Topics for First Paper

This first paper is intended to develop and test the following abilities:

• the ability to marshall evidence from the text in support of arguments about issues in the story
• the ability to imagine and summarize alternate points of view on issues in which there is evidence for multiple positions
• the ability to determine an author's probable beliefs or intentions from narratives in which those beliefs or intentions are not explicitly stated
• the ability to write clear, well organized prose

I will grade primarily on those criteria. All of the questions below require you to provide evidence for your claims; whether you use quotes or just paraphrase events, indicate where in the story or novel you find this evidence with a page number in parentheses. You do not need to provide a Works Cited.

Quality of thought is more important than length, but you should aim for about 5 pages.

Choose one of the following:

1) Imagine that an ecclesiastical court were to hold an inquiry into the death of Nathaniel from "The Sandman." At issue is the question of whether or not Nathaniel's death was the result of supernatural forces. The stakes are considerable, at least for his friends and family: if Nathaniel killed himself because he was possessed or otherwise influenced by demonic forces, then all of his property and possessions must be burned. If the events of his life can be explained by non-supernatural means, then his family can inherit his property in the usual way. The inquiry has progressed as one would expect: one lawyer has argued that Nathaniel was possessed; another has argued that he was not. You are the judge who must decide the case.

Write out your decision as judge, using evidence from the story to support your argument. You should take a view that is compatible with Hoffman's own view; that is, you should decide the case in favor of what you think really happened within the fictional world of the story. Everything that happens in the story has been introduced into evidence during the trial, so you may use any part of the story as evidence. Begin your decision with an introductory paragraph that summarizes the arguments on both sides and ends with your thesis.

2) Imagine that Elena from "The Algorithms for Love" has been sent to a cognitive psychologist for treatment after the events of the story have ended. The psychologist, in an effort to get Elena to confront her problems, has had her write down what happened to her and how she felt about it; the result is the story you have read, word for word. The psychologist publishes the account in the Psychology and Robotics Review as a case history of someone who believes that humans are no different from computers. The account prompts a debate in the letters to the editor section of the journal about the nature of human beings: some claim that Elena is right, humans are in fact like computers or robots; others claim that humans are demonstrably different from computers, and Elena thinks they're alike only because she is suffering from a psychological disorder.

Write a letter to the editor in which you express a position on the issue, using evidence from the story to support your argument. You should take a view that you think is compatible with Liu's own views; that is, you should represent what you think the author believes about the nature of humans. (This does not necessarily mean that you have to take one side or the other; various middle grounds or third alternatives are possible.) Begin the letter with an introductory paragraph that summarizes both sides of the debate so far and ends with your thesis.

3) Imagine that Willis Corto miraculously survived the unfortunate lifeboat incident described on pages 198-199 of Neuromancer. He was arrested by the Turing Police and charged with conspiring to augment an artificial intelligence. Although it might seem that the defense ought to have argued that Corto was not guilty by reason of diminished capacity, they in fact chose a different strategy: they claimed that it was not in fact Corto who conspired, but rather a different person, Armitage, who happened to be using Corto's body.The prosecution argued that the defense's notion of identity is mistaken (in some way you specify). You are the judge who must decide the case.

Write out your decision as judge, using evidence from the novel to support your argument. You should take a view that is compatible with Gibson's own views; that is, you should represent what you think the author believes about the nature of identity. Everything that happens in the novel has been introduced into evidence during the trial, so you may use any part of the story as evidence. Begin the letter with an introductory paragraph that summarizes both sides of the debate so far and ends with your thesis.