ENG 332: SPECULATIVE FICTION & POETRY (Studies in Popular Genres) (sec. 1, class #16280, meeting times TTH 3:30-4:45, Keezell 310)

Description: In this course, we will consider the nature of speculative genres both broadly (prose vs. poetry) and more narrowly (science fiction vs. fantasy, subgenres of science fiction, etc), while exploring major themes, tropes, and motifs of speculative literature. At the end of this course, students should have a more nuanced and enriched understanding of speculative genres, their history, and their evolving role in contemporary literary and mainstream culture. Students should also have gained a clear and mature understanding of the particular literary works examined in the course and of certain related details about authorship, contexts, and genre, and they should be able to use appropriate terminology to discuss structural and thematic elements of these texts. They should also be able to discuss philosophical, theoretical, and cultural ideas included in our examination of these texts. Students should also have developed a more sophisticated perception of the relationship between prose and poetry, especially in speculative genres. Finally, students should be able to express their understanding of the course material in their own writing sufficiently well to extend their understanding and reasoning abilities to new literary works and/or to their own creative efforts.

Required Texts (physical copies, must be brought to class when being discussed):
Card, Orson Scott, ed. Masterpieces: The Best Science Fiction of the Century. Ace Books, 2001.
Dutcher, Roger and Mike Allen, eds. The Alchemy of Stars: Rhysling Award Winners Showcase.Science Fiction Poetry Association, 2005.
McCarthy, Cormac. The Road. Vintage Books, 2006.
Additional literary works and secondary materials will be made available on CANVAS and/or distributed.

Work and Grading: Participation (10%), Questions and Initial Commentaries, and other assignments (15%), Revised Commentary submissions (30%), Papers/Projects 45%). I also reserve the right to use quizzes when/if I determine they are needed, which may modify percentages for paricipation and assignments. Attendance is generally crucial for keeping up with the class. If you miss a class, you are responsible for the material, for the commentaries/questions and any other assigment work due that day, and for checking for any assignments due the next class period. All work must be completed before the start of class and must be turned in on time and in class except with permission, but you may skip one "ungraded" assignment without affecting your assignment grade. Depending on their size, assignments will be announced at least one class period before they are due and will be posted as links at the bottom of this webpage no later than the evening of that same day. (Links are named and ordered by the date they are due.) Assignments, unless noted otherwise, are graded only on acceptable effort -- as full credit, half credit, or no credit. In other words, you won't be penalized for incorrect information, although you must (of course!) make an honest attempt at all parts an assignment to get full credit. The tentative dates for tests and exams are provided in the schedule below. Adjustments may be made to the course schedule to accomodate weather cancellations, other special circumstances, or class needs. Please read my course policies for additional details about grading and other issues. Note: As in all your courses, your work for this course is subject to the JMU Honor Code.

Daily Schedule: (Note: This is a tentative schedule of what will be discussed in each class period.) You should have readings done before the first class date on which they will be discussed and bring the readings with you to class. Watch for changes and, in particular, for secondary sources to be added to literature readings for particular days.

Look here for homework assignments:

Commentary Guidelines and Other Individually Dated Assignments:

• Due 1/10/19
• Due 1/15/19
• Due 1/17/19
• Due 1/22/19
• Due 1/24/19
• Due 1/29/19 -- choose your own initial commentary focus for either the story or the poem assigned for this date (plus a question, of course :) )
• Due 1/31/19
• 2/7/19 reminder: NO initial commentary for "Tomorrow is Waiting" is assigned before this class
• Due 2/12/19
• Due 2/14/19
• Due 2/19/19
• Due 2/21/19
• 2/26/19 commentary prompt in-class
• 2/28/19 commentary prompt in-class
• Due 3/12/19 -- you choose your own initial commentary focus for "Only Human", just be sure it's about a specific detail (plus a question, of course :) )
• Due 3/14/19 -- Again, you choose your own initial commentary focus for one of the two stories assigned, finding one very specific detail/observation to focus on.
• Due 3/19/19 -- Your choice again, based on some detail in just one of the poems for this date or, at most, a really specific, focused comparison of some aspect of two of them.
• Due 3/21/19 -- Reminder: no commentary needed, just 3 quotes (from 3 different poems)
• Due 3/25/19 -- Initial commentary of your choice again