For Monday: Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles (see below)

Stories: “The Shore,” “Interim,” “The Musicians,” "The Way in the Middle of the Air," “The Naming of Names,” “Usher II”

NOTE: “Way in the Middle of the Air” is a story explicitly about race in the 40’s/50’s, and uses some harsh racial language. Be warned!

Q1: In “Usher II,” he alludes to the Great Burning of 1975, where most imaginative literature (such as Poe’s stories) were burned throughout the world. Why did this occur? What were people trying to accomplish? How might this reflect political fears of the 1950’s—or even of our own time?

Q2: “The Musicians” is a very controversial story, and like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is often censored by schools and libraries (especially as it contains the “N” word). Do you think its message is still relevant despite the objectionable language? Or is it no longer safe or appropriate to read such stories?

Q3: When the teenage boy, Silly, is finally escaping the town, he calls back to his former boss, Mr. Teece, and says, “What you goin’ to do nights, Mr. Teece?” What does he mean by this? And why does the question (and its answer) both anger and terrify Mr. Teece?

Q4: In “The Shore,” the narrator notes that “The second men should have traveled from other countries with other accents and other ideas. But the rockets were American and the men were American and it stayed that way…And they came from cabbage tenements and subways.” Why do you think Bradbury makes Mars exclusively American in these stories? If Mars is made not in Earth’s image, but in America’s image, what does that allow him to do (or show) in these stories? In other words, if Mars is a metaphor for America, what does that metaphor look like?

For Wednesday: Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles (see readings below)

Read the next 5 Chapters: “And the Moon Be Still as Bright,” “The Settlers,” “The Green Morning,” “The Locusts,” and “Night Meeting”

GROUP B/F should answer TWO of the following:

Q1: What does Spender mean when, in the story, “And the Moon…” he claims, “I believe in the things that were done, and there are evidences of many things done on Mars…Everywhere I look I see things that were used. They were touched and handled for centuries.” Also, why does this prompt him to kill his companions? What don’t they see about the landscape that he does?

Q2: In a passage (in the same story), Spender seems to critique his own society back home by stating, “[Art] is always a thing apart for Americans. Art was something you kept in the crazy son’s room upstairs. Art was something you took in Sunday doses, mixed with religion, perhaps. Well, these Martians have art and religion and everything.” How is he criticizing America’s relationship with art? What are they doing “wrong” in his view? Do we have the same problem today, do you think?

Q3: In the story “Night Meeting,” an old man tells the main character, Thomas, that “We’ve got to forget Earth and how things were. We’ve got to look at what we’ve in here, and how different it is.” Why might it be potentially dangerous to import Earth and its customs to Mars? What could this prevent us from seeing or doing?

Q4: According to the story “The Green Morning,” why are trees a fundamental part of our experience of Earth? Why couldn’t we exist without trees on another planet? What have trees provided for us besides oxygen throughout our history on this planet?

Short Paper #2: The Trappings of Earth

“I think I’d rearrange the civilization on Mars so it resembled Earth more and more each day. If there was any way of reproducing every plant, every road, and every lake, and even an ocean, I’d do so. Then by some vast crowd hypnosis I’d convince everyone in a town this size that this really was Earth, not Mars at all” (“The Third Expedition”).

For your second short paper, I want you to imagine that you’re in charge of establishing an Earth-2 on another planet. While you don’t have to worry about the realities of living there (the scientists took care of that), you have to figure out how to convince people that this is their new home which can look and feel almost like Earth. Ideally, within a few years, they will think that this is Earth, or at least an acceptable substitute for it.  

Based on some of the ideas from The Martian Chronicles, discuss one aspect of culture you would immediately re-establish on the new planet. For example, you might want to immediately create schools on the new planet, so everyone could still attain the same level of education; or you might build fast food restaurants, so that everyone could remember what it’s like to eat hamburgers and milkshakes while their kids play on the slide. Think about your own life and consider the one thing you did growing up that is most essential to your experience on Earth, and explain why this would be essential on the new planet as well.

SHOW us why it was so important to you, and why it might help preserve a sense of sanity and normalcy among pioneers of a new planet. ALSO, explain how you might preserve or modify some specific aspect of it—for example, maybe you want fast food places to occasionally mess up your order, since that was an important part of the experience? Or schools that still have mean principals to give the students something to bond over?

