NOTE: Schedule Change--Paper due on Friday; Superheroes/Comics Discussion on Wed

I changed the schedule slightly to give everyone an extra class day to work on their Short Paper #1 assignment (see post below this one). So for Wednesday, just come to class and I'll discuss the history of comics and why superheroes have become one of our most potent modern metaphors. This will prepare us for our next book, Ms. Marvel, which we'll start discussing on Monday. If you don't have it yet, there are copies in the bookstore. We're not done with the Best American SF/F book yet--we'll return to it in a few weeks. 

Let me know if you have any questions about your paper! Good luck! 

English 1213/Short Paper #1: Metaphors ‘R Us (Due FRIDAY)

For your first short assignment, I want you to use metaphors to “help people to understand the unfamiliar” (Erard). In this case, I want you to explain to someone who has never been to college, what your first semester of college was like. However, to make it a little more visual—and challenging—I want you to do so using one of the fantasy/sci-fi metaphors below:

A Dragon     A Sorcerer     A Robot     A Spaceship

In other words, I want you to either describe a day in your life as a student, or a composite of several of your experiences and adventures, but through the metaphor of something completely imaginary. Just like Yoachim wrote about wind-up toys or Payseur wrote about “rivers running free,” I want you to show us college through the eyes of a dragon, or a sorcerer’s magic, etc. How can this help translate an unfamiliar experience in a way that makes them see and feel your day-to-day reality in college? How can a robot help people understand what’s it like to study all night and take a test first thing in the morning? How could a spaceship translate the whirlwind of activities that has become your daily ritual?

EX: You can do this assignment in a variety of ways: you could actually pretend to be a dragon going to college, or a spaceship going to flight school. OR, you could write about yourself and use metaphors derived from sorcery or robotics. Either way, think about what these things are, how they function, and what they represent, and relate it to what you experience on a daily basis. There are more comparisons than you might think!

REQUIREMENTS

• At least 2 full pages, double spaced (but you can do more)
• Think metaphorically: how can you help people see through your metaphor so they actually experience what your life feels like?
• Due Friday, February 1st in class

For Monday: Goh, “The Last Cheng Beng Gift”

LINK TO STORY: http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/last-cheng-beng-gift/

NOTE: “Cheng Beng” or “Qingming” is a traditional Chinese festival also known as “Ancestor’s Day.” It goes back over 2,000 years, and is a celebration of one’s ancestors in early spring; families visit the graves of their ancestors and offer food and gifts while enjoying their own traditional foods and festivities.

The “A” / “SF” group should answer TWO of the following:

Q1: What is slightly absurd about the kind of gifts Mrs. Lim receives in the afterlife? How does she feel about these gifts? Do we understand why her daughter gives them?

Q2: Mrs. Lim mentions that “once [her husband] had been satisfied that he had accomplished all he had meant to do in this life…he opted instead for Meng Por’s forgetfulness tea and went straight for reincarnation” (92). If he was satisfied, why wasn’t Mrs. Lim? What does she get out of ‘living’ in death that her husband didn’t?

Q3: In her author’s note, Goh writes that “I wrote this for fellow Asian daughters who have similarly fraught relationships with their mothers, and from whom filial piety demands a gratitude that we can’t give freely” (345). In the story, what makes it difficult for Hong Yin to reconcile with her mother, and for her mother to accept her and apologize?

Q4: Mrs. Lim reflects that “The afterlife…was a place where nothing could happen, because it is not, after all, a place of living” (97-98). In that case, why might this story be more about life than death? In other words, how might this be a metaphor to what we hang onto, as well as how we decide to let go?

Response Groups for Both Classes

11:00 Class 

Group A (or "SF")

Kentaaji A.

Mandi B.

George B.

Benjamin B.

Alexis C.

Isabel D.

Shelby D.

Meysa D.

Sean F.

Cody G.

Kaylee H.

Timothy H.

Wyatt L.

Group B (or "F") 

John L.

McKenzie L.

Myranda M.

Destin M.

Hannah N.

Thomas N.

Tarah O.

Arren P.

Emily R.

Brea S.

Faith S.

1:00 Class
GROUP “SF” (Science Fiction)

Nichole B.

Angela C.

Sebastian C.

Kealan C.

Jaylnn F.

Michael G.

Nathan G.

Taylor G.

Ashlyn H.

Lydia H.

Raven J.

Austin M.

GROUP “F” (Fantasy)

Danielle M.

Brooklyn M.

Wyatt P.

Sandro R.

Klaytan S.

Rylee S.

Dalton S.

Jaren S.

Zachery W.

Rebekah W.

Tinia W.

