English Class: Utopia -- [OPEN]
"Good afternoon, I hope you're all ready to start a new unit today. If you've kept up with the reading or just skimmed over the course outline, you'll know that for the next little while, we're going to be studying utopian and dystopian fiction. There will be some in-class actives as well as an independent study component. I expect you to come by my office and sign up for your independent study project within the next week or so." As usual, Njoki is well-dressed in a neat suit and has an assortment of books, notes and movies out on her desk for the students to browse or borrow. Moreover, based on the belief that it's better to have more people which can lead to better discussions, her class and lectures tend to be open to any interested staff and students.
"I've put some discussion questions up on the board. Let's work through them, eh?"[1] What does 'utopia' mean? Dystopia?
[2] Why should we even be interested in this genre of fiction? In particular, why is it important in the Nexus?
[3] Can you name any works that would fit into this genre?
"Don't forget to read the short story I've assigned for next class. Read through it, go do something else, then go back and re-read it. What strikes you in the piece? Any particular phrase that jumps out? Why? Or if you think it's absolute crap, why?"
"One last thing, will be considering these works as literary pieces and not histories. Some people in the Nexus will have come from universes that bear a striking similarity to things we will see and read in class but because you have read the work that does not mean you know and understand a person 'from' that work. I expect you to remember this and have some respect." In other words, if you meet Winston, don't ask him about his pet rats.
((When posting an answer, it would be most excellent if you could put the question number in the header of your reply. That way we can hopefully have more than one discussion going on at once.))
"I've put some discussion questions up on the board. Let's work through them, eh?"[1] What does 'utopia' mean? Dystopia?
[2] Why should we even be interested in this genre of fiction? In particular, why is it important in the Nexus?
[3] Can you name any works that would fit into this genre?
"Don't forget to read the short story I've assigned for next class. Read through it, go do something else, then go back and re-read it. What strikes you in the piece? Any particular phrase that jumps out? Why? Or if you think it's absolute crap, why?"
"One last thing, will be considering these works as literary pieces and not histories. Some people in the Nexus will have come from universes that bear a striking similarity to things we will see and read in class but because you have read the work that does not mean you know and understand a person 'from' that work. I expect you to remember this and have some respect." In other words, if you meet Winston, don't ask him about his pet rats.
((When posting an answer, it would be most excellent if you could put the question number in the header of your reply. That way we can hopefully have more than one discussion going on at once.))