Future Technology Analysis

Objective

To identify a specific example of anticipated technology in a work on the list of assigned readings for the course and analyze the function of this instance of authorial speculation in the novel.

Overview

Science fiction is speculative in nature: it uses evidence from the past and present in order to predict a future development. Or, if not a future development, an alternative development. In this paper, focus on one specific example of an author's speculative work by identifying a technological innovation that had not yet happened at the time of writing. Explain clearly what that innovation is and then consider the manner in which the author's portrayal of it sheds light on:

• that technology's real-life counterparts—in the author's time and in our own.

• more generally, the nature of human dependence on technological innovations.

• this novel's contribution to, and/or critique of a more general narrative of human progress and advancement through technological change.

Support your argument by including quotations from the book, each followed by a page number in parentheses. Such quotations might be from the writer's description or illustration of a character, from the setting or from things the character does or says. To add clarity to your argument, it may be useful to compare the character to other characters in the book.

Questions for Development

Do not attempt to answer all of these questions in your paper. These are just to give you some ideas as you attempt to develop your argument. When answering some of these questions in your paper, make sure you do so in a way that is consistent with your overall argument.

• Which problem did people seek to solve through the development of this technology?

• Does this technology have a clear connection to the concept of efficiency? If so, how?

• What are the possible unintended consequences of the development of this technology?

• Which scene in the novel best portrays the advantages and/or disadvantages associated with implementing this technological development?

• What are the present-day, real-world equivalents to this technology?

• What did the author get right when attempting to predict this form of development? And, what did the author get wrong?

• How central or marginal to the overall narrative is this technological development?

• What was it about this particular technological innovation that made it significant enough to write about for this paper?

Procedure

1. Take another look at the book you will be writing about for this assignment. Look back over your notes and reread important sections of the book.

2. Develop a thesis statement that addresses the questions in the above prompt for your book. This thesis can change once you have written a draft of an argument in support of it.

3. Write a draft of your paper referring directly to specific words and phrases in the chosen work to support your claims. At some point, write an outline of your argument, so that you can make its structure as clear as possible to your readers. Remember, this paper needs to be more than just a plot summary.

4. Revise your draft extensively.

5. Having completed your revisions, proofread your paper. Watch out for typos, incorrect punctuation and other problems. Do not hesitate to look these rules up. The Online Writing Lab at Purdue University offers an extremely helpful collection of guidelines for using the MLA Format, and you can find it at "http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/".Go to that website and click on "MLA Formatting and Style Guide" in the right-hand column.

6. Turn in the completed final draft on November 15th, 2018, in class.

   Writing Tips

   1. A key step in writing a clear argument is a clear thesis statement in the opening paragraph. A thesis statement should:

      1. Be a one-sentence statement of your paper's central argument.

      2. Be arguable. If reasonable readers will agree with your thesis statement right away, then it is not arguable enough. Take a stand on an issue that will generate a healthy discussion.

   2. Organize your ideas in a logical manner. Do not let the order of events in the story determine the order of claims you are making about the character in this paper. In other words, this paper is not a plot summary. Instead, organize your argument according to arguable sub-topics that fit together to back up your thesis statement.

   3. MLA format means you should include a list of works cited at the end of your paper. In this paper, it will likely include only one work (though, you are always welcome to supplement your analysis with a little extra research). For example:

      Ishiguro, Kazuo. Never Let Me Go. Knopf, 2006.

   4. Some grammatical tips:

      1. Refer to events in a work of literature in the present tense. This may sound strange at first, but it is the convention for addressing literature. Notice that we tend to follow this rule in class discussion.

      2. Avoid using the passive voice whenever it is possible to do so. For example, replace "This book was written by Octavia Butler" with "Octavia Butler wrote this book."

      3. Avoid contractions when writing college papers. Replace "they're" with "they are" and replace "don't" with "do not" (these are just a few examples of the numerous possible contractions out there).

      4. Italicization is the best way to signal that you are referring to a word itself and not to the thing that the word represents:

         For example:

         I rode my bicycle to school today.

         The word bicycle has three syllables.

         (In the second sentence, I italicized bicycle because I was talking about the word, not the thing.)

         You should also italicize titles of books (including in parenthetical references and lists of works cited) and foreign-language words like picador or ennui.

      5. The word it's (with an apostrophe) is a contraction of it is. The word its (without an apostrophe) is the possessive form of it. In other words, the word it's should never appear in your paper because it is a contraction.

   Assignment Grading Standards

   A	Confident, persuasive written expression An original approach to the work in question A strong thesis statement that is arguable and interesting Exemplary in the clarity and organization of its argument Engaging to its audience in a manner that commands attention Consistently good use of evidence in support of contentions and in accordance with MLA format Nearly flawless mechanically (format, spelling, grammar)
   B	Clear written expression with a few minor breakdowns Somewhat original approach to the work in question A strong thesis statement that is arguable and interesting Well-organized argument that signals its structure to readers by way of effective transitional sentences Good use of evidence to support your contentions and in accordance with MLA format Only a few mechanical flaws
   C	Satisfies the basic demands of the assignment Generally clear though with some breakdowns Makes a clear argument about the meaning of the passage A thesis statement that is arguable and interesting A well-organized argument Use of evidence in support of your contentions and in accordance with MLA format, though not consistently Several mechanical flaws, but not so many that they confuse the meaning of your paper
   D	Almost satisfies the basic demands of the assignment Numerous breakdowns impairing the clarity of the argument Thesis statement is either not arguable or is uninteresting Argument has minimal organization Use of evidence to support contentions is wildly inconsistent and/or not in accordance with the MLA format Numerous mechanical flaws interfering with paper clarity
   F	Does not satisfy the basic demands of the assignment Unclear writing style Lacks a thesis statement No clear argument—seemingly random arrangement of ideas Mechanical flaws throughout the paper No use of evidence to support the argument Plagiarized work