Be sure to QUOTE from the book for support; show that you’re both having a conversation about culture that uses science fiction as a framework (and don’t use the quote I included at the top of this assignment!).

REQUIREMENTS

• 2-3 pages, double spaced
• At least one quote from the book, enough to show you responding to some idea in the book (not a random quote, but one you engage with)
• Due Friday, March 29^th in class [note: we do have class that day—bring your paper with you]

For Friday: Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles, “The Taxpayer” and “The Third Expedition”

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

Q1: According to “The Taxpayer,” what’s wrong with Earth? Why does he want to flee to Mars so badly? Does this explain why there have been so many expeditions to Mars in such a short period of time (1999-2000)?

Q2: When the Third Expedition discovers the Earth-like city on Mars, one exclaims, “we’re looking upon a phenomenon that, for the first time, would absolutely prove the existence of God, sir.” What does he mean by this? Why would an Earth-like civilization prove that God exists (and do you agree)?

Q3: The Expedition offers a number of theories for the existence of an early-1900s town in the middle of Mars: why do all of them insist that the inhabitants must be insane or hallucinating? What does this remind us of in the previous chapters?

Q4: When Hinkston asks Lustig’s grandmother if this is heaven, she responds “Nonsense, no. It’s a world and we get a second chance. Nobody told us why. But then nobody told us why we were on Earth, either.” Even though this seems to be a set-up, what might the grandmother’s words suggest about our own life on Earth? Why might this lie (if you believe it’s a lie) contain a bit of truth?

For Wednesday: Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles, pp.1-39

Read the following chapters for class:

• Rocket Summer
• Ylla
• The Summer Night
• The Earth Men

Group “B” or “F” should answer TWO of the following:

Q1: Why is Mr. K so antagonistic about his wife’s dreams about strange men from the “third planet”? What does he think these dreams mean? Or, why is she so excited about the prospect that these dreams are real?

Q2: As we discussed in class, The Martian Chronicles was written in the late 40’s and published in 1950. Like many science fiction writers, Bradbury liked to use metaphors of the future, aliens, space travel, etc. to examine his own culture. Where do you see him doing this? Discuss a short passage where he seems to be talking more about 1950’s earth than the culture of another planet.

Q3: What is strange about how the Martians react to “The Earth Men” in Chapter Four? Why aren’t they excited to see them and learn about a foreign culture? Also, why do all of them wear masks, which they change depending on their mood or surroundings (like the little girl who puts on an “expressionless mask” when interrogated by the astronaut)?

Q4: When the Earth Men try to convince the psychologist, Mr.Xxx that the spaceship is real, he responds, “May I congratulate you? You are a psychotic genius!...Your insanity is beautifully complete!” Why can’t he believe that the ship, and the astronauts, are actually real? Does he ever waver in this belief (and if so, why)?

Conference Schedule for March 4-8

The conference times we signed up for in class are below. If you didn't sign up for a time, feel free to come in any of the blank times (or e-mail me for a time). If you miss your conference, it's equivalent to skipping three classes, which will put you over (or dangerously close to) the maximum number of absences without penalty. So please come! 

We're meeting in my office, HM 348. The meetings shouldn't take very long, but I want at least ten minutes just in case. E-mail me with any questions or if you need to reschedule. 

MONDAY
11: Daniel
11:10 Kentaaj
11:20 Mandi
11:30 Hannah
11:40 Isabel
11:50 Timothy

1:00 Nichole
1:10 Rven
1:20 Lydia
1:30 JJ
1:40 Rylee
1:50 Tinia 

WEDNESDAY
11:00 Benjamin
11:10 Cody
11:20 Emily
11:30 Arren
11:40 Wyatt
11:50 George

1:00 Sebastian
1:10 Angela
1:20 Jamie
1:30 Michael
1:40 Austin
1:50 Zachery

2:00 Jaren
2:10 Brook
2:20 Danielle
2:30 OPEN 

THURSDAY
10 to 10:30 OPEN
10:40 Faith

11:00 to 11:50 OPEN

1:00 Lily 
1:10 to 1:50 OPEN

FRIDAY
11:00 Tarah
11:10 John
11:20 Destin
11:30 McKenzie
11:40 Shelby
11:50 Kaylee

1:00 Kealan
1:10 Dalton
1:20 Sandro
1:30 Klayten
1:40 Nathan
1:50 Wyatt