DAILY HOMEWORK

Note: bulleted assignments are due on the date immediately above the bulleted list.

Wednesday, August 27, 2025

• First Day of Class.

Monday, September 1, 2025

• NO CLASS: Labor Day

Tuesday, September 2, 2025

• NO CLASS: We don’t meet on Tuesdays.

• Last day to add 15-week course without professor’s signature.

Wednesday, September 3, 2025

• Read the instructions and complete the Contact Information handout.
• Read the instructions and complete the Student Contract handout.

• Read and mark the following selections Found in the “Readings” section of our Canvas page:
• “How to Really Read This Book"
• “A Special Note on Taking Separate Notes on Readings Rather Than Marking Text”
• “How to Prepare for Dr. Halbert’s Midterm and Final Exams”
• "A Brief Introduction to Science Fiction and Its History"
• [skim only, no need to mark] "A Selective Guide to Science Fiction Research"
• from The War of the Worlds—H.G. Wells
• "A Martian Odyssey" –Stanley G. Weinbaum
• "The Fact of Blackness"—Frantz Fanon

• Watch and take notes on Blade Runner (Final Cut). You can see where it is legally streaming here.

Monday, September 8, 2025

• Read and mark "A Cyborg Manifesto"—Donna J. Haraway (Found in the “Readings” section of our Canvas page).WARNING: This text is going to challenge you and will require multiple nights to complete. This is a 10-point reading.

Wednesday, September 10, 2025

• Read and mark "Liar!"—Isaac Asimov (Found in the “Readings” section of our Canvas page).
• Read and mark "Burning Chrome"—William Gibson (Found in the “Readings” section of our Canvas page).

Monday, September 15, 2025

• Read and mark "Second Variety" by Philip K. Dick (Found in the “Readings” section of our Canvas page).
• Read and mark “When I Was Miss Dow” (Found in the “Readings” section of our Canvas page).
• Read and take notes on the Handout “Dealing with Titles in MLA Format” on the class web page.

Tuesday, September 16, 2025

• NO CLASS: We don’t meet on Tuesdays.
• Last day to drop 15-week course before withdrawal required to exit course.

Wednesday, September 17, 2025

• Read and mark selection From Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex (Found in the “Readings” section of our Canvas page).
• Withdrawal without signature period begins for 15-week courses.

Monday, September 22, 2025

• Scholarly Article Analysis Project: read and mark Lisa Yaszek’s “Of Fossils and Androids: (Re)Producing Sexual Identity in ‘Jurassic Park’ and "’Blade Runner’" and then complete the questions found on the template document in the Scholarly Article Analysis Project.  (20 points for the response, 5 for marking and reading the text)
• Class will end at 11:20 AM today.

Wednesday, September 24, 2025

• Read and mark "The Girl Who Was Plugged In" (Found in the “Readings” section of our Canvas page).
• Midterm Exam Quotation Assignment Due.  Submit to “Midterm Quotations” Assignment.

Monday, September 29, 2025

• Draft of Paper #1 due.  Post a copy in the "Paper #1: Draft" Discussion Board topic. Posting is worth five points.
• We will have a workshop on your drafts today worth 20 points. You must attend class with a completed draft printed for a partner to read to get those points. Incomplete drafts will be prorated, but it is better to come with a partial draft than to skip class.
• If you had an accommodations letter sent to me, please send me an email to remind me that you will need extra time on the midterm exam so I can make arrangements.

Wednesday, October 1, 2025

• Read and mark "The Algorithms for Love" by Ken Liu (Found in the “Readings” section of our Canvas page).
• Read and mark "Mars Is Heaven!"—Ray Bradbury (Found in the “Readings” section of our Canvas page).
• Read and mark "Bloodchild"—Octavia E. Butler (Found in the “Readings” section of our Canvas page).

Monday, October 6, 2025

• Final draft of Paper #1 due by noon in the “Paper 1: Final Draft (Graded copy)” in Assignments (for up to 200 points) and the “Paper 1: Final Draft (Discussion Board)” option (for 5 points).  See checklist for details.

Wednesday, October 8, 2025

• Midterm Exam. Make sure you prepare an exam card.

Monday, October 13, 2025

• Read and mark Orson Scott Card’s “Ender’s Game” (the original short story version, not the novel, available online).
• Please arrange to view Gattaca. You can see where Gattaca is legally streaming here. Take notes that will serve as your reading check for the film.

