Science
Fiction Assignment -- 8-point grade contribution, due Thursday,
July 31
Your submitted file name must be of the
form Smith-Jane-sci-fi.doc.
You are to read a classic science fiction novel or short story or
view a science fiction film. The purpose of this assignment is to
examine how technology is portrayed to the public through fiction.
Is it presented by the author as a good, evil or neutral force in
society? It is presented as being under human control or evolving
on its own? The technology discussed does not have to be imaginary
or futuristic - the book could have been written a century ago
about technology that now exists. In that case, it would be
interesting to discuss how the view of the author matches with
what actually happened with the technology.
Sample
list of Classic Science Fiction works for CSci 1030. You
are not limited to this list but deviations must be approved
by the professor before you do the work or write the report.
The work must have been released no later than 1975.
Why
1975?
- It's (probably) well before you were
born.
- Personal computers and other similar
technology -- iPods, cell phones, digital cameras, etc. --
didn't exist yet. (The first "home computers" emerged about
1979-1980)
- The Internet was then called the
Arpanet and was just emerging as an experimental defense
research network. There was no Web and e-mail was just an
early experiment among Arpanet users.
Books:
- George Orwell. 1984 (1949)
- Mary Shelley. Frankenstein (1818)
- H. G. Wells. The Time Machine (1895)
- Jules Verne. Paris in the Twentieth Century
(not discovered and published until 1998, but valid because it
was actually written in 1863)
- Isaac Asimov: any of his pre-1970
robot or foundation books or short stories
- Ray Bradbury: any of his pre-1970
robot or foundation books or short stories
- Robert Heinlein. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
(1966)
Films:
- Metropolis
(1928)
- Dr.
Strangelove (1964)
- Fantastic
Voyage (1966)
- Fahrenheit
451 (1966)
- 2001:
a Space Odyssey (1968)
- Sleeper
(1973)
- Soylent
Green (1973)
Assignment:
The assignment consists of two parts:
class discussion and a 1000-2000-word written report to be
delivered to your Blackboard assignment drop-off point.
Class
Discussion: Discuss the science fiction works you read
or viewed. There is one Blackboard forum for this, which everyone
should participate in. You are encouraged to add threads and
comment on others' threads.
- Briefly describe the science fiction
reading or movie that you are reporting on - do not go into
every detail about the plot, but focus on how technology is
viewed in the work.
- Characterize each work according to
the following scales:
Science Fiction
work:_____________________________________________
Type of technology portrayed in
work:_______________________________
Technology seen as:
good neutral evil
10 _________________________ 5 ___________________________ 0
Humans seen as:
good neutral evil
10 _________________________ 5 ___________________________ 0
Who / what is in control of what happens?:
humans shared technology
10 _________________________ 5 ___________________________ 0
Individual
Report: The format of the written report is as
follows:
- Briefly
summarize the story. Don’t give all of the plot details.
- List the issues that the story
addressed in the context of this course.
- Discuss the view of the author
regarding the particular technology used in the story - good,
evil, neutral, in control, etc.
- Discuss your reactions to that view
- do you agree or disagree with the author and why?
- Finally, explain why you think this
film or book has become a "classic". What has given it
"staying power"?