English 102 – Composition II
Cyberpunks and Technopagans: Technology and Society
Instructor: Christy Scheuer
E-mail: Christina.scheuer@seattlecolleges.edu
Course Time: Daily, 12:00-12:50 a.m.
Office: IB2306D
Course Location: CC 3449
Office Phone: (206) 934-4538
Course Website:
Office Hours: 9:00 a.m. – 9:50 daily and by
http://angel.northseattle.edu/default.asp
appointment
“For the cyberpunks . . . technology is visceral. It is not the bottled genie of remote Big
Science boffins; it is pervasive, utterly intimate. Not outside us, but next to us. Under our
skin; often, inside our minds. . . . Certain central themes spring up repeatedly in cyberpunk.
The theme of body invasion: prosthetic limbs, implanted circuitry, cosmetic surgery,
genetic alteration. The even more powerful theme of mind invasion: brain-computer
interfaces, artificial intelligence, neurochemistry—techniques radically redefining the
nature of humanity, the nature of the self.”
—Bruce Sterling, Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology
COURSE OBJECTIVES
As a literary genre, Cyberpunk refers to a series of science fiction novels that share a
preoccupation with highly advanced technology coupled with a radical breakdown in
the social order. William Gibson’s Neuromancer (1984), which is considered the first
and archetypal cyberpunk novel, is credited with popularizing the word “cyberspace.”
So why read these novels now? Although Cyberpunk was a relatively short-lived
literary movement, the world depicted in these novels has many parallels to our current
reality, and these works all ask questions that are critically important in this
technological age:
 How does technology affect the way that our minds work?
 How does technology change social interactions between humans or groups of
humans?
 How do our bodies interact with machines? Where do we draw the line between
humans and machines? Is that line important?
 What is the relationship between real and virtual reality?
 How has cyberspace altered our understanding of the world? How does
cyberspace itself continue to evolve and how might it evolve in the future?
In this class, we will examine our current reality in light of these cyberpunk fictions.
REQUIRED TEXTS
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Neil Stephenson, Snow Crash (any version)
Andrea Lunsford, Easy Writer (4th Ed.)
Additional readings can be found on the class Angel site:
http://angel.northseattle.edu/default.asp
English 102 Scheuer pg. 2
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You should also have a notebook in which you keep all of your class notes, drafts,
class assignments, and reading assignments. In addition, you will need a folder
with two pockets; you will use this to keep track of materials for each paper, and
you’ll turn this is with every major essay.
COURSE OBJECTIVES/LEARNING OUTCOMES
The English Department at NSCC has established the following course objectives for
English 102. This course is designed to help you improve your ability to:
1. Read critically in order to analyze, discuss, evaluate, and respond to texts.
2. Access, evaluate, and apply information from a variety of sources.
3. Write in order to discover the meanings in other texts.
4. Write in order to discover your own ideas in relation to the writing of others.
5. Write to communicate ideas to a particular audience.
6. Paraphrase, summarize, quote, and cite sources according to MLA form and integrate
source materials smoothly into your own words to add support and emphasis to your
own writing.
7. Understand the importance of intellectual honesty and avoid plagiarism.
8. Take responsibility for producing writing that has been revised, edited, and
proofread.
9. Continue the development of your own voice as a writer.
10. Work and communicate effectively in both large and small groups, which requires
that you recognize the value of divergent views, tolerate ambiguity, and develop both
listening and speaking skills.
GRADES
Three Major Units
Essay 1: Snow Crash: Analyzing the “Metaverse”
2 Seminar Papers (2 x 25 pts)
Paper Proposal
Introduction and Outline Draft
Full Rough Draft and Peer Review (Jan. 23)
Final Draft (Jan. 27)
50 points
10 points
10 points
25 points
100 points
Essay 2: Synthesis of Multiple Texts
Seminar Paper (1 x 25 pts)
Paper Proposal
Introduction and Outline Draft
Full Rough Draft and Peer Review (Feb. 14)
Final Draft (Feb. 21)
25 points
10 points
10 points
25 points
100 points
Essay 3: Research Paper Project
Seminar Paper (1 x 25 pts)
25 points
English 102 Scheuer pg. 3
Project Proposal (Brief)
Project Proposal (Longer)
Presentation (March 1-5)
Annotated Bibliography (March 8)
First two pages
Full Rough Draft and Peer Review (March 14)
Final Draft (March 19)
Homework, in-class writing and quizzes (12 x 5 pts)
Participation
Total:
5 points
10 points
50 points
100 points
10 points
25 points
150 points
60 points
50 points
850 points
DEVELOPING A COMMUNITY OF WRITERS
Students come to this class with a broad range of educational, writing, and personal
experiences. This diversity enhances our class by expanding its range and
providing us with new ideas to discuss. It is very important that you are supportive
and respectful of every student’s work and opinions so that the classroom is an
environment in which everyone feels welcome. Writing can be difficult and frustrating
at times, but the writing process is much more enjoyable and rewarding if we work
through it together.
