LITR 4368 Literature of the Future |
 Midterm Assignment 2016 |
 |
This webpage constitutes this semester's midterm assignment, to be updated until Tuesday 8 March, when paper copies will be distributed.
Official date: Tuesday, 22 March (week after spring break).
Email submission window: from after class on Tuesday, 8 March and by Wednesay, 23 March, 11:59pm. (whiteC@uhcl.edu)
Attendance not required on 22 March.
Relative weight:
40-50% of final grade
Grading evaluation (more at end):
Quality of writing: surface quality, readability, thematic
unity.
Content & evidence of learning: knowledge and development of course
objectives through
citation of texts and use of terms, including use of
instructional web links. Students should use their own
insights and maximize their interests, but demonstration of learning counts most. Beware criticism: "You
could have written this without taking the course."
Content: 2 essays continued from your pre-midterm submission
Essay 1: Course Content Essay on
Narratives of the Future
concluded (5-8
paragraphs): Compare & evaluate
3 narratives of the future
Essay 2: Research & Reading Essay begins (4-7
paragraphs midterm total): Referring to course readings and outside sources, introduce and
explain your learning on your selected personal / professional research topic
(to be
researched and extended for final exam)
Special Requirements / Instructions:
Both essays must have
titles.
Required textual references:
Somewhere in your exam you must refer to Revelation,
Parable,
and Time Machine +
3-4 stories .
You should refer to nearly all our texts at
some point in your midterm, but esp. Revelation, Parable of the Sower,
and The Time Machine.
Welcome to
refer briefly to future-vision presentations
& outside readings
but not required. Keep returning to course texts for examples.
You may
refer to course texts in
abbreviated form, e. g.
Parable,
“Garden,” “Gernsback.”
Don't copy out long quotations. Quote briefly and selectively, and analyze
quotes.
Overlap between essays is possible, but be efficient.
Demonstrate that you've reviewed our course's
instructional webpages on essential and associated terms by using their
terrms and paraphrasing their information. Best exams in past semesters showed
such knowledge,
while struggling exams used course terms in brief, superficial ways or barely at
all.
Email
your answers to instructor at
whiteC@uhcl.edu.
· Most common
email mistake:
students
send to
“white” rather than “whiteC”
·
Attach appropriate word processing file(s) to an email for
whiteC@uhcl.edu.
(Microsoft Word works, Microsoft Works doesn't)
· Copy
and paste contents of your word processing file into an email message to
whiteC@uhcl.edu
Email acknowledgement of receipt:
Instructor usually acknowledges receipt of your midterm within a few hours
(unless you send it at an odd time).
Email problems?
A problem or two with email is normal in a class this size. Don't panic—communicate.
We'll
work things out.
Spacing:
No need to double-space, but OK if you do. All electronic submissions are
converted to single-space for reading onscreen.
Return of grades, etc.: Late in week of 28 March-1 April, check your email for midterm note and grade from instructor.
|
Midterm Content Details—Two Assigned Topics > |
Essay 1: Course Content Essay on
Narratives of the Future
concludes (5-8
paragraphs): Compare & evaluate
3 narratives of the future
Describe and evaluate the
three primary narratives for the future
(Objective 1). How do these three narratives differ, and
where or how do they overlap or combine?
Refer frequently to texts, terms, and objectives.
What
signs, terms, symbols,
metaphors, sequences of events,
and values distinguish one narrative of the future from another? How may one
narrative turn into the other? Where or how do these narratives overlap or conflict?
What literary and cultural attractions or appeals do these narratives make to
different audiences?
Parable
of the Sower, & Time
Machine are indispensable. You will lose credit if you don't make enough
references to these texts to show you read and remember them.
References to Future-Vision presentations
welcome but not required.
Pre-midterm required reference to
at least one midterm
answer
from a previous class on
course webpage's
Model Assignments at some point in
Essay 1.
Revise and improve what you wrote for
Add
new paragraphs dealing with more texts to midterm.
Coordinate or unify new paragraphs with earlier pre-midterm paragraphs by
reinforcing continuing themes or lines of thought, or by revising earlier
paragraphs to anticipate changes.
Essay 1 will not be continued on final exam, so
conclude by summarizing visions and learning regarding
three future narratives.
Essay 2: Research & Reading Essay begins (4-7
paragraphs midterm total): Referring to course readings and outside sources, introduce and
explain your learning on your selected personal / professional research topic
(to be
researched and extended for final exam)
"personal" = what
you've learned or thought before + personal future
"professional" = application to student career,
teaching career, or other professional plans
"collective"
= application to our common future, how we work and learn together (or not)
If you're still having trouble with your topic, see suggestions in pre-midterm assignment. Your topic may shift or evolve naturally in relation to your research and analysis, but if your topic shifts drastically, at least acknowledge and explain the change.
For the
midterm, you must refer to at least two of our course texts and at least
two outside sources with helpful information about your research topic.
For the
final exam, you will revise and extend the draft you wrote for
your midterm, adding at least two additional course texts and at least two
additional outside sources.
More on course texts: Connect your topic or your interest in it to two or more of the texts we've read together in class. (For the final exam, you're expected to connect to two additional course texts since the midterm.) If your topic is so exotic that connections aren't easy, at least make the effort to indicate which of our shared readings come closest to connect.
"Outside sources" may include some combination of
primary, secondary, or background
sources from our course website, the internet, library research, and / or
personal reading. The prestige and quality of these sources may vary widely,
with varying effects on the quality of your essay, but a lot depends on how well
you identify and integrate the ideas that catch your interest.
Primary sources might include fiction, films, video games, TV
series, documentaries
Secondary sources might include a course term-page (e.g.
science fiction,
millennialism) and / or a previous Essay 2 written for the 2011,
2013, or 2015 Model Assignments. Other
impressive possibilities include scholarly articles and books accessed through UHCL's Neumann
Library have the most prestige and bring the most credit. Film or video
documentaries on your subject count.
Background sources might include
interviews with teachers or other knowledgeable
acquaintances; encyclopedias, and companions to literature that provide basic
generic, biographical, or historical information. Background sources
on the Web start with
Wikipedia
or other more or less specialized
websites providing common knowledge or basic information on varied
topics. Documentation at such sites can lead you to more specialized sources.
(You don't have to do all three—just detailing options.)
Evaluation standards: Readability, competence levels, and interest.
Readability & surface competence: Your reader must be able to process what you're reporting. Some rough edges are acceptable, but chronic errors or elementary style limit quality.
Content quality: use of course resources (objectives, terms, lecture, discussion, instructional links, coverage of required texts.); comprehension of subject; demonstration of learning, quality of research.
+ interest & significance: Make your reader want to process your essays. Make the information meaningful. Make everything matter to our study of literature and culture.
Thematic organization: Unify materials along a line of thought that a reader can follow from start to finish.
