"Bloodchild"

'Would you really rather die than bear my young?': the construction of gender, race, and species in Octavia E. Butler's 'Bloodchild.' (Black Women's Culture Issue) By: Helford, Elyce Rae, African American Review, 10624783, , Vol. 28, Issue 2


Alien Bodies and a Queer Future: Sexual Revision in Octavia Butler's "Bloodchild" and James Tiptree, Jr.'s "With Delicate Mad Hands."

Ender's Game

Learn a bit about author Orson Scott Card here.

Final Project

As we've been discussing the popular genres, it has become apparent that film is the dominant mode with which many are familiar. To that end, let's develop a final project that is both creative and analytical.

Choosing one genre in which to work (detective, romance, horror, adventure, science fiction), write an original two-page (600 word) film screenplay treatment.

In addition, please attach a 600-900 word analysis (attach as “Introduction”) of the way in which you have used at least two of the conventions of that specific genre (the haunted or decaying house and the unnatural creature in horror fiction, for example) in your story and how they contribute to the construction of the story and its place in the genre as a whole, and describe how you have used at least two general story elements (plot, symbolism, setting, tone, character, for example) to contribute to the construction of the story as a whole. Clearly organize and support this part because . . .

You will be graded on your analysis of the genre-specific and short story elements that you demonstrate in the analysis of your story, not whether you have written a professional, publication-worthy creative work of art (it’s not a creative writing course, after all).

Specifics:
Google Doc

MLA format

Due: 12/9 -share with me, michael.youngs@apps.fmcc.edu

Enjoy!

Sci-Fi Readings

"The Mortal Immortal" 8
"The Star" 373

11/25
"Robot Nemesis" 544
"Robbie" 574

12/2
"The Sentinel" 745
"We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" 880
"The Last Flight of Dr. Ain" 915

12/4
"Ender's Game" 970
"Melancholy Elephants" 996

12/6
"Bloodchild" 1035

Sci-Fi

H.G. Wells

What is Science Fiction?

Science fiction is the search for definition of man and his status in the universe which will stand in our advanced but confused state of knowledge (science), and is characteristically cast in the Gothic or post-Gothic mould.—Brian W. Aldiss in Trillion Year Spree: the History of Science Fiction (London, 1986)

Modern science fiction is the only form of literature that consistently considers the nature of the changes that face us, the possibleconsequences, and the possible solutions...That branch of literature which is concerned with the impact of scientific advance upon human beings.—Isaac Asimov

Science fiction is really sociological studies of the future, things that the writer believes are going to happen by putting two and two together. —Ray Bradbury

We talk a lot about science fiction as extrapolation, but in fact most science fiction does not extrapolate seriously. Instead it takes a willful, often whimsical, leap into a world spun out of the fantasy of the author... In fact, one good working definition of science fiction may be the literature which, growing with science and technology, evaluates it and relates it meaningfully to the rest of human existence.—H. Bruce Franklin

A handy short definition of almost all science fiction might read: realistic speculation about possible future events, based solidly on adequate knowledge of the real world, past and present, and on a thorough understanding of the nature and significance of the scientific method. To make this definition cover all science fiction (instead of "almost all") it is necessary only to strike out the word "future." —Robert A. Heinlein in Science Fiction: its nature, faults and virtues, in The Science Fiction Novel, Advent, Chicago:1969

Science Fiction is speculative fiction in which the author takes as his first postulate the real world as we know it, including all established facts and natural laws. The result can be extremely fantastic in content, but it is not fantasy; it is legitimate--and often very tightly reasoned--speculation about the possibilities of the real world. This category excludes rocket ships that make U-turns, serpent men of Neptune that lust after human maidens, and stories by authors who flunked their Boy Scout merit badge tests in descriptive astronomy.—Robert A. Heinlein in Ray Guns And Spaceships, in Expanded Universe, Ace, 1981

Fantasy is the impossible made probable. Science Fiction is the improbable made possible.— Rod Serling

Psycho

Click here for an interesting overview and discussion questions.

The Damned Thing

Literary Analysis of "The Damned Thing"

Ambrose Bierce from jed51459

Origins of the Vampire

Click here to watch the documentary:

http://ep.fmcc.edu:8081/login?url=http://digital.films.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=1824&xtid=45472

Digital Explication

Our next project will consist of a presentation of sorts. Picking one short story from the sign-up sheet, you will present an "unfolding" of the story. These reports must contain . . .

