Science Fiction, Fall 2019/Lesson 9

From Gerald R. Lucas
Syllabus R1 R2 R3 L1 L2 L3 L4 L5 L6 L7 L8 L9 L10  
86228 humn 4460.01 Online Fall, 2019

Liu & Black Mirror
October 21–25

San-junipero.jpg

This week, the singularity: Ken Liu’s “Staying Behind” and the Black Mirror episode “San Junipero.” What does it mean to be human in the face of increasingly ubiquitous and immersive technologies? Will we ultimately choose to leave our humanity behind or take it with us into the network?

Wikipedia Work

Complete all reading and training on the WikiEdu dashboard under Week 11.

Read and View

Read and watch the two texts, taking notes as you do. Note character names, dominant themes, motifs, symbols, and important passages. Where do these important aspects of the text appear? After a first read, try to find at least one secondary text[1] that addresses these texts on the Internet or in Galileo.[2] You might also check YouTube. Read or watch the criticism and take notes.

Journal

There are no assigned posts this week, but you may write on any aspect of the texts as extra credit to bring up a missing or inadequate early post grade. Write a maximum of two posts for extra credit.

Reply

Reply to at least two different colleagues’ posts.

Due Date

Please have all of the above completed by Sunday, October 27, 2019. I will evaluate your this lesson the following day, email everyone a progress report, and post audio feedback at the top of the next lesson if necessary.

Notes

  1. It would be helpful to begin with their respective Wikipedia entries that I linked above, but these should not be cited as sources.
  2. Obviously, the latter is better.
  3. External sources are always footnoted as references; Wikipedia entries are always just linked in the text. Never cite a Wikipedia article like you would an external source.