208B F19 Hancock | English Language and Literature

ENGL 208B

Department of English Language and Literature

Fall 2019

10:00-11:20 M W, ML 246

Instructor Information

Instructor: Michael Hancock

Office: Hagey Hall 369

Office Hours: 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm MW

Email: m3hancoc@uwaterloo.ca (please put the course name ENGL 208B in your email subject lines)

znpearl@uwaterloo.ca TA: Zach Pearl, Office Hours 3-5 Th PAS 1087

Course Description

This course teaches the forms of science fiction present in modern science fiction and science fiction throughout history, in literature and other media forms. The main objective of this course will be to investigate how and why sf (science fiction) functions in the ways that it does. How is sf defined (and who is doing the defining)? How has our understanding of sf changed over time? How does sf work in different medium forms? How does it reflect on contemporary social issues? What purpose does science fiction serve in our lives? In particular, we will center on three subgenres of science fiction, aliens, robots, and time travel, to examine how and why science fiction creators and science fiction fans keep returning to these ideas. This course will also push students to hone their skills regarding critical analysis and essay composition.

Course Goals and Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, students will have been introduced and be expected to successfully demonstrate some of the following skills:

To critically investigate and discuss major examples of science fiction literature and other works
To appreciate and apply some critical and theoretical approaches of science fiction to sf-based texts
To understand and communicate some of the history behind science fiction as a genre and form
To recognize how sf presents itself in different media, and how it contains its own subgenres and influences
To propose and carry out a critical investigation of a well-ordered argument concerning a given research topic regarding sf literature

Required Texts

Vision: The Complete Series. By Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta. Marvel. 484 p, 2018.
Access to Netflix (for viewing Annihilation, Russian Doll, and potentially other texts)
80 Days. (Videogame; available on PC, Mac OS X, iOS, and Android)

Readings (or links to readings) Available on LEARN

War of the Worlds. H. G. Wells. 1897. Project Gutenberg, 2018.
“Orson Welles. War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast 1938 – Complete Broadcast.” David Webb. Youtube, 16 Dec. 2010.
“Evidence.” Isaac Asimov. Astounding Science Fiction, edited by John W. Campbell Jr., September 1946, Street & Smith. I, Robot. Bantam, 1991. 159-182.
“Vintage Season.” Henry Kuttner and Catherine L. Moore. Astounding Science Fiction, edited by John W. Campbell Jr., September 1946, Street & Smith. The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume Two A: The Greatest Science Fiction Novellas of All Time chosen by the members of the Science Fiction Writers of America, edited by Ben Bova, Tor, 2003.
“Who Goes There?”. John W. Campbell Jr. [Originally published under Don A. Stuart]. Astounding Science Fiction, edited by John W. Campbell Jr., August 1938, Street & Smith. Who Goes There? Seven Tales of Science-Fiction, 2nd ed Shasta, 1951. 31-80.
“The Veldt.” [originally “The World the Children Made.”] Ray Bradbury. The Saturday Eveningno boundaries Post, 23 September 1950. The Illustrated Man, Doubleday, 1951.
“A Sound of Thunder.” Ray Bradbury. Colliers, 1952. The Golden Apples of the Sun and Other Stories, 1990.
“Piper in the Woods.” Philip K. Dick. Popular Science Fiction 2, edited by Ronald Forster, 1953, Blue Diamond Publishing. Paycheck and Other Classic Stories, Citadel Press, 1990. 113-129.
“Fondly Fahrenheit.” Alfred Bester. The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, edited by Anthony Boucher and J. Francis McComas, August 1954, Selected Stories of Alfred Bester. The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929-1964, edited by Robert Silverberg, Orb, 2005.
“All You Zombies--”. Robert A. Heinlein. The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, edited by Robert P. Mills, March 1959, Mercury Press. Masterpieces: The best science fiction of the century, edited by Orson Scott Card, Ace Books, 2002.
“Super-Toys Last All Summer Long.” Brian W. Aldiss, Harper's Bazaar, December 1969. Supertoys Last All Summer Long: and other Stories of Future Time, Orbit, 2001.
“The Gernsback Continuum.” William Gibson. Universe 11, edited by Terry Carr, Doubleday, 1981. Burning Chrome, Eos/HarperCollins, 2003.
“Bloodchild.” Octavia E. Butler. Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, edited by Sawhan McCarthy, June 1984, Davis. Bloodchild and Other Stories, Open Road, 2012. 20 p.
“Liking What You See: A Documentary.” Ted Chiang. Stories of Your Life and Others, 2002. 237-273.
“The Second Renaissance: Part One.” The Animatrix. Directed by Mahiro Maeda, Warner Brothers Village Roadshow Pictures, 2003. Cyberpunked, YouTube, 14 June 2016. “The Second Renaissance: Part Two.” The Animatrix. Directed by Mahiro Maeda, Warner Brothers Village Roadshow Pictures, 2003. Cyberpunked, YouTube, 14 June 2016.
“Delhi.” Vadana Singh. So Long Been Dreaming, edited by Nalo Hopkinson and Uppinder Mehan, Arsenal Pulp Press, 2004. 79-94.
https://www.vulture.com/2015/08/read-jeff-vandermeer-911-fiction-short-story.html “The Goat Variations.” Jeff VanderMeer. Other Earths, edited by Nick Gevers and Jay Lake, DAW, 2009. Vulture, 1 September 2015.
“Incarnation Day.” Walter Jon Williams. Escape from Earth: New Adventures in Space, edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois, Science Fiction Book Club, 2006. The Green Leopard Plague and Other Stories, Night Shade Books, 2010. 203-239.
http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-kingdom-of-the-blind/ “The Kingdom of the Blind,” Maureen McHugh. Plugged In. L. Timmel Duchamp and Maureen McHugh, Aqueduct P, 2008. Lightspeed, edited by John Joseph Adams, November 2011.
“Carthago Delenda Est.” Genevieve Valentine. Federations. Edited by John Joseph Adams, Prime Books, 2009. 35-47.
“Red Letter Day.” Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Analog Science Fiction and Fact, edited by Stanley Schmidt, September 2010, Dell Magazines. The Tme Traveler's Almanac, edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, Tor Books, 2013.
http://podcasts.lightspeedmagazine.com/podcast_hwangs_billion_brilliant_alice_sola_kim.mp3 “Hwang's Billion Brilliant Daughters.” Alice Sola Kim. Lightspeed, edited by John Joseph Adams, November 2010, Prime Books. Lightspeed Magazine, 2010.
Annihilation. Directed by Alex Garland, performances by Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson and Tuva Novotny, Paramount Pictures, 2018. Netflix.
Russian Doll. Performances by Natasha Lyonne and Charlie Barnett, Netflix, 2019.

