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English 801 Midterm Paper

By: Ayah Wakkad
Nov. 9, 2015

Integrating Science Fiction as a Genre into Writing Classes

The usefulness of bringing literature into freshman composition classes has always been a
topic of argument in the academic realm. Scholars, notably Erika Lindemann, Erwin Steinberg
and Francis and Barbara Lide, stand against making a place for literature in freshman writing
classroom. Lindemann sees it as a divergence from the goals of the writing course and
consequently calls for the autonomy of rhetoric and composition from the Department of English
and for a writing course that focuses on producing the text instead of an English course
consuming it (312, 313). Steinberg also views literature as a source of distraction to students
from focusing on rhetoric and the rhetorical canon (invention, arrangement, style, memory and
delivery) in their writing (272). And he argues that rhetoric has always been the sole and
legitimate focus of composition classes since the 1930s (266).
The Lides trace the incorporation of literature in composition in the seventies, attributing
it to the deterioration of the young's reading and writing skills (109). However, they point out the
flaws of three models of a literature-based composition course: first, the introduction to
literature-based model focuses on the literary material instead of writing. Second, in the theme
model, the teacher provides students with themes from the literary work to write on instead of
letting them coming up with their own. Third, in the reader-response model, students tend to
respond to the literary reading by writing in a narrative way or retelling the plot, which won't
help them develop their academic writing skills. Thus, the Lides conclude that the insertion of

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literature is unsuitable in teaching writing, for the discrepancy between what students read and
what they write doesn't work effectively in improving students' writing skills (110-112).
On the other hand, scholars like Gary Tate, John Fenstermaker, William Stone, Winifred
Horner, Gregory Jay, Elizabeth Latosi-Sawin, Leon Knight, and Jeanie Crain, stress the
importance of making an established place for literature in freshman composition. In response to
Lindemanns view on using literature in composition, Tate writes his article, "A Place for
Literature in Freshman Composition," in which he argues that by forcing students to only read
academic essays, students are losing the opportunity of improving their writing by reading a
corpus of rich literary texts that embody imagination and style (317). He gives three reasons for
this exclusive stance that appeared in 1992 against integrating literature in freshman
composition: "the pedagogical sin of the teachers in the past [which is transforming the writing
class into an introduction to literature course by too much focus on literature], the revival of
rhetoric, and changing attitudes about the purposes and goals of freshmen composition" (317).
Tate asserts that a composition course should not be solely academic as this makes it boring and
detached from students' life. Instead, it should transcend the limitation of academic disciplines to
encompass what beyond the academy, the human life (321). He doesn't call for using literature as
the main and only resource in writing classes, but he contends that literature shouldn't be denied
as a resource (321).
Fenstermaker, as well, shows how bringing literature to composition classes is met with
critical eyes by many rhetoricians who see it as a transformation of a composition course into an
introduction to literature one. Yet, after years of focusing on the goals of the composition courses
by utilizing "the rhetorical patterns" and after using a wide range of sample essays to help
students derive topics from, he concludes that including literary materials becomes a necessity as

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it provides students with the context and the details that makes the process of generating ideas
and writing on a specific topic easier (34, 35). He legitimizes using literature when it is balanced
with the goals of the composition course (37).
Similarly, Stone in "Teaching 'The Dead': Literature in the Composition Class" stresses
the effectiveness of using literature. He showcases his teaching of Joyce' stories, one of which is
"The Dead", in which he raises questions (like "What is this story about?") to stimulate students
to think of some important details and connections that will eventually lead them to the theme.
Stone believes that by relating the theme of a literary work to the thesis statement, teachers can
"do justice to both the course and the literature" (230). He stresses that the processes of synthesis
and analysis students practice while reading a story help them synthesize the details of and
analyze the connections in their own writing.
In their article, Jay, Latosi-Sawin, Knight, and Crain offer four views counter to
Lindemann's "Freshman Composition: No Place for Literature." Jay shows how the Classics use
literature as pedagogy in teaching students composition. He also responds to Lindemann's call
for the autonomy of the rhetoric and composition from the English Department and thus for a
writing course instead of an English one by saying that many of those who teach writing are TAs
trained in literature or English, and in turn he calls for an English course that is inclusive instead
of an exclusive writing course.
Latosi-Sawin stresses that the question is not whether to integrate literature in
composition or not but how to do so in an efficient way. She mentions how David Bartholomae
and Anthony Perosky work on placing literature in the writing course by first including the
autobiography, moving to fiction, and then the disciplinary knowledge, aiming to "show how
literature can lead students naturally into the discourse of the academy" (675). She calls for

