This course dives into the world of speculative fiction, an umbrella term (that is sometimes contested) for a grouping of genres that includes science fiction, fantasy, and dystopic fiction. We will think about how fiction invites possibilities for imagining new worlds—both inviting and otherwise—and how literature has been a space to grapple with the ethical issues linked to technology, human and environmental relationships, life and death, racism, identity, and other topics. We will pay particular attention to the genre cues of speculative fiction, and together we will both define and negotiate the expectations for fiction that speculates on what is possible in our world and outside of it.

• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818 edition)
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
• Kindred by Octavia Butler
• Watchmen by Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, and John Higgins
• Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
• All other readings will be posted to Canvas.

1. Critical Thinking: Students demonstrate disciplined processes of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.

   Students demonstrate the ability to apply a range of critical theories and/or perspectives through close reading and analysis.

2. Communication: Students develop and express ideas and will be able to do so in a variety of ways, namely in writing, by speaking, visually, kinesthetically, through design or aurally.

   Students demonstrate the ability to articulate interpretations and critical positions through academic essays, presentations, and in-class discussions.

3. Information Literacy: Students identify, locate, evaluate, attribute and share information effectively and ethically.

   Students demonstrate the ability to conduct scholarly research.

4. Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural World: Students demonstrate knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural world through study in the fine arts, humanities, social and behavioral sciences, life and physical sciences.

   Students demonstrate the ability to identify, describe, and compare the features of the genre of speculative fiction across different historical periods and cultures.

Assignments and Grade Breakdown

• Participation and Attendance: 10%
• Group Presentation: 15%
• Genre Analysis Paper: 15%
• Commonplace Book Assignment: 5%
• In-class Exam: 20%
• Abstract + Annotated Bibliography: 10%
• Final Research Paper: 25%

Participation and Attendance: 10%

This grade will be determined by your regular attendance and participation in our class meetings. Your grade will be lowered if you are regularly late, distracted (on your phone, sleeping, etc.), or unprepared for class discussion. Please be sure to come to our meetings prepared and having done the readings. Readings are due the day they are listed; for example, you will come to our meeting on 9/4 having read R.B. Gill’s “The Uses of Genre and the Classification of Speculative Fiction.”

Group Presentation: 15%

Once per semester starting in week 4, groups of three students will prepare a presentation on their chosen day’s reading. These presentations should be thirty minutes long (about half our class meeting time), and every member of the group needs to speak for an equal amount of time. We will discuss the requirements for these presentations; your presentation slides will be posted to Canvas after the presentation.

Genre Analysis Paper: 15%

This class is an upper-division exploration of a particular genre—in this case, speculative fiction and its subgenres. This shorter paper will thus ask you to explore how and why we understand fiction through the category of genre; a prompt will be provided.

Commonplace Book Assignment: 5%

Commonplace books are like the original Tumblr; they were popularly used in the Renaissance to scrapbook ideas, writings, and other things in one common area. For our commonplace book assignment, you’ll write one entry per week that pertains to this class. Each entry might be a passage from another book or story you’ve read and a statement about why it reminds you of our class, your thoughts on a relevant news story that relates to speculative fiction, a recap of something that happened to you that connects to our class themes, etc. Each entry should be about a paragraph long, and must be dated. I’ll check that you’ve completed your entries three times a semester.

In-class Exam: 20%

We will have an in-class exam on the readings and class material; this exam will include passage identifications and short response questions.

Abstract + Annotated Bibliography: 10%

In preparation for your final research paper, we will learn how to write two important genres for academic writing (and, frankly, non-academic as well!): the abstract, and the annotated bibliography. This assignment will help you scaffold your final paper and will teach you about collecting and organizing research, planning an abstract for a paper you haven’t written, and proposing a thoughtful and accessible research goal.

Final Research Paper: 25%

In this 8 page paper, you will complement and complicate a literary analysis paper by successfully bringing in outside research in the form of secondary criticism and/or further historical evidence. You will also be expected to incorporate a theoretical lens or approach to your essay. I will provide prompts for students who want more guidance, but you will be free to pursue your own topic once you’ve run it by me.