Course Requirements and Assessment

Assignment	Date of Evaluation (if known)	Weighting
Response Papers	Sept 27^th; Oct 9^th; Nov 13th	15.00%
Participation and Attendance	Ongoing	10.00%
First Essay (5-7 pages)	November 1st	20.00%
Final Essay / Project (7-8 pages/4 pages)	Dec 3rd	25.00%
Final Exam	TBD	30.00%
Total		100%

All of the assignments will be explained in greater detail as their respective due dates approach. Note all assignments are due by 5:00 pm on the Friday of the week that they are due; anything submitted after that class will count as late.

Participation and Attendance. Students will receive a portion of this mark for being present in class, and a portion for active and helpful participation. Grading for the participation portion will be done considering the following:

90-100 Excellent: With few, if any, exceptions, the student is making frequent, substantive, useful and original contributions to class discussions; the student consistently engaged and participating, and attends all peer review sessions and classes

80-89 Good: the student is a regular contributor to discussions; the student is consistently engaged, and attends all peer review sessions

70-79 Satisfactory: The student demonstrates occasional contributions and inconsistent engagement

60-69 Marginal: Minimal contributions and/or significant lack of engagement

< 60 Failure: repeated disruptive, inappropriate or unethical behaviour; behaviour disrespectful to others; consistent lack of commitment and/or effort

Response Papers

Three times throughout the term, students must turn in a brief (2 pages) response paper. The paper will contain their response to one of the works discussed (or to be discussed) in class. If the work has already been discussed in class, the student is expected to focus on a different aspect of the work that hasn’t been discussed, or expand on the previous discussion in a meaningful way. (The second and third paper will have further qualifications.) The papers will be marked in terms of how well the students display knowledge of the text, apply what’s been discussed in class, demonstrate original thinking, present a coherent argument, and adhere to conventions in terms of punctuation and mechanics.

First Essay

This essay will ask students to expand aliens or robots as a science fiction trope, drawing on the works and material discussed thus far.

