The Sequel

  This class has really opened my eyes to the world of science fiction. When I first signed up for it, I assumed the stories and our discussions would let the geek in me come out, close-mindedly expecting to read only stories taking place in outer space or with robots or something.  I have to say that I was so pleasantly surprised that this was not the case, and that I absolutely adored coming to class! (No sucking up here, I promise it's true!)  The stories were so interesting and creative.  I can truly say that after learning what it is that makes a science fiction story science fiction, it might just be my new favorite genre.
  Which brings me to what I think was the most useful thing I learned throughout the semester, the concept of the "novum." Looking at a story in terms of what it is that makes that world different from the real world is really the whole point of reading it.  It seems like a pretty basic concept; something has to be different in order for the story to be fiction.  But actually learning more about that concept made me really start to consider it more for every story. Authors of these science fiction stories had such unique ideas, for example with my personal favorite of the semester, "Baby, You Were Great," Wilhelm took the concept of reality television and just added in the factor of being able to experience emotions as well. Since I was focusing a lot more on that little tweak I was able to read the story with, as you mentioned for our third paper, a sort of lens. Everything from minor details in the story to the style in which the author wrote it seemed to be surrounded by that small change.
  Another thing we learned that I found useful was the concept of close focus reading.  Again, though it seems so simple of an idea, it's not something that I really ever thought about.  Examining the text so closely line by line really makes you realize that everything the author puts into a story is there for a reason.  Reading this way taught me to think so much more about a certain character or setting, and why they said something, did something, were described in a certain way, etc.
  I really really enjoyed this class and all the stories, and how you would get us all talking about them every class.  As I said before, "Baby, You Were Great" was my favorite, but "Persistence of Vision" was a close second! Oh, and on that note I think starting the class off with "Liar!" is a really good idea...it is a fast moving interesting read that, at least in my opinion, really did a nice job of getting me excited to see what science fiction was all about!