Making Up Unit Points

If at the end of a unit, you don't have the full number of points from taking quizzes  (unit points for SF),  you can make them up in several ways  (All extra points are due to me within two weeks of the end of that unit):

• You can do journal entries-- 1 point per journal entry.  Each entry must be AT LEAST 250 words.  Each journal should focus on one reading: a novel, a set of criticism, a set of short stories.  A good starting point for journal entries is often the study guide questions in the Xerox packet and posted on line.  The point of the journal entry is to prove to me you have done the reading, so don't just repeat what was said  in class and don't go off on a tangent.  I can't give you credit for reading The Time Machine for a rant on how awful the movie verion  was or how interesting some other Wells novel is.
• Journal entry possibilities for Unit 1 include:
• Using Campbell's description of the hero's journey, analyze the structure of a SF novel or film of your choice
• Discuss your definition of SF , quoting from definitions in the SFE and on-line.  Be sure to distinquish SF from Fantasy and hrror.
• Discuss the Time Machine, reacting to study guide questions
• Use the chart for comparing utopias and distopias  to discuss/analyze a utopia or dystopia you have read, preferably one on the bibliography
• Discuss Herland, reacting to study guide questions

• You can write a POEM.  (This is part of the Poetry Across the Curriculum Program)
• Some guidelines for writing poems:
• The poem needs to show you have done a substantial amount of reading.  See journal guidelines above.
• The poem can be in whatever form and style tyou want; it need not rhyme; rhyme often leads students into unintended silliness;
• Each poem should have a title, and the author’s name should appear on the page;
• The poem can be from any point of view (person) and based on real or imaginary experiences;
• The poem should be brief, no more than one page (ten lines minimum);
• The poem should entertain, enlighten, provoke, engage—do what poems do for readers; students do best (in the contest) when they write a poem that can be enjoyed by people not in their class; judges say they like poems that are playful with language and are expressed “outside the box;”
• The speaker in the poem need not be the author; comparisons (analogy, metaphor, simile) are just dandy

• You can do a Cognitive Map or other visual representation of ideas such as a chart, collage, altered page.  The constraints here are the same as above: you need to show me you have read a substaintial segment of the unit.
• Concept Maps mostly are flow charts that show how ideas of processes are related to each other.  Here's a Concept map about cell structure
• Mind Maps are like concept maps, only they use visual cues to help you remember ideas.Here are some mind map samples: Infomation Technology Systems |  Building Information Technology |