Grendel gives us a different perspective of the Geats and the Danes than we find in Beowulf. Pay attention to the details Grendel provides of mankind as you read the first 5 chapters of the novel. What is his perspective on men?
In what ways can the learning environment be enhanced to improve learning ability and retention of newly acquired information in the older learner? What factors can disrupt older people’s acquisition of new information?
o Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? You should write at least one page (double-spaced, 12-point font) on aspects of culture and technology, in this first part of the novel.
When beginning to write, you don’t need to spend a whole paragraph introducing the novel or the nature of this assignment — just leap in and start telling us about your reactions!
Here are some questions that might help you organize your thinking, as you read the first six chapters:
How do the main characters use technology?
Is the technology in the novel used for leisure, or for religious purposes?
How does technology relate to the characters’ personal lives?
Their professional lives?
What is the relationship of technology to money? To entertainment?
You can also think about the style of the writing. Did anything in the text strike you as funny? (Why?) Were you particularly sympathetic to one character? What surprised you in these chapters?
More hints: When thinking about this assignment, consider whether the uses of technology bear any comparison with the ways you and your classmates discussed technology, during our first class. This is a science-fiction novel — but does it describe anything that feels familiar, in our current-day experience of technology and culture? If you see a point of comparison, tell us about it. Have fun with this!
Should College Tuition Be Free to all students.
How does the documentary Burning Times differ from the lecture we looked at last week on the European trials? Discuss at least 3 differences.
2. List and describe at least 3 types of evidence used in the documentary to support the gendercide of ‘almost 9 million women’. Is this evidence believable? Why or why not?
3. At least one scholar has described this documentary as propaganda intended to represent the Christian Church as “a wicked, patriarchal, misogynist institution”. Do you agree? Why or why not?
