ENGL 391 (Section 901, Schedule #31862)
Virginia Commonwealth University
Fall 2014
TR 4:00-5:15pm :: 427 Hibbs
Prof. David Golumbia
Office: 324D Hibbs Hall
Fall 2014 Office Hours: TR 2-3:30pm

Future/Human/Fiction

PAPER ASSIGNMENT 1

Write an 8-10 pages (approx 2000 words) paper addressing one of the following prompts. The paper should have the form of a typical English paper: a coherent argument supported by evidence gathered from the text.

  1. Focus on one feature of transhumanism or the singularity as it is described in one of the essays we read at the beginning of the semester. Describe what the author thinks that feature is in detail. Then choose one of the texts (or TV shows) that we have looked at so far in which that aspect of transhumanism occurs as part of the narrative. Compare and contrast the presentation of that feature of transhumanism with its presentation in the media. What conclusions (if any) can you draw from this comparison? Which kind of work--"nonfiction" or "fiction"--provides a better argument about the value or problems of the part of transhumanism you focus on? Why?
  2. Provide a close reading of one of the fictional texts we have read or looked at so far. You are welcome to write on any aspect of the work, as long as you provide a well-argued interpretation of the work's meaning, tying it as firmly as possible to the details of the work in question.
  3. Open topic. You may write on any aspect of any text in which transhumanism or the singularity is a theme. This includes works not on the syllabus. However, the subject of all open topic papers must be approved by the instructor via email in order to receive credit for the assignment.
General Instructions

The essay should be 8 to 10 pages in length, but please use your word processor to count the number of words; word count and not page length is the official metric for the assignment. An English paper should include quotations from the work you are analyzing, and short quotations DO count toward the total word count for the essay. Long quotations (of 50 or more words) should not generally be counted toward the 2000 word total for the assignment.

This is not a research paper, and you are not expected to consult outside sources except for the primary book or piece of media you choose to interpret. Any sources, including that primary source, should be properly cited in your paper, using any acceptable bibliographic citation format. One very simple format is to use a list of Works Cited at the end of the paper, and indicate by author, work and page number in parentheses the exact quotations within the paper itself.

For convenience, here is one proper way to cite Dollhouse episodes, Ubik, and essays from the Transhumanist Reader.

Works Cited

Dick, Philip K. Ubik. New York: Mariner Books, 2012.
More, Max. "The Philosophy of Transhumanism." In Max More and Natasha Vita-Moore, eds., The Transhumanist Reader: Classical and Contemporary Essays on the Science, Technology, and Philosophy of the Human Future. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013. Pages 3-17.
"Belonging." Dollhouse season two, episode four. Los Angeles: 20th Century Fox, 2010.

Other standard forms of citation (such as footnotes) are also acceptable, but failing to properly indicate sources technically constitutes plagiarism.

Speaking of plagiarism, all work for this assignment and the rest of this course is expected to be your own, and should not include elements from other sources (such as online commentaries on the works you write about), unless you also put them in quotation marks and clearly indicate your sources as described above.

 

Last updated October 7, 2014.