Science
fiction is any idea that occurs in the head and doesn't exist yet, but soon
will, and will change everything for everybody, and nothing will ever be the
same again. As soon as you have an idea that changes some small part of the
world you are writing science fiction. It is always the art of the possible,
never the impossible.
-Ray Bradbury
Look into the future 100-200 years. What do you
see?
Now, come back to the present. What is the most pressing issue facing humanity today? Is it climate change? AI? Political strife? Sexism? Racism? Economic inequality? The eradication of the bee population? Designer babies? Super viruses?
Take one major issue facing humanity today, and project it into an imagined future. Ask yourself: "what might the consequences be for humanity, if we continue down this path unchecked?"
It's really important that you focus on one central issue--not a whole plethora. Yes, you may have some other issues impacting your primary issue (for example, racism and sexism can compound one another, to give one example), but do make a choice about one issue that you will primarily focus your research and assignment on.
The issue does not need to be something negative. It could be a cool invention someone somewhere is working on, for example an advancement in medicine.
Create a sci-fi future report to present to the class, based on your speculation.
This report may take one of two forms: a warning, or a snapshot.
Think of a warning like this: it's often a dystopian portrait, and its intention is to show your readers what might happen if we continue down a current, negative trend or path that we are on. It's a cautionary tale, intended to change the reader's mind and get them to take action. For example, The Hunger Games is a cautionary tale about the consequences of surveillance and celebrity culture, coupled with a critique of class inequality (among other things).
A snapshot is more of a "window into a world." It simply shows what might be, but may or may not be negative (it could also show a mix of negative and positive). It's like looking through a window into the future, and reporting back what you see there.
Every part of this assignment is equally important, but if there was to be one part that is *the* most important, it would be the analytical essay. This is what I read and grade first. It's where you show me you know how to apply the critical thinking skills and concepts you've gained in class, to your own sci fi/speculative scenario. And where you show me you know how to do independent research.
So, that said, please make sure to really invest your energy into the analytical essay. Don't get so caught up in the fun creative aide that you forget to write a strong paper!
You are welcome to turn the analytical essay in early if you like, and you are welcome and encouraged to meet with me to get in person feedback during my office hours prior to turning it in since this is one assignment that will not have a rough draft component. I am here to help!
This
analytical paper should be 4-5 pages in length (double-spaced, following MLA
formatting). Remember that 4 pages means 4 full pages, not 3 1/2 pages. Don't
lose points for not meeting length requirements. Note that your Works Cited
page does not count toward page requirements.
The essay requires three or more outside scholarly, critical sources from the library's databases. These sources should be connected to social science, hard scientific, or political issue your project deals with. You should become a mini-expert in your topic, sharing with your reader what is going on in the field currently and how you projected these ideas into your imagined future.
Critically, I want you to be thinking about why you believe this is the most vital issue (or one of them) facing humanity today. Why does it matter? Why should your reader care?
Make sure to do a "close reading" throughout the essay of your creative aide, analyzing how it demonstrates the primary "issue" (i.e. climate change) that you researched, much like you did with your first and second paper in this class. Demonstrate plenty of examples from your creative aide in your paper, and explain/analyze how they fit with the concepts you are exploring from your research and speculation about the future.
Your thesis will present your primary issue (i.e. designer babies, climate change, etc) to the reader, and will argue for why it is important to the future of humanity.
This essay may also include optional subheadings for organizational purposes.
Don't forget to include a Works Cited page with your research listed on it.
Report from the Future Creative Aide
I've included the instructions for the Creative Aide second, even though it's the part of the assignment you;ll want to do first. The reason I've done this is because I want to emphasize that the analytical essay is essential to the assignment, and shouldn't be skimped on. That said, here's where you get to have a little fun and be creative.
You should present your future world to us in the form of a:
Short story - 5 to 10 pages
-Your story should be double-spaced, and should follow standard conventions for dialogue formatting and other formatting.
