Requirements (i.e., the workload!)
Robot, hard at work (from thenextweb.com).
ENGL 370, as a junior-level English course at CSU Northridge, aims to be challenging. This page explains what is expected of everyone in 370—which means I'm speaking mainly to students here, of course.
Students, first off—this is something I always say, and I always mean it—active participation in discussion and other activities is essential both to the vitality of the class and to everyone’s individual success. To do well, you must be fully attentive and engaged, not distracted, and you must do independent reading and research and make regular use of the Internet, particularly our Moodle site.
Now, getting down to brass tacks, your grade for 370 will be determined by how completely and effectively you fulfill the following four requirements:
1. Participation. This includes all the things that should be constant and are fairly easy to do if you take your work as a student seriously: steady attendance, meaningful contributions to discussion and other in-class activities, evidence of preparation (including strong, active, careful reading), and when necessary miscellaneous brief homework. [10% of your course grade]
2.Response papers: You will be expected to write brief papers on a weekly to biweekly basis, in response to your assigned readings (and viewings). Expect writing these response papers to be a constant; by semester's end you will probably have done eight or nine of them. When I say brief, I mean typically two to three paragraphs in length, i.e. about 250 to 300 words, which is roughly equal to one to one-and-a-half double-spaced typed pages. [30% of your course grade, total]
3. Group project: report on an alien world: I have frankly lifted this assignment, lock, stock, and barrel, from my generous colleague David Layton at Devry, author of The Humanism of Dr. Who (2012), whom I met last spring at the Eaton Conference in Riverside. Thank you, David! This is meant to be a BIG assignment. Students, throughout the term you'll be working with a group of three or four classmates to dream up and thoroughly design an alien world, and then to prepare and present a report on that world to all of us. For the purposes of this assignment, think of yourself as a team of scientific investigators sent by Earth authorities to research the possibility of establishing diplomatic relations with a newly discovered but inhabited world. Your job is to investigate the world and produce a report summarizing your findings and suggesting means for establishing relations. Your report will be both written and oral, and will be, in effect, your capstone experience in 370. Of course, much more thorough and specific instructions can be found within the online syllabus on our Moodle site! [30%]
4. Reviews: You will be expected to choose two SF works not on our syllabus and review them in writing, each in a brief essay of about 500 words. These reviews will not be handed in on paper; rather, both of your reviews must be posted to forums on our Moodle site. One of the texts you choose must be a book-length written work of SF published since 2000. The other must be an example of SF from another medium besides the written word (for example film, comics, or videogames) but can be from any time period. See our online syllabus for precise instructions and deadlines! [15% each; 30% total]
A more detailed version of this page can be found at, again, our Moodle site.
Students, first off—this is something I always say, and I always mean it—active participation in discussion and other activities is essential both to the vitality of the class and to everyone’s individual success. To do well, you must be fully attentive and engaged, not distracted, and you must do independent reading and research and make regular use of the Internet, particularly our Moodle site.
Now, getting down to brass tacks, your grade for 370 will be determined by how completely and effectively you fulfill the following four requirements:
1. Participation. This includes all the things that should be constant and are fairly easy to do if you take your work as a student seriously: steady attendance, meaningful contributions to discussion and other in-class activities, evidence of preparation (including strong, active, careful reading), and when necessary miscellaneous brief homework. [10% of your course grade]
2.Response papers: You will be expected to write brief papers on a weekly to biweekly basis, in response to your assigned readings (and viewings). Expect writing these response papers to be a constant; by semester's end you will probably have done eight or nine of them. When I say brief, I mean typically two to three paragraphs in length, i.e. about 250 to 300 words, which is roughly equal to one to one-and-a-half double-spaced typed pages. [30% of your course grade, total]
3. Group project: report on an alien world: I have frankly lifted this assignment, lock, stock, and barrel, from my generous colleague David Layton at Devry, author of The Humanism of Dr. Who (2012), whom I met last spring at the Eaton Conference in Riverside. Thank you, David! This is meant to be a BIG assignment. Students, throughout the term you'll be working with a group of three or four classmates to dream up and thoroughly design an alien world, and then to prepare and present a report on that world to all of us. For the purposes of this assignment, think of yourself as a team of scientific investigators sent by Earth authorities to research the possibility of establishing diplomatic relations with a newly discovered but inhabited world. Your job is to investigate the world and produce a report summarizing your findings and suggesting means for establishing relations. Your report will be both written and oral, and will be, in effect, your capstone experience in 370. Of course, much more thorough and specific instructions can be found within the online syllabus on our Moodle site! [30%]
4. Reviews: You will be expected to choose two SF works not on our syllabus and review them in writing, each in a brief essay of about 500 words. These reviews will not be handed in on paper; rather, both of your reviews must be posted to forums on our Moodle site. One of the texts you choose must be a book-length written work of SF published since 2000. The other must be an example of SF from another medium besides the written word (for example film, comics, or videogames) but can be from any time period. See our online syllabus for precise instructions and deadlines! [15% each; 30% total]
A more detailed version of this page can be found at, again, our Moodle site.