I hope that, during the course of the quarter, you will become increasingly comfortable
and confident with the writing process. Please communicate with me at any time
regarding any concerns or questions you have about the course. You can come to my
office hours or make an appointment if you would like to talk about your progress in
the class, specific assignments, or any other concerns or questions that arise during the
quarter. I’m here to help you, and I enjoy talking to students about their writing.
English 102 Scheuer pg. 4
COURSE POLICIES:
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Attend daily. The importance of attending regularly cannot be overestimated.
Please arrive at class on time and expect to remain until class is over. Your
attendance and participation will figure into your final grade in the form of points
assigned for in-class exercises as well as a participation grade. These exercises
cannot be made up. If you arrive late or leave early and miss an in-class exercise,
you will not be permitted to complete the exercise you missed.
Papers must be typed. All assignments (including drafts) should be typed, doublespaced, using 12 point Times New Roman font. I will not accept handwritten drafts.
Save your work. It is your responsibility to keep an extra copy of all assignments
that you turn in.
Submit your work on time. An assignment is counted late if you do not submit it
during class on the date it is due. In-class exercises, seminar papers, and drafts (the
small stuff) will not be accepted late. The major papers may be submitted late, but
for each class period an assignment is late, your grade on that assignment will be
reduced by one letter grade. For example, an A paper that is received one class late
will be reduced to a B; two class periods late, a C; three classes late, a D; and four
classes late, an F. If an assignment is turned in even 1 minute after class time on the
day it is due, it will be counted as one day late. Absolutely no late work will be
accepted after March 18.
Drafts and revisions are required for the three major papers. The major papers
will go through a typed draft version and a final, corrected version before a grade is
assigned. In terms of the grading system, drafts and final versions constitute
separate assignments, with drafts receiving point for completion. If a draft is
handwritten, haphazard, or incomplete, you will not receive full points. Failure to
bring a draft to class on the assigned date will result in a zero. Drafts will be turned
in with final version in a two-pocket folder.
RESOURCES
Accessibility and Disability Services: My goal is to make the classroom as accessible
as possible to all students. If you require any disability-related accommodations,please
contact disability services office to make arrangements for the most appropriate
accommodations. To make an appointment, contact the Disability Services office by
phone at (206) 527-3697, TTY at (206) 526-0079 modem, or e-mail at ds@sccd.ctc.edu.
Their website can be found here: https://northseattle.edu/disability-services.
The Loft Writing Center: Need feedback on your writing? Visit the Loft Writing Center
Plus on the top floor of the library to get help during every stage of the writing process
from brainstorming and outlining through the final polishing phase. You'll find more
information including hours of operation at https://northseattle.edu/loft-writingcenter
English 102 Scheuer pg. 5
Library: The library is a phenomenal resource to use if you have questions about
research or sources—or really questions about anything. We will head to the library a
few times as a class so that you can become more familiar with all that it has to offer.
You can find useful information at https://library.northseattle.edu/
E-MAIL
E-mail is usually the most effective way to get a hold of me. Please e-mail me at any time
with any questions that you may have about the course. I will have office hours each
week, but feel free to e-mail me if these hours do not work for you, and we can set up a
different time to meet. We can also arrange e-office hours (over the internet) if it
becomes difficult to meet in person.
In this class, we will focus on developing effective rhetorical skills; therefore, I expect
your e-mails to be written in clear and communicative prose and proofread for mistakes.
A NOTE ON (AND AGAINST) PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism is the intentional use of someone else’s words or ideas without giving that
person credit. This includes submitting someone else’s essay in its entirety or in parts
as your own, using any words, phrasing, and/or ideas from a source (this includes the
Internet) without proper citation, having someone else write your paper or assisting so
much that the phrasing and ideas are no longer your own, and re-submitting an essay
previously written for another class. Plagiarism is absolutely prohibited and may result
in receiving a “0” on the paper and/or discipline on the part of the college
administration.
One of the primary objectives of this course is to learn and implement proper methods
for documenting sources so that you can avoid accidental plagiarism, both in this class
and in your other courses.
WEATHER-RELATED EMERGENCIES
In the case of a weather-related emergency (such as a snow storm), I will e-mail the
class. We will try to maintain our course schedule even in the midst of potential
cancelations; therefore, if you have an assignment due on a day when school is
canceled, you should e-mail me that assignment on the day that it’s due. This way, we
can avoid getting behind schedule.