Week Eight Arrives

Well, the end of the term arrives, and so I congratulate all of you for your efforts and for your enthusiasm.

This week, you will have one Discussion Thread that will remain open until noon Saturday, May 6.

And I post here three videos; take the one-question quiz right away, a gift for your hard work. 

The final exam mirrors what you did on the Midterm Exam, and I posted some excellent responses for Part One and a couple very good essays from Part Two.

You can take the examination beginning Tuesday morning and must complete both parts by noon Saturday, May 6.


Again, thank you for a most excellent class for those six or seven who kept up with the work.

Welcome to the Week and Screening Space:

Week Eight Stories

Final Exam Part One Video

Quiz Eight Review

You do not need a video for review this week.  The final quiz of the term is a gift of thanks for your making this term so much fun and so interesting.  

This week's quiz has one question for which you need not study.  The answer to the question is "True."

Week Seven

We move quickly to the term's completion.

This week's short stories, as your assignment indicates, takes you into the area of Time Travel, one of the genre's central tropes.

You will find a Study Guide for Part Two of the examination, and I will discuss on the introduction to next week the first part of the examination.

No proctored exam!

The Assignment Folder for Week Five offers links with some excellent responses from the examination you can look over as you prepare for the Final Examination at the end of the term.

You have Essay Two due soon enough.

Look over the responses to Essay One to help you better organize the second effort.

At the conclusion of this posting, I list stories you need to know for Part One of the Final Examination.

You have three videos recorded last year this week instead of notes.

Video One discusses Screening Space:

Video Two discusses the four short stories assigned for reading:

Video Three offers a Quiz Review

TWELVE STORIES FOR PART ONE OF THE FINAL EXAMINATION:

1. "We Can Remember it For You Wholesale"
2. "Burning Chrome"
3. "Computer Friendly"
4. "When it Changed"
5. "Abominable"
6. "All You Zombies"
7. "Air Raid"
8. "Forever Yours, Anna"
9. "Invaders"
10. "There Will Come Soft Rains"
11. "Cage of Sand"
12. "Speech Sounds"

You will on the examination respond to five prompts, writing at least six or seven good sentences for each, a strong paragraph, in which you address significance over description and plot summary.

Week Six Arrives

Hello Everyone,

We begin the quick rush to the term's conclusion.

Do not worry about the dates on the videos:  You second essay is due , right before the rush to the term's conclusion.

Read the Assignment for Week Four carefully to ensure that you

get the information about Essay Two.

The Announcement for Week Six also offers an essay description.

I add two videos for this week. You can watch the videos on You Tube this time around; the video is available only through the link on the blog. The first video covers the short stories assigned for this week.



Week Six Readings Part Two:

Welcome to Week Six Video





Quiz Review for Week Six

Week Five Moves Along

As the Week Five Assignments indicate, you will all watch the excellent Ridley Scott film Blade Runner. And you can enjoy two other classic fixtures of SF Cinema, Stanley Kubrick's 2001 A Space Odyssey and Andrey Tarkovsky's Solaris, often called the Russian 2001.

Netflix has all the films, and I linked a place where you can watch a free version of Blade Runner.

You will also take a midterm examination discussed in both the assignment folder and on the Video Welcome to Week Five.

As usual, you will have two videos this week; the quiz will be available between this Wednesday morning and midnight Tuesday.

This reading also takes you into the Computers and Virtual Reality worlds of Phillip K. Dick, William Gibson, and Eileen Gunn. The section in the anthology also offers an excellent story by Pat Cadigan, "Pretty Boy Crossover."

Welcome to Week Five Video

Video Review for Quiz Five

Let Week Four Fun Begin

 Angel of the North

This week we enter the mid-point of the semester, and you have some excellent reading and watching once again, with war-related films from Dr. Strangelove to Starship Troopers.

 

Unfortunately, not all the films are available on demand--if you find links to view the films, share them with your colleagues..  On Tuesday evening at 5:00, I will show Testament and perhaps War Game (1954)  in Fine Arts 205.  Do take the time to read the short story "Testament" linked on Blackboard assignment page. .

This week, you have three excellent short stories to read and everyone will watch Dr. Strangelove.

And as usual, you will have two videos here for both the introduction to the week and the quiz.  

And as the assignment indicates, you also have a midterm examination coming up early next week; I will offer more details on the video for this week and next.

See the assignment page for the dates.

Review for Quiz #4

Week Three Begins

As Assignments for Week Three indicate, you will enjoy another week of reading and viewing. And as with last week, you will have some notes about the reading assignment for Screening Space and some further information about the assigned readings.


All of you will watch A Clockwork Orange on Netflix and either Ghost in the Shell or Alphaville. Or all three and more!

You will have an opportunity, too, to talk about other and related films you know--or that you watch this week.

This week, you will also have two videos here, one that introduces the week and another for the quiz.

Enjoy the reading, watching, and the writing.


Remember that you have an essay due in the near future.

I will show a film on campus Tuesday night. Watch your e-mail for details.

Welcome to Week Three Video

Quiz Three Video Review:

Welcome to Week Two

Week Two includes excellent viewing and reading--and you also have a writing assignment to consider. And this week's notes should provide a good foundation for the discussions on the two threads and provide some ideas for the upcoming essay due by 7 April.

You will have two videos this week. The first offers a short introduction to the week and the essay, and the second video will help you prepare for this week's quiz.

Remember to get to the discussion threads early and often. And you must take the quiz in the time allotted between Thursday evening and Sunday at midnight.

The video comes from a couple years ago when I first taught the class.  I will not be in LA and spend this week at a conference in Florida: the International Conference on the Fantastic and the Arts, ICFA. I have served as Treasurer for this conference on Speculative Fiction for many years.