Wednesday, October 15, 2025

• Read and mark "Ideology and Terror: A Novel Form of Government"—Hannah Arendt (Found in the “Readings” section of our Canvas page).  This non-fiction theoretical piece is a bit challenging.

Monday, October 20, 2025

• Read and mark Sections 1 and 2 1984. Pages 1-230. (10 points)

Wednesday, October 22, 2025

• Finish reading and marking 1984. Pages 231-308. (5 points)
• Read the final essay in 1984, "The Principles of Newspeak.”

Monday, October 27, 2025

• Read and mark pages 3-195 of The Handmaid's Tale ("I: Night" until "XII: Jezebel's"). (10 points)

Wednesday, October 29, 2025

• Finish reading and marking pages 199-211 of The Handmaid's Tale ("XII: Jezebel's" through the end of the "Historical Note"). (5 points)
• Withdrawal without signature period ends today.

Thursday, October 30, 2025

• NO CLASS: We do not meet on Thursdays.
• Withdrawal with faculty signature begins for 15-week courses.

Monday, November 3, 2025

• Read and mark Chapters 1-12 of The Three Body Problem (pages 9-163). (10 points)

Wednesday, November 5, 2025

• Read and mark Chapters 13-24 of The Three Body Problem (pages 164-282). (5 points)
• We will discuss our second paper, which requires research

Monday, November 10, 2025

• Finish reading and marking The Three Body Problem (Chapter 25-35, pages 283-390). You do not have to read the afterwords.

Wednesday, November 12, 2025

• Library Orientation. We will meet in the library: check announcements for specific location.
• Post a half-page description of one or two topics you are considering for Paper #2 that requires library research. Indicate the author, text, and overall topic about the text. Copy and paste AND attach the description to the “Research Paper Topics” Discussion Board Topic.
• Attendance counts double today.

Thursday, November 13, 2025

• NO CLASS: We don’t meet on Thursdays.
• Withdrawal with faculty signature ends for 15-week courses. After today, you will need to apply for a WEX from the administration.

Monday, November 17, 2025

• Read and mark chapters 1-6 of Watchmen. Since the text is a graphic novel, I suggest using large Post-it notes so that you do not have to cover up the pictures that are as much a part of the text as the words.

Wednesday, November 19, 2025

• Read and mark the rest of Watchmen.

Monday, November 24, 2025

• Draft of Paper #2 Due. Post a copy in the "Paper #2: Draft" Discussion Board topic. Posting is worth five points.
• We will have a workshop on your drafts today worth 20 points. You must attend class with a completed draft printed for a partner to read to get those points. Incomplete drafts will be prorated, but it is better to come with a partial draft than to skip class.

• If you had an accommodations letter sent to me, please send me an email to remind me that you will need extra time on the final exam so I can make arrangements.

Wednesday, November 26, 2025

• NO CLASS: MCCC is closed for Thanksgiving Break.

Monday, December 1, 2025

• Read and mark Chapters 1-13 of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Wednesday, December 3, 2025

• Finish reading and marking The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Monday, December 8, 2025

• Read and mark “The Nine Billion Names of God” by Arthur C. Clark.
• Read and mark “The Star” by Arthur C. Clark.
• Our last class meeting (and last day of 15-week courses for Fall 2025).
• It is always a good idea to attend and arrive on time to any final course meeting in college.

Wednesday, December 10, 2025

• Final Exam: 10:20am – 12:20pm in our regular classroom.
• Bring your exam card.
• Last day to resolve missing work.

Friday, December 12, 2025

• No Class: we have no more class meetings.
• Final Draft of Paper #2 due by noon. Post to “Paper #2 Final Draft: Discussion Board” (for 5 points) and to “Paper #2 Final Draft: Graded Copy” (for up to 200 points). See checklist for details.

Monday, December 15, 2025

• No Class: we have no more class meetings.
• Optional Major Paper Rewrite of Paper #1 due by noon. Please submit to “Major Paper Rewrite” Assignment.

End of Semester Reminders:

• Attend the final meeting of all your classes.
• Check your Montco email and Canvas announcements every day until Dr. Halbert says the grades are posted.
• Don’t email Dr. Halbert to see if the grades are done: he will announce when he is done.
• Do check your gradebook on Canvas during exam week to see individual assignment grades as they are entered.
• If there is a problem with a graded assignment, please email Dr. Halbert immediately.
• Faculty have until 11:59 PM on December 17th to get their grades in, but if they submit them sooner, they do not have to look at any work you try to submit late. Bear that in mind with your other professors.