Time Travel Narratives | OTIS

Group Project - Paper II

Page history last edited by JM Venturini 3 mos ago

Purpose/Goal:

To quote from an essay written by Debra Ballard, Chair of Liberal Arts and Sciences for Otis College of Art and Design, "We live in a transformed world where innovation and global savvy are the foundations of individual success and opportunities, a complex global village that is constantly changing, where it is important to be able to understand and appreciate the diversity of cultures, ideas, and experiences . . . Unlike previous generations, current data and trends indicate that the average person will change careers four to five times in his/her lifetime. Many of the jobs you will have do not even exist right now." Consequently, you will need to prepare for a sustainable life. Ballard contunes that such preparation begins "by fostering adaptability and lifelong learning through transferable intellectual resilience and practical applications. Learning, growing, evolving are habits of mind that should not cease upon the receipt of a paper diploma. Education should cultivate the creative, productive, and innovative habits of mind. How can you find any lasting touchstones in a world where trends and fame last 15 minutes? You live in the 'Knowledge Age,' where you need to be able to find, evaluate and use unprecedented amounts of information through traditional sources and most impacting, the Internet. The most effective way to deal sustainably with an information glutted society is to have well-honed critical thinking, reading, writing, and evaluating abilities. You live in a moment when opinions are easily disseminated and just as easily discarded. How will you separate mere opinion from a valid position?" ("The Liberal Arts and Sciences", 2009).

The challenge of this assignment will be on one hand, asking you to develop your critical thinking, reading, writing, and evaluating skills, and on the other hand, develop your interpersonal skills by working with a diverse group of individuals, namely your peers. This wiki allows for collaboration but of course, collaboration for this project will only work if all those involved have similar a interest and desire to do well. You will be sent to research and will be required to critically evalute the information your find as you conduct your search.

Challenges of Group Work:

I know many of you may not find group projects valuable. The most common concern is one I have experienced often as a student myself. I wanted the good grade and worked hard on my work. I was invariably placed in a group with slackers who were content to float by with a C. Therefore, I was left doing all the work and they still received the same grade I did. Another similar complaint may occur where groups members are having difficulty contributing because their perspective and/or opinions are dismissed. Other frustrations can occur because individuals have different work ethics. Some work in advance and others wait until the absolute last minute. What I have done in crafting this assignment is attempted to alleviate some of these issues by outling specific tasks to individuals within a group. Each member of the group will select the individual role they feel best speaks to their strengths and abilities. In terms of grading, there will be a grade given by peers that will evaluate your individual work/progress and my grades evaluating the end products. If this sounds confusing, it may be more clear once you read through the actual assignments.

In working with your group, I suggest you make sure you have each other's best contacts and set a schedule of when you will work together. Since this is an online course, there is no guarantee that you will all be in the same geographic area to meet, let alone time zone. Remember there is email and facebook to help you facilitate communicating with each other. LISTEN TO EACH OTHER!!!

If you have any problems working with your group - please let me know ASAP! In addition, these groups were chosen based upon your submitted blog work, the thoughts and ideas expressed therein.

Overall Assignment:

Each group will be tasked with reading H.G. Wells's novel, The Time Machine, focusing on a particular broad topic that should serve to guide your analysis of the work, in other words figure out the meaning and the implications within this novel. For example, in parts of my lecture notes I analyzed aspects of the book focusing on the subject of class distinction and how it was represented and conveyed within the novel. Each group will work on a collaborative article to be posted on this wiki in which they share their analysis of The Time Machine with their peers. The length of the wiki entry must be between 2,500 - 3,000 words. Your article will include research from credible sources that help develop and support your analysis. You will also create two questions related to your analysis that your peers from the different groups will be asked to answer using the text to support.

I will be breaking everything down into parts to make this assignment easier. Go here for further guidance.

Your Group's Pages:

Group A, Group B, Group C, Group D

How to Analyze Text:

1. Read or reread the text with specific questions in mind.

2. Remember basic ideas of the plot, key events and names.

3. Think through your personal reaction to the book: identification, enjoyment, significance, application.

4. Identify and consider the most important ideas that connect to your topic.

5. Return to the text to locate specific evidence and passages related to your topic and your ideas in interpreting that topic.

6. Following the principles of analyzing a passage described below.

Principles of Analyzing a Passage:

* Discuss what happens in the passage and why it is significant to the work as a whole.

* Consider what is said, particularly subtleties of the imagery and the ideas expressed.

* Assess how it is said, considering how the diction (word choice), the ordering of ideas, sentence structure, etc., contribute to the meaning of the passage and the mood (feeling) evoked by this language.

* Explain what it means, tying your analysis of the passage back to the significance of the text as a whole.^[1]

Groups and Topic:

Below are the members of the group, your topic, as well as some questions to help you start thinking. These are broad topics and can be interpreted in many different ways.

Group A: Mike, Cynthia, Joe ---> Human Sustainability/Evolution

(How is the "human" being represented in The Time Machine. What is "human"? How are the theories of evolution portrayed? Are the Eloi and Morlocks human? Why or why not? Does the human being persist?)

Group B: Arielle, Chris, Julia ---> Social Responsibility

(Is the Time Traveler obligated to his Victorian society to use his invention responsibility? Should the Time Traveler have traveled in time at all?)

Group C: Wade, Cristina, Andrea ---> Ethics

(In looking at the actions of the Time Traveler, was he right or wrong? Should he be allowed to travel through time? How does he view the Morlocks and Eloi and are his judgements of the rightness or wrongness of their action founded?)

Group D: Kelvin, Won Woong, Yat ---> Gender

(How are women portrayed in this novel? How are men characterized? What is the narrator's attitude to women and men? How does Wells, as the author, depict women and men? What are the similarities and/or differences?)

Roles within the Group:

Every member will be responsible for reading, researching and writing equally. However, in addition to that I have outlined three roles that will carry additional specific responsibilities.

Main Researcher: It will be your job to lead your peers in your groups' research efforts. You will be in charge of evaluating the research findings for your group to determine the quality and credibility of the source information. You will be in charge of collecting all the useful information from the groups' research that can be utilized in your group's article as direct quotes and/or paraphrases. You will also be in charge of emailing me your group's work and will be the primary point of contact for me as your instructor.

Main Editor: It will be your responsibility to review and edit your groups written work, correcting spelling and/or grammar errors. In addition, you will need to ensure that all MLA documentation procedures are followed correctly, including the Works Cited page and in Text citations.

Main Reader: It will be your responsibility to help your peers interpret and analyze the text, perhaps explaining key points that may not be understood. Part of your responsibility will be to help your group articulate a clear thesis and focus for your analysis. In addition, you will be tasked with creating/designing the blank wiki page** on this site for your peers to access, making sure the content is as visually engaging, easy to navigate, find links to authoritative sources, and read.

***The link to the wiki pages are on the homepage.