English 140:
SCIENCE FICTION
R. Gorsch
Dante 308 / 631-4470
rgorsch@stmarys-ca.edu
The science fiction method is dissection and reconstruction. You look at the
world around you, and you take it apart into all its components. Then you
take some of those components, throw them away, and plug in different ones,
start it up and see what happens. That's the method: restructure the world we
live in in some way, then see what happens.
Frederik Pohl, Locus (Oct. 2000)
REQUIRED TEXTS:
"FAME" = Robert Silverberg, ed., The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume 1
(1970). Readings from this collection will be listed in the schedule as "FAME."
H. G. Wells, The Time Machine (Dover)
Ray Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles (Bantam)
Arthur C. Clarke, Childhood's End (Del Rey)
Frederick Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth, The Space Merchants (St.Martin's)
Walter M. Miller, Jr., A Canticle for Leibowitz (Bantam)
Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land (Ace). Note: We will be using the
original 1961 version of the novel--the cheap paperback--and not the later "Uncut"
version.
Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep; sometimes published as Blade
Runner (Del Rey)
Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness (Ace)
William Gibson, Burning Chrome (Ace)
NOTES ON THE TEXTS:
Some additional texts (marked with * in the schedule) will be distributed in class as
xeroxes or sent to you electronically as pdf. files. You should be able to open these files with
Adobe Acrobat, which is a free download. If you have any trouble opening the electronic texts,
please let me know as soon as possible. I will be using your official SMC email addresses to
contact you. Make sure you check your Inbox.
For the books you don't necessarily have to have the editions listed here and sold in the
bookstore. It will help if we can all refer to the same pages, but if you already have a copy of
one or more of the books, go ahead and use them. Feel free to scour used bookstores: most of
these books have been in print for decades and copies can be had for very reasonable prices.
LEARNING GOALS:
 Engage in close reading and serious analysis of a group of science fiction texts.
 Read with attention to the language and formal features of each text; note each writer’s
use and revision of conventions of the genre and be able to relate formal features of each
text to the writer’s purpose.
 Apply appropriate critical vocabulary (“point of view,” “plot,” “genre,” “literary
convention,” for example) in your analysis of texts.
 Develop familiarity with the evolution of science fiction from the late 19th century until
today; understand the place of each text studied within that evolution.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
These are simple: read carefully and seriously, participate actively in class discussions,
write two to three short papers, and complete a final take-home exam in which you will use
your knowledge of individual texts to comment on some aspect of science fiction as a literary
genre.
A word on serious reading: Some (by no means all) of the readings are smooth
sailing, so easy and amusing that you'll find yourself wondering whether it's fair to have
this count for class credit. You'll have to work hard to be a serious and critical reader,
and not just a "consumer." That's what I'm asking you to do: apply what you've learned
in Collegiate Seminar courses and/or in other English courses to these readings; and
where that doesn't work, try to figure out what will work to help you talk about them in a
serious way.
SCHEDULE (REVISED):
* Texts marked with an asterisk will be supplied in class or sent electronically to you as pdf
files. Stories marked with the word FAME will be found in Silverberg, The Science Fiction
Hall of Fame.
I. PROLOGUE
H. G. Wells
*H. G. Wells
The Time Machine (1895)
The War of the Worlds (1898), ch. 1-2
II. THE EARLY DAYS OF PULP SCIENCE FICTION
*Edgar Rice Burroughs
*Hugo Gernsback
*E. E. "Doc" Smith
*C. L. Moore
Stanley G. Weinbaum
John W. Campbell, Jr.
A Princess of Mars (1912), ch. 2-end -> ch. 4.
Ralph 124C 41+ (1911-12), ch. 1.
From The Lensman Series (1934-1948): Galactic Patrol
(1937-8, rev. 1950), ch. 1-2, and Triplanetary (1934;
rev. 1948), ch. 1.
"Shambleau" (1933).
"A Martian Odyssey" (1934): FAME
"Twilight" (1934) FAME
-->SCIENCE FICTION IN COMICS, RADIO, AND MOVIES (1920'S-40'S):
*
*Orson Welles
*Howard Koch
The Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, and Superman comic strips
and radio and movie serials (1928 and later).
