Catalog Description

Advisory: Eligibility for ENGL 1A
Hours: 54 lecture
Description: Major themes and types of science fiction literature, its primary artists, and its literary and historical relevance. (CSU, UC)

Course Student Learning Outcomes

  • CSLO #1: Compare the major writers and contributors of science fiction as well as the history and context they were writing in.
  • CSLO #2: Analyze the major themes in science fiction and compare the themes across works in science fiction.
  • CSLO #3: Correlate the relationships between the science and technology in the works of science fiction with the science and technology in the real world.
  • CSLO #4: Differentiate science fiction from other genres of literature.

Effective Term

Fall 2019

Course Type

Credit - Degree-applicable

Contact Hours

54

Outside of Class Hours

108

Total Student Learning Hours

162

Course Objectives

Students will, through oral and written work:
1. Identify, compare and contrast the major and some of the minor writers of science fiction written in English.
2. Analyze and chart the major themes of science fiction as they are evidenced in the assigned texts.
3. Identify and compare the major forms of science fiction.
4. Differentiate science fiction from other, related genres.
5. Describe and discuss the relationship between historical circumstance, scientific and technological innovations and the evolution of science fiction as a genre.
6. Communicate analyses, interpretations and critiques of single works or several works by the same author, or to several closely related texts, in class discussion and in required essays and exams.
7. Synthesize and generalize about themes and forms of science fiction across time, across thematic periods, and across works by various authors.

General Education Information

  • Approved College Associate Degree GE Applicability
    • AA/AS - Literature & Language
  • CSU GE Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU approval)
    • CSUGE - C2 Humanities
  • Cal-GETC Applicability (Recommended - Requires External Approval)
    • IGETC Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU/UC approval)
      • IGETC - 3B Humanities

    Articulation Information

    • CSU Transferable
    • UC Transferable

    Methods of Evaluation

    • Classroom Discussions
      • Example: The instructor and the students will facilitate whole class and small group discussions. For example, the students might discuss the concept of otherness in "Bloodlines."
    • Essay Examinations
      • Example: In a take home essay examination, the student will write on the following topic: Throughout the semester, we've discussed the validity of William Gibson's assertion that "science fiction is always about the time it was written." Using at least 8 texts we've read this semester, analyze the degree to which you agree or disagree with this assertion.
    • Projects
      • Example: The student will: Create an mini-anthology by choosing one story from each thematic section in your anthology. Your mini-anthology should be centered around one single unifying theme that can be tracked by the stories you picked. You don't need to create a book or print out the stories, buy you need to create a title for your anthology, a cover, a table of contents. You also need to write a general introduction for the anthology that tells the audience what the theme of the anthology is. Then you need to write introductions to each story you would include that not only puts the story into context of science fiction, but also justifies it as part of your anthology's theme. Include a 2 page process analysis that talks about the choices you made when creating this anthology.
    • Reports
      • Example: The student will give a group report in the following manner: For your reading group assignment, you need to read and become an expert on the novel your group signed up for. That means you need to read it and then research it. Then you will write a collaborative essay about it and present it using visual aides.

    Repeatable

    No

    Methods of Instruction

    • Lecture/Discussion
    • Distance Learning

    Lecture:

    1. Critical Thinking:
    2. The instructor will lecture and use multimedia. A. For example, the instructor may ask the students to compare "In the Country of the Kind" with alternative forms of punishment and incarceration, listening to/reading a Gene Demby NPR interview with Marc Lamont Hill about the anti-incarceration movement.
    3. The instructor will facilitate discussion where students will be expected to articulate course concepts and theories. A. For example, after reading some stories about artificial intelligence, the students, in small groups, discuss the connections made between Baudrillard's "Simulation and Simularcra," AI, and their own daily lives interacting with technology and social media.
    4. The instructor will facilitate discussion of short stories and novels to allow students to apply theoretical concepts to the texts. A. One discussion might be the use of the Internet in Snow Crash and how it acts as a "future myth" for today's Internet use. The students might compare the problems of the Snow Crash Internet with the problems of the current Internet. They also might discuss the dichotomy of the characters' online/offline persona. Readings:
    5. Instructors will assign readings that will be from an assigned anthology and from assigned novels. Texts will be read as homework and discussed extensively and used as a base for various activities in class. Writing:
    6. Instructors will assign and evaluate response papers and/or essays, midterms, and a final. A. For example, the instructor may assign an essay that has students identify the elements of Science Fiction literature (e.g. use of technology, familiar settings and character archetypes) in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

    Distance Learning

    1. Instructors will assign discussion board posts that ask the students questions about assigned readings. A. For example, the instructor ask the students, in a discussion board post, to describe how "The Persistence of Vision" fits into the science fiction genre.
    2. Instructors will task the students with making a Wikis (or Pages) discussing the themes of the stories in science fiction. A. For example, the instructor will ask the students to compare how time travel is treated in "All You Zombies," "When We Went to See the End of the World," and "Story of Your Life."

    Typical Out of Class Assignments

    Reading Assignments

    1. In the assigned anthology of science fiction literature, read several examples of alien encounter themed science fiction, including Stanley Weinbaum's "A Martian Odyssey," Ray Bradbury's "Mars is Heaven," and Octavia Butler's "Bloodchild" and be prepared to discuss the differences and similarities. 2. Read Alan Moore's V For Vendetta. Be prepared to discuss specific panels in class. 3. Sign up for a reading group for one of the following novels: Dune, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Ready Player One, Snow Crash, Ancillary Justice, A Handmaid's Tale, Perdido Street Station.

    Writing, Problem Solving or Performance

    1. Write an 8-10 page essay in which you analyze the idea of "other" in two of the stories you've read this semester. How does the "other" operate in each story? What symbols are used to bring meaning to the theme of "other?" 2. Re-imagine one of the stories as a short graphic novel, and draw/write the graphic novel, including a cover. It doesn't have to be in color, but the art needs to be appropriate to the story and the writing. Think of what a comic is, and how you might construct it. You might read a few chapters from Understanding Comics to help you with this. In addition to the comic, you need to write a short 3-4 page essay that explains the specific choices you made to construct the graphic novel. This essay should also justify why or why not the story is better served as a graphic novel. Finally, discuss anything new you learned about the story as you created the novel.

    Other (Term projects, research papers, portfolios, etc.)

    1. Create an mini-anthology by choosing one story from each thematic section in your anthology. Your mini-anthology should be centered around one single unifying theme that can be tracked by the stories you picked. You don't need to create a book or print out the stories. You need to create a title for your anthology, a cover, a table of contents. You also need to write a general introduction for the anthology that tells the audience what the theme of the anthology is. Then you need to write introductions to each story you would include that not only puts the story into context of science fiction, but also justifies it as part of your anthology's theme. Include a 2 page process analysis that talks about the choices you made when creating this anthology.

    Required Materials

    • Science Fiction, Compact Edition
      • Author: Masri, Heather
      • Publisher: Bedford
      • Publication Date: 2015
      • Text Edition: 1st
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • V For Vendetta
      • Author: Moore, Alan
      • Publisher: Vertigo
      • Publication Date: 1989
      • Text Edition:
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
      • Author: Dick, Philip K.
      • Publisher: Del Rey
      • Publication Date: 1996
      • Text Edition:
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • Snow Crash
      • Author: Stephenson, Neal
      • Publisher: Bantam Books
      • Publication Date: 1992
      • Text Edition:
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • Ancillary Justice
      • Author: Leckie, Ann
      • Publisher: Kodansha
      • Publication Date: 2013
      • Text Edition:
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:

    Other materials and-or supplies required of students that contribute to the cost of the course.