“It feels
satisfying, somehow, to claim his right to have no political feelings about the
technology in his body” (Huang,
“By Degrees and Dilatory Time”)
Science fiction
juggles two balls in the air: one is the ball called “what if?” and the other
is the ball called “metaphor.” The first ball suggests what might happen based
on plausible scenarios of the future, especially worse case’ scenarios. The
second ball is less concerned with what could happen and instead focuses on
what has happened by shifting our perspective. As with the “Pale Blue
Dot” photo, when we see the Earth as a dot, it changes how we see our home—and
our lives. By setting a story in the near-future, with different technology and
developments, we make the world just strange enough to see ourselves distorted,
like a fun-house mirror. Yet we eventually recognize ourselves (or our world)
in the mirror and understand that this is us, and the predictions have
already come true.
Q: For your
first paper assignment, I want you to answer the question: which of these
‘futures’ would you be most terrified of growing old in—and having children
born into? In other words, which “what if?” scenarios seem the most
frightening or problematic? Choose TWO stories from the four we read to help
you answer this question. As you do so, be sure to show us (a) why specific
aspects of the stories are disturbing, and (b) why these stories are metaphors
for ideas/concerns that are already in existence today. In other words, make
sure we understand the stories are frightening because they’re not really
science fiction, but close to becoming science fact. For this paper, you
don’t need secondary sources unless you want to, but you must use two of
the stories from class to create your ‘conversation.’
REQUIREMENTS
- at least 4 pages double spaced
- Respond to the stories: show us the
implications of their ideas and let us know how you understand/interpret
them
- Quote from at least 2 of the stories
read in class; don’t merely summarize them or say “like we read in that
one story about the cats”—quote and discuss specific examples
- Cite all stories according to MLA or
- DUE THURSDAY, FEB. 2nd BY
- E-mail me with questions or concerns, or come to my office hours
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