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Literature and the Culture of Cyberspace
Fall, 2006 ENG 2753 / Thursday: 6:30 – 9:20 p.m. / (Room 309, Congress building)
Instructor: Kristin Scott, MFA, A.M.
Department of English, Columbia College Chicago |
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Course Description |
This course will consider representations of cyberspace in literature, as well as how the “culture of cyberspace” both informs and reflects the way we read and write. What, exactly is, the “culture of cyberspace.” And were authors writing about cyberspace themes long before we ever even heard of “www” or “.com”? We will consider how narratives have and haven’t changed within this virtual explosion of new media technology, discuss the relationship between text and image, and explore themes, tropes, and figures of cyberspace literature. What are the actual differences between a novel on the page and a hypertext novel on the screen? How does electronic text change the nature of writing? And how do those differences affect the way we read, or the way we understand a story? What sort of future awaits the traditional book? We will explore all of these questions and more by reading both regular texts and hypertexts by authors such as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Aldous Huxley, William Gibson, Shelley Jackson, Jeanette Winterson, and Stuart Moulthrop.
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Prerequisites |
You should have completed Composition I before taking this course. You may take Literature and the Culture of Cyberspace while taking Composition II, but you must have successfully completed Composition I before taking this course.
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Goals and Objectives |
This course seeks to 1) increase awareness and understanding of earlier literary themes and writing styles that anticipate cyberspace culture 2) introduce styles and modes of interactive hypertext writing and 3) help students critically evaluate the ways in which the reader helps to both construct and deconstruct meaning through hypertext reading. By the end of this course, you should be able to:
- demonstrate a basic understanding and knowledge of literary themes and styles that both inform and reflect cyberspace culture.
- identify, understand, and appreciate the basic forms and elements of hypertext literature.
- critically evaluate the themes and figurative language (metaphors, similes, and so forth) within literary cybertexts.
- understand and appreciate that narratives can and do include form, content, and language in an organic rather than linear process.
- develop a reasonable interpretation of a literary hyper/text and support that interpretation with evidence.
- examine and understand the interactive, inter-related, and continually changing nature of hypertext.
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Format |
The class has a lecture/discussion/workshop format. Class readings will include selected narratives that will be available from the bookstore and either online or as handouts. Each class will involve: 1) discussion of assigned reading and 2) critique and discussion of student response assignments.
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Weekly Response Assignments |
Almost each week, you will be required to write a response to the assigned reading in an online discussion forum, based on guided assignments from the instructor. All online responses must be entered onto the discussion board no later than 6 p.m. on the day the assignment is due. I highly recommend that you write your response in Microsoft Word or whatever format you generally use for papers, and save it, prior to posting, in case you lose an internet connection; this way, if you are unsuccessful at the first posting, all you have to do is cut and paste what you’ve already written or print out to turn in. If, for whatever reason, you are unable to get online to post your response by 6 p.m. the day it is due, I expect you to still turn it in to me that class period (when we meet at 6:30 p.m.), on regular paper, in no less than 2 pages, double-spaced, with proper formatting (and you must still cut and paste your response to the board as soon as you are able to get back online, so that others may also see your comments).
* If you are experiencing problems with the online discussion board, please inform me immediately.
As assigned, these responses will vary and may take the following forms: summary responses, elaboration and continuation of in-class writing exercises, journal entries, creative writing pieces, and focused essay responses. If your response is late, it will NOT be accepted. Absence from class the day your response is due will not excuse you from posting your assigned response – even if you are absent the day an assigned response is due, you must still post your response online. These weekly responses will give you many opportunities to reflect upon the reading, help you further develop your own insights about the themes and styles that inform and reflect cyberspace narratives, and hone your critical thinking and writing skills. These weekly online response assignments will cumulatively count as 30% of your final grade. Not turning them in will quickly lower your entire final grade!
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Quizzes |
Occasionally, and without regularity, I may give announced and unannounced quizzes based on the readings and/or the class discussions. Your quiz grades will be averaged into your weekly response grades.
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Paper & Paper Grade |
You are required to write one (1) critical response paper, a minimum of 5-6 pages in length. This paper must be typed, double-spaced, and must be composed using a standard, 12-point font size, and with standard 1” margins. I will discuss additional (and minimal) format specifications during the first two weeks of class. This paper is worth 30% of your final grade. If you do not hand in this paper, you will not pass the course. I will accept late papers, but a full letter grade (without plus and minus’s) will be taken off for EVERY DAY (not every class day) it is late.