Week 1 – Introductions

W 9/2
Course Introduction and Welcome

F 9/4
Read: R.B. Gill “The Uses of Genre and the Classification of Speculative Fiction” (Essay on Canvas)

Week 2

M 9/7 – No Class Meeting

W 9/9
Read: Mary Shelley Frankenstein Preface, Letters, and Chapters 1-3

F 9/11
Read: Mary Shelley Frankenstein Chapters 4-7 and Volume 2

Week 3

M 9/14
Read: Mary Shelley Frankenstein Volume 3

W 9/16
Read: Edgar Allan Poe “The Tell-Tale Heart” (story on Canvas)

F 9/18
Read: Isaac Asimov “Reason” (story on Canvas)

Week 4 (Note: group presentations begin this week.)

M 9/21
Read: Philip K. Dick Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Chapters 1-3

W 9/23
Group 1 Presentation!
Read: Philip K. Dick Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Chapters 4-12

F 9/25
Read: Philip K. Dick Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Chapters 13-end

Week 5

M 9/28
Read: Octavia Butler Kindred Prologue, The River, and The Fire

W 9/30
Group 2 Presentation!
Read: Octavia Butler Kindred The Fall, The Fight, and The Storm

F 10/2
Read: Octavia Butler Kindred The Rope, and Epilogue

Week 6

M 10/5
Paper 1 In-class Workshop

W 10/7
Read: Nnedi Okorafor “Mother of Invention” (story on Canvas)

F 10/9
Read: Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons Watchmen Chapters 1-3
Paper 1 Due

Week 7

M 10/12
Group 3 Presentation!
Read: Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons Watchmen Chapters 4-9

W 10/14
Read: Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons Watchmen Chapters 10-12

F 10/16
Check in day

Week 8

M 10/19 – Fall Break – No Class

W 10/21
Read: Darcie Little Badger “Kelsey and the Burdened Breath” (story on Canvas)

F 10/23
Read: Margaret Atwood Oryx and Crake Chapters 1-2

Week 9

10/26
Group 4 Presentation!
Read: Margaret Atwood Oryx and Crake Chapters 3-7

10/28
Read: Margaret Atwood Oryx and Crake Chapters 8-11

10/30
Read: Margaret Atwood Oryx and Crake Chapters 12-15

Week 10

11/2
Read: Franz Kafka “The Metamorphosis” Part I (short story on Canvas)

11/4
Read: Franz Kafka “The Metamorphosis” Part II and III (short story on Canvas)

11/6
Read: Kazuo Ishiguro Klara and the Sun Part One

Week 11

M 11/9
Group 5 Presentation!
Read: Kazuo Ishiguro Klara and the Sun Part Two

W 11/11 – No Class

F 11/13 – No Class

Week 12

M 11/16
Read: Kazuo Ishiguro Klara and the Sun Part Three

W 11/18
Read: Kazuo Ishiguro Klara and the Sun Part Four

F 11/20
Read: Kazuo Ishiguro Klara and the Sun Part Five

Thanksgiving Break

Week 13

M 11/30
Exam review

W 12/2
In-class Exam

F 12/4
Read: Ted Chiang “Story of Your Life” (Short Story on Canvas)

Week 14

M 12/7
In-Class Screening of Arrival w/ activity and discussion
Abstract + Annotated Bibliography Due

W 12/9
In-Class Screening of Arrival w/ activity and discussion

F 12/11 – Last Day of Class
Final Paper Workshop

Final Paper Due on Canvas December 14

I offer extensions without any grade penalty, but an extension request must be sent to me by email or Canvas message before the assignment is due. Work that is submitted late (with no extension request) will lose ten points per day that it is late.

Your success and the success of this course depend on your active participation; therefore, your regular attendance is required. Be aware that a student whose absences are excessive may run the risk of receiving a lower grade or a failing grade, regardless of their performance in the class. You are allowed two unpenalized absences from class; every absence after that drops your total class grade by 5 points. Missing more than five classes puts you at risk for failing the class. If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to get the class notes from a classmate.

Please note: Zoom accommodations related to Covid restrictions for face-to-face classes have ended. There will be no live streaming or recording of class sessions.

This grade will be determined by your regular attendance and participation in our class meetings. Your grade will be lowered if you are regularly late, distracted (on your phone, sleeping, etc.), or unprepared for class discussion. Please be sure to come to our meetings prepared and having done the readings. Readings are due the day they are listed; for example, you will come to our meeting on 9/4 having read R.B. Gill’s “The Uses of Genre and the Classification of Speculative Fiction.”