Final Essay

This essay is the student’s chance to demonstrate what has been learned over the course of the class. Creative projects and collaborations will be encouraged. Students will receive a detailed description of this assignment along with possible essay topics well in advance of the due date.

Final Exam

Questions will be designed to test your knowledge of the readings, and concepts discussed in class. The exam will involve identifying passages, delivering short answers, and an in-class essay.

Course Outline / Class Schedule

Some readings may be subject to change; all short stories and excerpts are available from LEARN.

Date	Topic	Readings Due	Assignments Due
Sept 4th	Introduction	N/A
Sept 9^th – Sept 11^th	Alien invasions and colonialism	War of the Worlds H. G. Wells
Sept 16^th – Sept 18^th	First Contact stories	“Piper in the Woods” Philip K. Dick “Carthago Delenda Est” Genevieve Valentine “Who Goes There?” John W. Campbell
Sept 23^rd – Sept 25^th	Alien & Self	Annihilation (film; on Netflix) “Blood Child” Octavia Butler	First Response Paper (Sept 27th)
Sept 30^th – Oct 2nd	Robots in older science fiction	“Super-Toys Last All Summer Long” Brian Aldiss “Evidence” by Isaac Asimov “Fondly Fahrenheit” by Alfred Bester
Oct 7^th – Oct 9th	Humans Becoming Robot?	“The Veldt” Ray Bradbury “Incarnation Day” Walter John Williams “Liking What You See: A Documentary” Ted Chiang	Second Response Paper (Oct 9th)
Oct 14^th – Oct	Reading Week (no
16th	classes)
Oct 21^st – Oct 23^rd	Robots and Superheroes	The Vision: Complete Series “Second Renaissance” Wachowski Sisters short film
Oct 28^th – Oct 30^th	Time Travel : Encounters with the Past and Future	“Sound of Thunder” Ray Bradbury “Dehli” Vadana Singh “Red Letter Day” Kristine Kathryn Rusch	First Essay (November 1st)
Nov 4^th – Nov 6th	Time Travel: Time Loops	Russian Doll (on Netflix) “All You Zombies” Robert Heinlein
Nov 11^th – Nov 13^th	Alternate Histories and Apocalypses	“The Goat Variations” Jeff VanderMeer “The Gernsback Continuum” William Gibson “Vintage Season” Henry Kuttner and Catherine L. Moore	Third Response Paper (November 13^th)
Nov 18^th – Nov 20^th	Science Fiction and videogames	“The Kingdom of the Blind” Maureen McHugh 80 Days (inkle)
Nov 25^th – Nov 27^th	Science Fiction film (to be selected)
Dec 3rd	Last Day of Classes (final exam preparation)		Final Essay / Project

Course Policies

Course policies are essentially based on respectful communication and setting clear expectations. If something about the course, be it an assignment or policy, is not clear to you please write me and we will sort the issue. Please take the time to read the syllabus and the assignments carefully and ask me questions if you’re not sure about something. A syllabus functions as a kind of contract between instructor and student, but more importantly it is a resource and connects you to resources both in the classroom and around campus. I want to make this course as useful to you as possible, and that means—

as is always the case in technical communication—clearly communicating our expectations of each other and making sure everyone is on the same page.

Accessibility Statement

The AccessAbility Services office, located on the first floor of the Needles Hall extension (NH 1401), collaborates with all academic departments to arrange appropriate accommodations for all aspects of your academic career. If you require academic accommodations in regards to your disability, please register with the AS office at the beginning of each academic term. The office is dedicated to supporting all students with known or suspected disabilities or disabling conditions, such as full-time or part-time students taking on-campus or online courses, domestic and international students, and regular and co-op students.

Mental Health Support

All of us need a support system. The faculty and staff in Arts encourage students to seek out mental health supports if they are needed.

On Campus

Counselling Services: counselling.services@uwaterloo.ca / 519-888-4567 ext 32655
MATES: one-to-one peer support program offered by Federation of Students (FEDS) and Counselling Services
Health Services Emergency service: located across the creek form Student Life Centre

Off campus, 24/7

Good2Talk: Free confidential help line for post-secondary students. Phone: 1-866-925-5454
Grand River Hospital: Emergency care for mental health crisis. Phone: 519-749-433 ext. 6880
Here 24/7: Mental Health and Crisis Service Team. Phone: 1-844-437-3247
OK2BME: set of support services for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning teens in Waterloo. Phone: 519-884-0000 extension 213

Full details can be found online at the Faculty of ARTS website

Download UWaterloo and regional mental health resources (PDF)

Download the WatSafe app to your phone to quickly access mental health support information

Territorial Acknowledgement

We acknowledge that we are living and working on the traditional territory of the Attawandaron (also known as Neutral), Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples. The University of Waterloo is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land promised to the Six Nations that includes 10 kilometres on each side of the Grand River.

