constraints.

This is a great option for this of you who would like to bring your grade up!

Assignment #3 and Presentations

Science fiction is any idea that occurs in the head and doesn't exist yet, but soon will, and will change everything for everybody, and nothing will ever be the same again. As soon as you have an idea that changes some small part of the world you are writing science fiction. It is always the art of the possible, never the impossible. -Ray Bradbury

Look into the future 200 years. What do you see? What kind of world are we living in? Are we even living on planet Earth, or have we moved into outer space? Have we developed AI? Has disease been eradicated, or has there been even more disease as a result of pollution and warfare? What is the world like? What kind of beings have we become?

Create a sci-fi future "snapshot" to present to the class, based on what is going on in the world today. In other words, take actual events and scenarios from our current world, and project them into the future. You can use Black Mirror and The Hunger Games as a sort of guide, or think of what Octavia Butler did in Kindred with the past. 

Your snapshot can come in the form of a skit, a video, a short story, a posterboard, or an other (approved by me) form. You will have 8 minutes to present it to the class, and do plan to use the full 8 minutes (but no more).

In addition to presenting your future snapshot to the class, please write a 4 page essay detailing the events/situations in our world today that led you create your snapshot. Your snapshot should not be based on simply wish fulfillment, but you should have news articles and other resources bolstering your projection. Be prepared to share these with the class. For example, you could use current news articles on the melting of the polar ice caps to project a future where there are no polar ice caps at all. However, just because you are using real life events from today to project into the future, does not mean that you cannot get creative and cannot be hopeful about the future. It's up to you if you want to create a dystopian or a positive snapshot (or some mixture thereof). There are all kinds of things happening in the world today, large and small, that will make our future: don't be afraid to look in unusual places for inspiration.

Friday's Class

Please note that you are required to attend a library instructional session this friday at our normally scheduled class time. Please meet on the lower floor of the library, at the instructional lab.

You will receive extra credit for your attendance, although the session IS mandatory.

Rough Draft Workshop

ROUGH DRAFT WORKSHOP GUIDELINES

DIRECTIONS:

Please take time and care in responding, using complete sentences. Make sure to write about 3-5 sentences in response to each section; you should be addressing all questions within a given section with specific answers. “The thesis answers the prompt,” or “The essay looks organized to me,” are NOT specific answers—for example, if the essay is that organized, then you should be able to tell me what specifically is so organized about it. Use concrete examples. 

And remember--your tips and advice are significantly more beneficial to your classmate than giving them the thumbs up. So please, don't be afraid to be constructively critical.

Questions:

1) Does the writer have a strong hook for the introduction? If not, suggest one. Does the writer introduce their topic clearly and succinctly, providing the necessary historical, cultural, and plot background information? Give one or two suggestions for improvement in this area (do not skip).

2) Does the essay’s thesis seem to be undeveloped or too broad, or is it just specific enough to argue in an 4-6 page paper?  Many any necessary suggestions for clarification and more specificity as well (do not skip). Lastly, please remember that the thesis needs to address the prompt.

3) Please note any places in the essay where further clarifying details could be added. This is something everyone in the class needs to work on. Is the writer clear about what they are analyzing? Do they discuss certain scenes in the novel in detail? Who are the characters involved, how are they defined, etc? Make sure historical context information is also provided.

4) Is the writer incorporating research from two extra scholarly sources into the essay (not .com sources or dictionary/encyclopedia sources)? Do the sources seem to be strong and ON TOPIC? Why or why not.

5) Does the writer have plenty of quotes from the novel and their outside sources in the essay? They should! Are those quotes strong quotes? Which quote is the strongest and which is the weakest? Suggest an ordering for the quotes that would help the writer work from their strongest point to their weakest (keeping in mind the importance of chronology/topic organization as well)—do not skip! Are the quotes smoothly integrated into the essay and not plopped? 

6) Does the writer have sufficient analysis for their quotations? Remember, analysis is even more important than the quote itself. Make sure the writer is not simply explaining the quote in a summarizing fashion, but connecting it to its larger significance (relationship to their thesis). Make suggestions for improvement below, and be specific.

7) Is the essay organized? Do the body paragraphs seem to build logically upon one another? Give at least one suggestion for improving the organization of the essay. Starting at the beginning of the scene and then going forward from there is a good idea.