-Please use this handout to properly format your dialogue (improperly formatted paragraphs and dialogue will result in a reduced grade).
-You can always open up Kindred or The Stepford Wives and look at how those authors formatted their dialogue and paragraphs and follow along.
-For a story, you can have your character(s) dealing with this primary issue in a future world. Ultimately, you want to show us how this issue plays out in real people's lives, in the future.
Digital comic - 45 frames at minimum
-You may use Pixton in order to create a digital comic. If so, you need to make sure to do the following:
-Proofread for consistent spelling, grammar and punctuation. Pixton does *not* proofread these elements for you, so you have to do it. Any sloppy text will result in a reduced grade.
-You need at least three characters.
-You need a variety of settings and scenarios in your comic. Don't just repeat a box over and over, or you won't get a good score.
Handdrawn comic
-Please follow the same guidelines as the Pixton guidelines. Make sure to use color when drawing.
Video - 4-5 minutes in length
-Any video you create must be your own material--you may not collage from the web or other videos that already exist.
-Feel free to cast your classmates as actors!
-You will want to have a few different scenes/scenarios in your video.
-Production value does not need to be exceedingly high, but make sure we can hear you talking, and that you are clever and creative with props and other elements of the video.
Report from the Future Presentation Guidelines
For your presentation, you will present your Report from the Future for your classmates and me. You will have ten minutes to do so; you will not be allowed to go longer than ten minutes, and you must take at least eight minutes to present, so make sure to practice in advance and time yourself so that you know you are within the proper time limits. I will give you a warning when you reach eight minutes so you know you have two minutes left.
Your goal with this presentation is to present both the creative and critical aspects of your report. Think of showing us the "highlights" and of giving us the most important information we need to know about the world you have created. You will likely need to tell us a bit about your characters, as well as the key aspects of the world, and what happens in your story. Again, you should time yourself and practice in advance so you know how much you can show.
The critical part of your presentation should be a standard speech or "talk" about the real world issues you researched (scientific, sociological, political, etc) and projected into the future. You can share facts and stats, you can tell us about the researchers whose work you looked at, and, most importantly, how these ideas informed your story and why they compelled you. Don't skimp on this portion--you want to sound like an expert.
You should aim to spend half your presentation presenting your creative, and half your critical.
I know some people feel shy about public speaking. This is the most common human fear, actually. Please don't worry if you are nervous--we are not judging you, and your grade will not be affected by any "nervous" habits you display. Just work through and with them. What you will be graded on is your preparedness and what you actually share. So make sure your timing is right, make sure you have good materials to share and don't forget anything. I strongly recommend using notecards or some form of presentation software to keep yourself on track. Prezis and PowerPoints are okay, but if you use them make sure you capitalize things, spell properly, cite your sources with a Works Cited slide, etc.
Lastly, make sure that whatever technological materials you are sharing (Prezis, videos, digital comics, etc) are easily accessible online and you can pull them right up on the class computer. Do not plan to use flash drives and download things. Not only do we not have time for downloads, if it doesn't work, there's no way of going back and capturing lost time.
Rubric:
You
will be graded on:
Timing:
-Should be 8-10 minutes.
-Should have at least 4 minutes for critical; should have 4 minutes for creative part.
*Please note that going under time will seriously affect your score on this assignment.
Presentation:
-Ideas are organized--notecards, Prezi, etc. You shouldn't be repeating yourself a bunch or
rhetorically flailing around for something to say. If you don't prepare, it will show!
-You cover all the key elements of the creative portion: who, what, where, why, when, how and showcase a section of your work that really shines (show the video, read part of the story, etc).
-You cover all the key elements of the critical portion: share your research (give us names, and specific information), tell us why you were interested in those topics and why they matter for our future, you may choose to discuss which of the projects we covered this semester influenced your work.
You will not be graded on:
-How nervous you are or appear to be, even if you stumble over your words and your knees are knocking together! It's okay to be nervous! It's human.
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