WB Post 5

Future English 110 Students,
I just figured I would give you guys an idea of what to expect for this quarter you are starting. English 110 really is a helpful class. It definitely made me a better writer and taught me a lot of valuable writing and editing skills that I will never forget. It is a great class to take, and I recommend that you all try to get the most out of it.
The course theme for our quarter was “Televised Science Fiction”. At first, I was not that excited about this theme because I felt as though science fiction was just for those weird kids with no life. I was surprised though. I enjoyed this course theme and realized that science fiction actually relates pretty well to real-life.
What I would recommend more than anything for this course is to do your work as soon as you can after it is assigned. It will pile up quickly and it is easy to get behind. I know a lot of people who were stressing at the last minute to get work done the night it was due. I tried to keep up with my work and get it done as it was assigned and it all worked out well for me. However, if I could do something different, I would have tried harder on my Analytical Research Paper all the way through. I didn’t really try for my first or second drafts, and it was tough to make it good all at once.
All in all, English 110 is a very helpful course. Leslie is a great teacher and is always willing to help if you need it. Keep up with your work in this class and don’t get behind. Most importantly, come into the class with an open mind. I know I came in thinking science fiction would be stupid and ended up really liking it and found it to be interesting. Lastly, if a Sam Garea comments on your blogs, ignore him. He is just reliving the glory days that he had in English 110.

Sincerely,
Mike DePauw

Farscape

Today we watched an episode of "Farscape" in class. This episode was especially interesting for me to watch because of the setting at the beginning. It didn't start off like most sci fi shows do. Instead, it begins with a realistic setting. It begins with a man in his teens preparing for a scientific experiment in space. He is trying to set a new speed record in space. In the process, his spacecraft falls into a "hole" in space and is transported to a new galaxy. While he is there, he gets caught in the middle of an intergalactic war between aliens and is forced to fight for his survival and escape.
This episode of science fiction tv was different from most I have seen so far because it is centered around one man from Earth who is lost in another dimension. It is interesting because it is so realistic in the sense that mankind is pushing technology so far and oftentimes, we don't know what the consequences of our developments will be. In this example, the consequence of technological advancements is being transported to another galaxy. Most science fiction television shows (at least those that take place in space) have to do with a group of people, opposed to one man, who are traveling around exploring (on purpose). That is what makes this episode so interesting. That it is different. It also does a great job at standing out because it also shows how humans, who have never actually seen aliens, would react to seeing them for the first time ever.
Overall, this episode was very interesting and enjoyable and I am glad that we had the opportunity to watch it.

STNG

I recently watched my first episode of STNG and I found it to be pretty interesting. The whole concept of whether or not a robot has the same rights as a human grabbed my interest. I was also to find some similarities and differences between this episode of STNG and the original Star Trek. Both of them obviously have the same setting (aboard the spaceship “Enterprise” in outer space). However, I found more differences than similarities. First of all, the interior of the ship was very different in STNG. It almost had a home-like look to it. In several rooms, there were lamps on desks and carpeting on the floors. In addition, the conflicts were very different. The original series had more of an external conflict (the episode I watched had a battle between Captain Kirk and Spock against notorious villains in human history) whereas STNG had more of an internal conflict (whether human-like cyborgs should be treated with the same rights as humans). I also could not help but notice that in STNG, the crew on the ship seemed to be larger. There seemed to be more positions to be filled and more people working in the background of scenes. Also, the “Enterprise” was not the only ship in STNG as it is in the original series. In one of the scenes in STNG, you can see other spaceships in the background outside of the window. In this particular episode of STNG, it did not seem as though the members of the Enterprise had any real mission. I know in the original series, every episode was a new adventure that the crew was going on, exploring some unknown world. I personally thought that the original series of Star Trek was much more interesting than STNG because it had more of an exciting plot and had some pretty cool fight scenes in every episode, making it more interesting and appealing.