Novum Exercise: Write an 800-word comparative analysis of novums in two texts studied thus far (either two novels or a novel and a short story). The analysis must 1) clearly identify the novums within the texts 2) cite specific examples of them 3) make an argument about the comparative importance and relevance of the novums—i.e. make defensible claims about the significance of their similarities and differences.
Don’t use any outside sources. Just stick to the two readings you choose to write about.
The readings: (Choose either two novels OR one novel and a short story)
(From week 1)
H.G. Wells, The Time Machine (1895)
Ted Chiang, “Tower of Babylon” (1990)
(From week 2)
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Herland (1915)
Octavia Butler, “Bloodchild” (1984)
(From week 3)
Ray Bradbury, “There Will Come Soft Rains” (1950)
Walter Miller, Jr., A Canticle for Liebowitz, “Part One: Fiat Homo” (1960)
(From week 4)
Ursula Le Guin, The Dispossessed (1974)
(From week 5)
H.P. Lovecraft, “The Horror at Red Hook” (1927)
Victor LaValle, The Ballad ofBlack Tom (2016)
(From week 6)
Philip K. Dick, Ubik (1969)
William Gibson, Neuromancer (1984)
Guidelines to help with the assignment:
Novum Exercise: Effective Writing Strategies
(With examples from Herland and “Bloodchild”)
Novum: The mechanism that creates cognitive estrangement in science fiction.
Ex: The Tlic in “Bloodchild” and a society of women capable of parthenogenetic reproduction in Herland.
How to Answer Extended-Response or Essay Questions
Good extended-response answers have three parts: a beginning, a middle, and an ending.
Beginning
The first paragraph introduces your main idea or position. It begins with a topic sentence. The topic sentence states plainly the point you intend to make in your answer. Often it simply restates the question.
Ex: “When we read science fiction, we realize that it applies to the real world, and we ask it real questions.”
For the structure of this response, your first paragraph could largely resemble the first paragraph in your last assignment. Look at your first text. Answer the following questions: What is the novum? What is being estranged (how does it make life different from ours)? What does this cognitive estrangement critique about the real world (consider the period that the book was being written in, and consider what the text is saying about the contemporary moment as well)? Make sure to provide textual examples.
Middle
The second paragraph provides further information, examples, and details to support your main idea or position. This is where you show in detail what you know or think about the topic.
The topic sentence of this paragraph should link text a and text b together. It can be as simple as “The novums of Herland and “Bloodchild” both lead to a reframing of human pregnancy.” Your second paragraph should then repeat the instructions above for text b.
Ending
The final paragraph sums up your main idea or position. It restates your topic sentence, this time with more feeling.
Think about the topic sentence of your final paragraph as your position on the thematic overlap over the novums in both texts (basically your thesis). If it helps start the sentence off with “I argue that”
Ex: I argue that the novums Herland and “Bloodchild” function together as a critique of the biological and cultural concept of motherhood.
In your final paragraph choose a thematic overlap of your novums and discuss the significant differences.
Ask, How are the texts managing this theme?
Ex: “Bloodchild” is a horrific account of forced pregnancy set in a refugee camp that addresses constructs of love and humanity. In contrast, Herland is a utopian reimaging of the position of women in society that is political about body politics and sexuality…
Consider why kindred novums are important. If different writers in different times are expressing anxieties about the same political or social problem, there is probably a much larger body of critical work. You can add secondary sources, but don’t overload your work, and do not plagiarize –that will result in an immediate fail.
Paragraph Structure
Most paragraphs in an essay have a three-part structure—introduction, body, and conclusion. You can see this structure in paragraphs whether they are narrating, describing, comparing, contrasting, or analyzing information. Each part of the paragraph plays an important role in communicating your meaning to your reader.
Introduction: the first section of a paragraph; should include the topic sentence and any other sentences at the beginning of the paragraph that give background information or provide a transition.
Body: follows the introduction; discusses the controlling idea, using facts, arguments, analysis, examples, and other information.
Conclusion: the final section; summarizes the connections between the information discussed in the body of the paragraph and the paragraph’s controlling idea.