"War of the Worlds" Mercury Theatre of the Air, C.B.S. (1938).
"The Aftermath," The Panic Broadcast (1970).
-->SCIENCE FICTION IN FILM:
*Metropolis (1926)
*Things to Come (1936)
III. THE "GOLDEN AGE" OF SCIENCE FICTION (1938-1946)
Lester del Rey
Theodore Sturgeon
"Helen O'Loy" (1938) FAME
"Microcosmic God" (1941) FAME
*A. E. van Vogt
A. E. van Vogt
"Discord in Scarlet" (1940)
The Weapon Shops Series (1941-43): "The Weapon Shop" (1942)
*Robert A. Heinlein
*Robert A. Heinlein
*Robert A. Heinlein
*Robert A. Heinlein
"Requiem" (1940)
[Future History Chart] (1941)
"By His Bootstraps" (1941)
"Universe" (1941)
*Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov
*Isaac Asimov
The Robot Series (1940-1950): "Liar!" (1941), I, Robot (1950)
"Nightfall" (1941) FAME
The Foundation series (1942-53): "The Psychohistorians,"
Foundation (1951).
Lewis Padgett
Clifford D. Simak
Frederic Brown
"Mimsy Were the Borogoves" (1943) FAME
The City Series (1944-52): "Huddling Place" (1944) FAME
"Arena" (1944) FAME
IV. AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR
Ray Bradbury
Judith Merril
Fritz Leiber
Ray Bradbury
"The Million-Year Picnic" (1946) (original title: "The Family
Outing"): The Martian Chronicles, pp. 172-181
"That Only a Mother" (1948) FAME
"Coming Attraction" (1950) FAME
"There Will Come Soft Rains" (1950): The Martian
Chronicles, pp. 166-172
Ray Bradbury
The Martian Chronicles (1946-1950), pp. 1-166.
Arthur C. Clarke
Childhood's End (1950-1953)
-->"SCIENCE FICTION MOVIES OF THE 1950's": Destination: Moon (1950), The
Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), When Worlds Collide (1951), The Thing (from Another
World) (1951), The War of the Worlds (1953), Invaders from Mars (1953), Forbidden
Planet (1956), and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956).
Cordwainer Smith
"Scanners Live in Vain" (1948) FAME
James Blish
"Surface Tension" (1952) FAME
Frederick Pohl
The Space Merchants (1952; book, 1953): with C. M.
Kornbluth
--> SCIENCE FICTION IN RADIO (1950s):
Tom Godwin
"The Cold Equations" (1954) FAME
"The Cold Equations," X Minus One, N.B.C., Aug. 25, 1955
Walter M. Miller, Jr.
A Canticle for Leibowitz (1955-57; book, 1961): read "Fiat
Homo," pp. 1-98.
V. THE SIXTIES AND AFTER
-->SCIENCE FICTION IN TELEVISION (1960s):
The Twilight Zone (1959-1964): "The Obsolete Man" (1961). (Go
to fancast.com/tv/The-Twilight-Zone)
Robert A. Heinlein
Stranger in a Strange Land (1961)
Roger Zelazny
"A Rose for Ecclesiastes" (1963) FAME
Star Trek (1966-68): original U.S. television series (Go to
fancast.com/tv/Star-Trek):
--"Arena" (1967): compare with Frederic Brown, "Arena"
--"Star Seed" (1967)
The Prisoner (1967-68): British television series: Episode 1:
"Arrival." (Go to http://www.amctv.com/originals/theprisoner-1960s-series/)
Philip K. Dick
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968).
Ursula K. Le Guin
The Left Hand of Darkness (1969)
-->SCIENCE FICTION IN FILM IN THE 60s, 70s, and 80s: 2001: A Space Odyssey
(1968), the Star Wars trilogy (1977-83), and Blade Runner (1982).
"CYBERPUNK"
William Gibson
Bruce Sterling
"Johnny Mnemonic" and "Burning Chrome"
(1981-82), in Burning Chrome
"Preface" to Burning Chrome (1986)