May Term 2025 Schedule

Monday: 

• Read and respond in journal to   Butler, O. "Speech Sounds" & LeGuin, U. "Island of The Immortals" at Lightspeed Magazine. 

• NOTE: I want ALL of you to share a short (sentence or two) answer to this thematic question at the start of class Tuesday: How, in each story, does meeting  an "Other" who might be feared, make the protagonist feel empathy/compassion? 

• There's another word for your literary vocabulary. A protagonist is a work's main character whereas antagonists are characters that hinder or try to harm the protagonist.

• Ask questions in the margins for at least one of your classmate's journals. Aim for someone you've not read before.

Tuesday:  Discuss Butler & LeGuin, and consider further ideas for upcoming short analysis essay. Slides from the class are here.

Wednesday: 

• Read Liu, K. "The Algorithms For Love" (in Hartwell and Hayden)  & Bear, E. "Tideline" (in Hartwell and Hayden)  and continue journaling!  

• Come up with a sentence or two to bring to class for close reading: Bear and Butler didn't compare notes, but there may be meanings associated with the names Obsidian (assists the protagonist) and Chalcedony (the protagonist).  Both are minerals, but why would that particular mineral matter for these two characters' roles in the story?

Thursday: We will spend some time discussing your preliminary answers to the question for the analysis essay, "What concept about aliens or monsters have you encountered that you did not consider before taking the course?" Your thoughts are here. We will discuss Liu and Bear. Slides from the class are here. Summary of discussion (via Zoom AI is here).

Friday: 

• Short Analysis Essay drafts due in this folder , our Draft Exchange (aim for at least 1000 words in your draft). Word or Google Docs only.  Due by Friday Midnight if you want any feedback from me.

• Read and use rubric I provide to assess at least one classmate's work. Run your own by an AI of your choosing.

• Be sure your journal is up to date by Sunday, Midnight. I will be grading it and giving first participation grades by next Tuesday. Read and critique at least one of your classmate's Analysis Essay drafts.

Monday: Read Wells and make notes in journal. Have your answers ready for the questions will begin with for Tuesday. Here's how to do it.

Tuesday: Wells, H.G. The War of the Worlds. Book 1. We'll work in groups on the three questions listed for Monday's work. We'll also look in depth at how the narrator meets the ill-fated Curate.

Wednesday:  Final Drafts of Short Analysis Essay due to me by e-mail by 3:45pm.  For tomorrow's class, be ready to answer two questions with your classmates: 

• The narrator tells the Curate, “Be a man!” said I. “You are scared out of your wits! What good is religion if it collapses under calamity? Think of what earthquakes and floods, wars and volcanoes, have done before to men! Did you think God had exempted Weybridge? He is not an insurance agent.” Our narrator survives the war a changed man. As he makes his way to London and back home again, how has he applied, or failed, to apply the words he says to the Curate? ID specific instances to discuss. 

• And where is he, morally and psychologically, at the end of this novel? How does that influence how he views "dead London" and the ideas of the Artilleryman? ID specific instances to discuss. 

Thursday:  Wells, H.G. The War of the Worlds. Book 2. Slides for class are here. AI-generated summary is here.

Friday: Read CAREFULLY the steps for the Podcast assignment. Set up free account at ElevenLabs AI site. I'll have step-by-step instructions for making a simple podcast using a short narrative you make. 

Wednesday: Read Levine, D. "Tk, tk, tk" & Creasey, I. "Erosion" (in Hartwell and Hayden) .  Orienting question for tomorrow: Levine's story has the protagonist change his psychology and Creasey's has a protagonist change physically. What themes from this semester do these resemble?