Letter grades on your papers will be based on the following: thoughtful response to the topic, critical analysis of subject, originality; organization; focus; and overall clarity. As you generate strategies for writing and revision this semester, keep in mind that I look for papers that demonstrate your own thoughts, not merely what you think I want to read. See Paper Grades for criteria that will give you a basic idea of how I will evaluate your prose.
To receive full credit, all papers must be presented in hard copy at the beginning of class on the day they are due. Electronic assignments will ONLY be accepted in the event of an unexpected absence – NOT because your printer is broken, you forgot to print before you left home, you have no money to print, or you ran out of ink! If you run into any of these issues, then you MUST find another way to get your paper printed . . . ask your roommate to help, call a friend, beg a stranger, go to the computer lab in the English department (Room 312), email it to someone in class who will print it out for you, whatever it takes – but there are a thousand people around you with printers that do work, so it shouldn’t be that hard.
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Writing Center |
The Writing Center is for ALL students at ALL levels of writing. The type of consultation the center offers is simply a standard part of the successful writing process. You can use the center by making an appointment over the phone or drop in on the hour. You may also elect to sign up for a weekly hour-long session, at a time of your choosing to meet with the same consultant. Each consultant has a background in most of the majors offered at Columbia. Using the Writing Center will undoubtedly raise the level of success you achieve in any class that requires writing (of any kind). Columbia is home to one of the largest and most successful writing centers in the country, and I strongly urge you to take advantage of it. As an incentive, for each time you make an appointment with a writing center consultant for this class, you will receive extra credit. You must, however, document your consultation/s by having the center consultant write their name (legibly), sign, and date the draft that you had the consultant review and show it to me.
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Creative Hypertext Project |
To encourage connections between this course and your individual work in your major and/or other creative interests, each of you which will produce a creative hypertext project of your own that will also become part of a larger collaborative community/class hypertext project, along with a two page (double spaced, typed) process reflection paper. The two page reflection piece will give you an opportunity to reflect on the process of creating a hypertext project, and it will give me a chance to find out more about what you learned during your creative process (what worked well, what didn’t, where you stumbled, where you were wildly successful, etc.). This two page reflection piece should be really easy, if you just jot down a few notes about your process as you go through it (kind of like a mini-journal). We will begin discussing possible hypertext projects once we begin reading hypertexts in the course, as well as the details of what will be expected from you and/or you and your project partners. You will be given plenty of time to turn in a hypertext narrative draft, receive feedback, and work on your hypertext project, both in and out of class. See the syllabus for exact timelines.
No web authoring experience will be necessary; however, if you have web authoring experience, you are more than encouraged to utilize it. Grades will be based on originality, concept, effort, and the connections that you make between what you have learned in class and the project you produce, which will all be evident in your work and within the two page process reflection that will accompany your final project.
When all is finished, the collection of hypertext projects will then be uploaded onto the class website as one community project at the end of the term. Your creative project is worth 30% of your final grade.
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Class Participation |
Attendance is required – both physically and mentally. You are expected to take an active role in class discussions and workshops. Also, please make sure your phone is off or on buzz (and buried deep inside your backpack), so it’s not heard while in class. Class participation is worth 10% of your total final grade.
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Academic Honesty |
The Columbia College Chicago Catalogue states that "The College prohibits the following conduct: all forms of academic dishonesty, including cheating; plagiarism; knowingly furnishing false information to the College; forgery; alteration or fraudulent use of College documents, instruments, or identification." If you misrepresent another's ideas and/or written work as your own, then you will earn an "F" for the course. Academic dishonesty is not worth the penalty it incurs.
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Attendance and Lateness |
The English Department's policy on attendance states: “More than two absences in a class that meets once a week . . . will affect your grade and can result in failure.” You are permitted two (2) absences. I will lower the final grade of any student who is absent from more than 2 classes or who is consistently late OR leaves early.
You can be (AND WILL BE) charged with a half-absence if you miss more than 15 minutes of any one-class session (that includes both being late and leaving early). In accordance with English Department policy (above), any student who violates this policy risks failing the class.
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Grading Policy | |
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A |
96 - 100 |
A - |
90 - 95 |
B + |
87 - 89 |
B |
83 - 86 |
B - |
80 - 82 |
C + |
77 - 79 |
C |
73 - 76 |
C - |
70 - 72 |
D |
60 - 69 |
F |
below 60 | |
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Weekly Online
Response Assignments |
30% |
Critical Response Paper |
30% |
Creative Hypertext Project |
30% |
Class Participation |
10% |
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TOTAL: |
100 % | |
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