 LITR 4632: Literature of the Future |
 Final Exam Assignment 2011 |
Final exam samples 2009
|
Relative weight: 40-50% of final grade
Format: In-class or email; open-book and open-notebook
Date: Thursday, 7 July, during or around regular class schedule.
Essay lengths: Better essays are usually longer, more substantial, more developed, and therefore longer--usually 6-10 paragraphs, depending on paragraph length, but acceptable essays often run 4-7 paragraphs.
Time:
-
In-class students begin at 9am, turn exam in by 11:59.
-
Email students take the final in any time period(s) after class on Tuesday 5 July. Deadline is 2pm Friday, 8 July.
Special requirements:
-
Refer to at least one previous final exam from a previous class on the course webpage.
-
Title both essays.
Special Advice: Don't hurry to email exam. When finished, take a break, then return and improve.
If an idea occurs, develop it. Don't let "rules" make you think something is dumb, prohibited, or to be punished. If you thought of it, there's a reason, so think it through and apply to examples. Ultimately the only judgment is how well you explain and extend it.
Need more content? Try examples; comment and connect.
Since the course has more material before the midterm, don't
hesitate to revive pre-midterm texts + discussions--only connect to final themes.
Content / Assignment:
Essay 1
Referring to 4 (or more) texts mostly since the midterm, organize a discussion of 1 or more of objective 2's “visions or scenarios of the future.”
Obj. 2—Visions / Scenarios of the Future
2. To identify, describe, and criticize typical visions or scenarios of the future (seen from 2011).
a. high tech; virtual reality—slick, cool, unreal, easy with power (+ cyberpunk style)
b. low tech; actual reality—rough, intimate, messy, hungry, warm, real
c. utopia / dystopia / ecotopia—perfectly planned worlds / dysfunctional world / + ecology
d. off-planet / alien contact—exploring and being explored
Possible prompts:
What did you know or sense of these scenarios before? Refer to previous readings, films, or other media.
What did you learn about how these scenarios are presented? What appeals to readers? What downsides or repulsions?
What kind of future is modeled?
Hope or fear? On what basis?
Essay 2
Extend or continue Essay 2 from your midterm, reviewing and rethinking what you wrote then and applying your theme to 2 or more texts since the midterm.
You may continue to refer to and analyze pre-midterm texts, especially if you have additional material; otherwise review what you accomplished in the midterm. Make connections between pre-midterm and post-midterm texts--e.g., comparisons and contrasts, similarities and differences.
If you feel that your midterm Essay 2 topic no longer works for you, review your situation and transition to a fresh or related topic. You can refer to texts throughout the summer session.
Midterm assignment for Essay 2:
Essay 2
(1 hour):
Isolate a personal / professional topic in our course or readings (to be
extended in
final exam)
Connect personal or professional reactions to course contents, 1+ course
objectives, and 2-3 texts.
("personal" = what you've
learned or thought before + personal future;
"professional" = application to student career,
teaching career, or other professional plans)
Question:
What element(s) of our course intrigue you or matter most? Why? What issue(s)
seem important and worth reading and discussing? What do you learn about your
interests?
Your emphasis may be literary, cultural/social, or both, but use examples from
texts to illustrate and develop insights.
Overlap with Essay 1 is possible. Be brief; refer instead of repeat.
Optional prompts:
What difficulties or cautions naturally attend comprehension and expression
regarding the future?
What difference do such stories make? Especially considering how long we've been
telling them? Do all of us manage alternative futures?
Connect examples from texts to contemporary-future scene.
Possibly connect your theme to
Literature of Ideas
Don't feel pressure to conform to views of instructor, who may learn more from difference. The point of the essay is to show yourself learning.
Required textual references: Across the exam you must refer to at least 7 texts overall, and at least four stories since the midterm (see Essay 1). References to texts before the midterm are encouraged, but your choices of contents may dictate otherwise.
Welcome to refer to texts in abbreviated form, e. g. "The Logical Legend of Heliopause and Cyberfiddle" > "Cyberfiddle."
No page references necessary unless you're citing something very surprising or obscure.
You
are welcome to refer briefly to outside readings, but not required.
Texts since midterm
"Johnny Mnemonic," (BC 1-22); "Burning Chrome," (BC 168-191); "The Logical Legend of Heliopause and Cyberfiddle" (VN 159-180)
"The Onion and I," (VN 8-21)."Drapes and Folds," (VN 126-139)."Speech Sounds"(VN 91-108).
K. S. Robinson, “Introduction” to Future Primitive. "Chocco," (FP 189-214); "House of Bones," (FP 85-110)
"Men on the Moon" (VN 238-247); "Hinterlands" (BC 58-79).
"They're Made out of Meat," (VN 69-72)."The Poplar Street Study" (VN 140-148); "The Belonging Kind" (BC 43-57).
Texts before midterm
Genesis and Revelation; Parable of the Sower; Time Machine; "Stone Lives"; "Bears Discover Fire"; "Somebody up there Likes Me"; "Garden of Forking Paths"; "Gernsback Continuum"; "Mozart in Mirrorshades"; "Better Be Ready 'bout Half Past Eight"
Email issues? In a class this size, a problem or two with email is normal. I'm used to dealing with such problems, so don't panic. Just keep trying and communicating and we'll work things out.
Email: email a copy of your answers to instructor at whitec@uhcl.edu.
-
The mistake students are most likely to make is to send it to “white” rather than “whitec”; if you send it to “white,” it goes to another teacher.
-
Attach appropriate word processing file(s) to an email for whitec@uhcl.edu.
-
Copy the contents of your word processing file, then paste them into an email message to me at whitec@uhcl.edu
Prep time and writing time: Spend only about 3 hours writing the exam you will submit, but spend as much time preparing as you like (or can find). Preparations could include the usual review of notes and texts, but you are also permitted to outline and practice drafting. Outlines and previous drafts count as notes, which you may consult as you write your midterm for submission.
Spacing: No need to double-space, but OK if you do. I convert all electronic submissions to single-space for reading onscreen.
Unity and transitions are essential. The best exams connect parts to form larger ideas. Pause between paragraphs to review what you've written or to preview what comes next. Summarize. Explain. Explore.
Combine your language with the language of the course, which is expressed most directly in the course objectives but also in class discussions and lectures.
Audience: Write so that someone in our class could recognize your terms and explanations and enjoy your personal contributions or styles. The instructor has to be kept in sight--connect with shared terms and texts, and "write up" in terms of organization and ambition of thought.
