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Great Works - OPTIONAL EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENT
James Madison University
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Instructions:
This is an optional assignment. An acceptable effort on ONE of the choices below will earn you FIVE points extra credit on
the midterm. (Note that you don't get more credit for doing more than one, so just pick one!) Type your work, doublespaced, normal margins, no bigger than 12-point font; length requirements are specified individually for each option.
- Read Anthony Boucher's short short story, "Rappaccini's Other Daughter" and write a 1 full page response paper examining how Boucher's plays with Hawthorne's original story. Some possible issues are whether or not Boucher addresses any of the same thematic issues or motifs and how the style of narrative changes with transformation into modern science fiction.
OR
- Research Sumerian religion/mythology/gods and examine the extent to which the information in the materials you find is similar to what Stephenson says in Snow Crash. Use at least one reputable source(s)(ie. not a random google search or "Joe's Mythology Cite." Actual paper references or by-subscription-only online references through our library are good bets.) Cite all sources used. Write a 1 full page paper summarizing what you conclude.
OR
- Research the current state of the art in Virtual Reality technology and predictions about the future. Use reputable source(s)(ie. not a random google search) and cite all sources used. Write a 1-2 page paper summarizing what you find and including a brief discussion of how your information compares to Stephenson's "metaverse".
OR
- Write a short satire in Stephenson's style of some aspect of American culture that is not satirized in Snow Crash. (Minimum of one and half to two pages)