Lilith W.

For Wednesday: Yoachim, “Carnival Nine” (pp.241-257)

LINK TO THE STORY: http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/carnival-nine/

Group “F” (or Group “B”) should answer TWO of the following for class on Wednesday. But everyone should read this story—it’s a really good one! Much easier than the last one, but metaphorical in the same way, so don’t read too literally.

Q1:  Caroline Yoachim, who wrote this story, said the idea came from “spoon theory, developed…as a way to describe living with disability or chronic illness. In spoon theory, the energy to do tasks is represented by spoons, and people get a limited number of spoons each day” (354). Why do you think she changed this to ‘turns’ and created the metaphor of people with wind-up keys in their backs? What does this help us see or understand about our own lives and ambitions?

Q2: When the narrator, Zee, and Vale are at the master’s workbench, she notes, “We had agreed on building a boy, but we hadn’t talked much about the details” (249). Though we don’t build children from a pile of spare parts, how might this passage relate to the business of starting a family and raising a child in our world? What kind of conversation should they have had?

Q3: Much of this story is about the conflict between doing one’s duty and following one’s heart. How does Zee embody this conflict? Is she fulfilled in being Mattan’s mother and caregiver? Or does her restricted life help her appreciate her own mother’s decisions, even if she can never forgive her?

Q4: Toward the end of the story, Zee reflects, “In childhood the days stretch out seemingly forever, and we spend our time and turns freely on any whim that catches our fancy. But at the end of our lives each day becomes an increasingly greater fraction of the time we have remaining, and the moments grow ever more precious” (256). Based on this reflection, are longer lives necessarily happier ones? Is Mattan’s brief life (he’ll never get one thousand turns) doomed to be unfulfilling? What advantages does Zee’s longer life and stronger mainspring allow her to achieve?

For Friday: Payseur, “Rivers Run Free” (pp.1-12)

I FOUND A LINK TO THE STORY: http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/rivers-run-free/

NOTE: I accidentally named the groups A & B in my 11:00 Comp class, though they are "SF" and "F" on the syllabus. So A = SF, and B = F. Sorry about that! 

Group "SF" should answer TWO of the four questions below in a short response, at least a few sentences, and in enough detail so I can see you ‘thinking.’ I don’t want a yes/no answer, and there’s no one right answer; I simply want you to engage with the story and be able to explain why you think the way you do about it. Don’t worry about being wrong or even confused. Writing your way through a response will help you understand the story more than if you wrote nothing at all.

Q1: In his author’s note, Charles Payseur writes that he was inspired to write the story because of “how rivers are exploited and polluted, a situation that mirrors other, much more human experiences” (351). What do you think he means by “other…more human experiences?” How could the story of exploited rivers trying to free themselves relate to us?

Q2: According to the story, why did the rivers get exploited/enslaved in the first place? Why didn’t they fight back earlier, and why do so few of them resist even in the events of the story?

Q3: When the rivers accuse the people of Abbotsville of betraying them and being no better than the Luteans (the ‘bad guys’ of the story), the Sheriff  responds, “I am better than the Luteans!...You think we want it this way? We’re just making the best of a bad situation, and not one that we caused” (9). Why does he feel forced to enslave and torture the rivers as well, even though he’s one of the ‘good guys’? Are we supposed to be sympathetic to his point of view, or does the story suggest that all humans are ultimately ‘bad’?

Q4: The rivers are trying to reach the ocean, but one of them admits, “The sea is a myth,” and even the narrator fears that he might be right. Since we as readers know the ocean isn’t a myth, why does the author have the rivers question the existence of a gigantic body of water? What might this represent to the characters that they hope for its existence, but secretly can’t believe in its existence? (hint: think metaphors)

Welcome to the Course!

Welcome to Dr. Grasso's two sections of Freshman Composition 2! This course is designed around the theme of science fiction and fantasy writing, which should allow us to write about many ideas that affect our world today, even though they might sound futuristic or fantastic. The goal of this course is to challenge your ability to read in different fictional genres, and connect these works to a larger cultural conversation that is anything but fictional. Hopefully, you'll find this an interesting and unusual way to develop your writing, even if Star Wars or The Lord of the Rings aren't necessarily your cup of tea (I promise I won't make you watch either of them). 

Be sure to buy the books for this class as soon as possible, particularly Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing 2018, since we'll have a reading assignment from this book on Friday. The books are listed below:

Required Texts: (a) The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018, ed. N.K. Jemsin; (b) Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles, (c) Wilson, Ms. Marvel

Check the syllabus for other information about the course, and feel free to e-mail me with any questions or concerns. See you next week!