• The title of the story and the date of its original publication
• The author’s name and dates
• The genre of the work and leading traits inherent (conventional or invented)
• The name (if any) of the main character, together with a description of that character’s dominant traits or features
• Other characters, dealt with the same way
• A short description of the setting
• The narrator of the story (POV)
• A concise summary of the main events, given in chronological order
• A description of the general tone of the story (the author’s feelings toward the central character or main events)
• Some comments on the style in which the story is written (quotes are helpful)
• Whatever kinds of irony the work contains and what they contribute to it
• The work’s main theme in a sentence
• Leading symbols (if any), with an educated guess at what each symbol suggests
• Finally, an evaluation of the reading as a whole, concisely setting forth your opinion of it

The final presentation should be delivered in the form of a narrated slideshow saved and shared as a four-to-seven minute video. It doesn't matter which software you use for this project as long as the final video is sharable as a video. I've had students use PowerPoint, iMovie, MovieMaker, and WeVideo for projects like this before, but feel free to use anything as long as it is, in the end, viewable and listenable as a video.

Due dates:

• Story Table (storyboard - the exact words you will narrate along with a brief description of the images that coincide with your narration) -shared with your peer group and me in Google Drive by 11/13 -group instructions and arrangement will follow
• Final five-to-seven minute video -uploaded to Google Drive and shared with me, michael.youngs@apps.fmcc.edu by 11/20

Finally, here are some writing and performing ideas for your presentation development. 

Horror Readings

10/21
"The Old Nurse's Story" p.41
"The Damned Thing" p.80

10/23
"Dracula's Guest" p. 86
"The Monkey's Paw" p.94

10/28
"Catnip" p.125
"The Lottery" p.134
"To Serve Man" p.140

10/30
"Duel" p.158
"The Raft" p.174

Be afraid . . .

Why Do Some Brains Enjoy Fear?

Why Our Brains Love Horror Movies

Horror Is Good for You

Gothic Horror, "The Fall of the House of Usher" and the Sublime

Gothic Horror

The Sublime and Poe's "Apocalyptic Sublime"

Psychological Literary Criticism

Click here to learn about it.

"Young Goodman Brown"

1. What do you think Hawthorne’s purpose was for writing this story?
2. Hawthorne states that Brown’s wife is “aptly named,” Faith (i.e., her name fits her personality).  After reading the story, do you agree?  Does Brown have true “faith” in her? 
3. What do you think the pink ribbons are meant to signify?
4. Who do you think the old man Brown meets on the road really is?  Look closely at the words used to describe him.  What do they signify?
5. What does the staff represent?  Do you think the staff leads Brown onward in his journey or does Brown’s own conscience/mind lead him forward?
6. If Brown had not ventured into the forest, how would his life have been different? If Brown had stayed home with Faith, do you think he would have gone on trusting her and the other townspeople?
7. Was everything Brown witnessed a figment of his own imagination, something conjured by evil, or a dream?  Support your answer with passages from the text.
8. What do you think Hawthorne was saying to his contemporary audience?

Stephen King's "Ten Bears"

from "The Horror Market Writer and the Ten Bears" Stephen King, 1973

Freudian iceberg

Readings

For next time, please read the following:

"The Fall of the House of Usher" p.16
"Young Goodman Brown" p.33
"The Tell-Tale Heart" click

Presentations next week!

Please be prepared to give your group presentation on Tuesday. Also, please share your presentation slides and/or notes with me, michael.youngs@apps.fmcc.edu, in your Google Drive.

Click here for some expectations I have about effective oral presentations. In addition, take a look at the links list and the rubric by which you'll be graded. Have fun!

Raymond Chandler

Doyle and Christie

Detective fiction tidbits

The Power of Concentration

Alternate ending to "The Witness for the Prosecution"

Explication

• The title of the story and the date of its original publication
• The author’s name and dates
• The name (if any) of the main character, together with a description of that character’s dominant traits or features
• Other characters, dealt with the same way
• A short description of the setting
• The narrator of the story (POV)
• A concise summary of the main events, given in chronological order
• A description of the general tone of the story (the author’s feelings toward the central character or main events)
• Some comments on the style in which the story is written (quotes are helpful)
• Genre conventions/inventions that we haven't seen before
• The work’s main theme in a sentence
• Leading symbols (if any), with an educated guess at what each symbol suggests
• Finally, an evaluation of the reading as a whole, concisely setting forth your opinion of it

Group Presentation

One of our major tasks this semester is to uncover the unique properties and patterns inherent in each popular genre. In a twenty-minute oral presentation,  each group will identify the history, traditions, traits, major players, and current state-of-affairs in a given mode. The following genres will be covered (I'll tackle Detective Fiction):

Horror
Science Fiction
Fantasy
Adventure
Romance

Due: 9/30-10/2

Edgar Allan Poe

Reading

Please read "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" p. 54 for class on Tuesday and "Silver Blaze" p. 81 for Thursday. A tentative reading list follows:

9/16
“The Witness for the Prosecution” p.101
“The Haunted Policeman” p. 118

9/18 “Cold Turkey” p. 185
“The Gutting of Couffignal” p. 229

9/23“Trouble is my Business” p. 253
“The Parker Shotgun” p. 294

9/25“The Hunt Ball” p. 364
“Chee’s Witch” p. 412

The Concept of Formula in the Study of Popular Literature

Defining Popular Culture