For more information about the purpose of territorial acknowledgements, please see the CAUT Guide to Acknowledging Traditional Territory (PDF).

Academic freedom at the University of Waterloo

Policy 33, Ethical Behaviour states, as one of its general principles (Section 1), “The University supports academic freedom for all members of the University community. Academic freedom carries with it the duty to use that freedom in a manner consistent with the scholarly obligation to base teaching and research on an honest and ethical quest for knowledge. In the context of this policy, 'academic freedom' refers to academic activities, including teaching and scholarship, as is articulated in the principles set out in the Memorandum of Agreement between the FAUW and the University of Waterloo, 1998 (Article 6). The academic environment which fosters free debate may from time to time include the presentation or discussion of unpopular opinions or controversial material. Such material shall be dealt with as openly, respectfully and sensitively as possible.” This definition is repeated in Policies 70 and 71, and in the Memorandum of Agreement, Section 6.

Emergencies and Absences

In the event of a major campus emergency, course requirements, deadlines and grading percentages are subject to changes that may be necessitated by a revised semester calendar or other circumstances beyond the instructor’s control. Relevant changes to this course will be posted onto the course website or can be obtained by contacting the instructor via email. You are expected to read your @uwaterloo.ca email on a frequent basis. Personal emergencies should be communicated to me as soon as possible, but attend first to you and your family’s well-being. Whatever happens to be your particular situation is not my business and all I need to know is there was a medical emergency. You do not need to provide any details. For extended absences I would like a note from a doctor, but again no details about why you were away ever need to be provided in these notes and you do not need to disclose the reason to me.

Grade Concerns and Incompletes

Should your grades concern you then you must speak with me within the first 3/4 of the term; the last quarter of the term will not provide sufficient time to markedly improve your final grade. Finally, I will not grant an incomplete in the course; if you have concerns about completing your term please write to me as soon as possible.

Academic Honesty

All work in this course should be original. Any material that you paraphrase or quote must be cited according to an accepted style format (MLA, in this course). Over citing will not be penalized and, in fact, I’m always happy to see you’re doing research. If you’re not sure if you should cite something, go ahead and cite it. We can chat about it later, but when in doubt give credit. Remember you want to give credit for words and ideas.

Academic Integrity: In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the University of Waterloo are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility. See the Office of Academic Integrity webpage for more information.

Discipline: A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity, to avoid committing academic offences, and to take responsibility for his/her actions. Check the Office of Academic Integrity for more information. A student who is unsure whether an action constitutes an offence, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offences (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about “rules” for group work/collaboration should seek guidance from the course professor, academic advisor, or the Undergraduate Associate Dean. When misconduct has been found to have occurred, disciplinary penalties will be imposed under Policy 71 – Student Discipline. For information on categories of offenses and types of penalties, students should refer to Policy 71 - Student Discipline. For typical penalties check Guidelines for the Assessment of Penalties.

Grievances and Appeals

Grievance: A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of his/her university life has been unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read Policy 70 - Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4. When in doubt, please be certain to contact the department’s administrative assistant who will provide further assistance.

Appeals: A decision made or penalty imposed under Policy 70 - Student Petitions and Grievances (other than a petition) or Policy 71 - Student Discipline may be appealed if there is a ground. A student who believes he/she has a ground for an appeal should refer to Policy 72 - Student Appeals.

The Writing and Communication Centre

The Writing and Communication Centre works with students as they develop their ideas, draft, and revise. Writing and Communication Specialists offer one-on-one support in planning assignments, synthesizing and citing research, organizing papers and reports, designing presentations and e-portfolios, and revising for clarity and coherence.

You can make multiple appointments throughout the term, or drop in at the Library for quick questions or feedback. To book a 50-minute appointment and to see drop-in hours, visit https://uwaterloo.ca/writing-and-communication-centre/. Group appointments for team-based projects, presentations, and papers are also available.

Please note that communication specialists guide you to see your work as readers would. They can teach you revising skills and strategies, but will not change or correct your work for you. Please bring hard copies of your assignment instructions and any notes or drafts to your appointment.