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utilizing literature as it would develop students' "critical literacy", emphasizing that the aim is
neither reading literary criticism nor writing literary analysis (676).
Knight supports Tate's argument in favor of using literature in freshman composition. He
contends that academic writing is based on reading, and he calls for using literary material,
enhancing his argument with several points. First, "the directness" of literature makes it the best
way of "learning to image properly what is read" (677). Second, literature stimulates students to
read as it is enjoyable, and it teaches them critical thinking in the process of reading. Moreover, a
careful selection of the literary material would help raise students' awareness of and respect for
cultural diversity (678).
Jeanie Crain says that though literature has been misused, these mistakes shouldn't hinder
us from using it the right way: teachers should focus on writing and avoid lecturing on or
discussing the literary material intensively (679). And she advocates what Tate calls for, a
composition course that goes beyond the academic discourse to include life.
Winifred Horner, in his book Composition and Literature: Bridging the Gap, attempts to
bridge the gap between the two fields as he believes that "literature and composition can't be
separated either in theory or in practice" (2). In the introduction, he traces the history of this
breach and offers explanations of the historical facts behind it. And the essays he included give
answers to the following questions: Why is reading important in writing? Why to spend time
reading literature instead of focusing on teaching composition? How would using literature help
students understand the rhetorical choices they make in their writing? How would literature help
students achieve voice and imagine an audience in their writing?
One of the outcomes mentioned in the "WAP Outcomes Statements for First-Year
Composition," which were approved on July 17, 2014, is that by the end of the composition

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course students should read and analyze a variety of texts to develop their rhetorical knowledge
that will aid them when writing in their own fields. Hence, I advocate incorporating literature,
Science Fiction in particular, in freshman composition in a way that a balance between academic
and literary materials is maintained.
Literature, being a source of knowledge about human nature, society, and culture, does
not only entertain student writers but also provide them with a context which stimulates and
helps them generate ideas during the process of writing. By incorporating literature in a
composition course, teaching rhetoric becomes more interactive, throwing away these awkward
moments of silence between the students and their teacher. And through investigating a literary
text, learning rhetoric becomes more memorable as students obtain a deeper understanding of the
rhetorical situation which aids them in identifying the purpose, the audience and the context of
their own text. Also, reading literary materials introduce students to the figures of speech and
their function in changing the meaning of words.
Specifying science fiction to be integrated into freshman composition classrooms from
among other genres of literature is attributed to three factors. The first is that SF speaks to the
human condition and depicts the effect of change on the human race. It presents reality in a
defamiliarized way that suspends the readers' disbelief and activates their critical thinking.
Consequently, SF would pave the way for students to use their faculty of imagination and reason
to envision and question what they write.
Based on a survey conducted on 300 teachers of the 7-12 grades, John Reynolds Jr. states
that SF is an educational tool that is increasingly being used by teachers in classrooms. He
argues:

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By serving as a warning device for future problems, science fiction becomes a diagnostic
and prognostic tool with a healthy skepticism built into it which arouses student curiosity
and initiative. This has led to a greater emphasis on small group discussions and
independent study projects in the classroom and media center. (124)

The second is SF being a comprehensive genre which evolves across time and
encompasses features from different literary genres. For example, many SF novels like Frederick
Pohl's include the horror element of gothic fiction while others such as George Orwell's dystopia,
Nineteen Eighty-Four, has the pessimism of naturalistic fiction. Also, while some SF novels are
sociology dominant like Theodore Sturgeon's More Than Human, others are psychology oriented
as Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man. Thus, by reading some of these interdisciplinary SF
novels, students get to know how genres may overlap and what variety of choices there are. In
their article, "Science Fiction as a Mode for Interdisciplinary Education," Quina and Greenlaw
call for choosing SF materials pertinent to the topic of a certain discipline and including them in
the curriculum. Though their article doesn't specify using SF in composition classes, it highlights
the goal and value of making a place for SF in the curriculum in general, that is, to aid students
in such a changing world.
The third factor behind choosing to make a place for SF in writing classes lies in the fact
that some SF works are originally multimodal texts, a combination of texts and interior art like
the Galaxy Science Fiction magazine, some SF novels, and comics. At the same time, many SF
works are translated into popular multimodal projects (movies, TV shows, video games,
magazines, zines, etc.), a matter that leads to a considerable increase in the number of SF
audiences and fans among students. This feature of multimodality in SF, consequently, would

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command students' attention and help them focus on the rhetorical choices made in these texts
and develop the rhetorical knowledge and the critical and the analytical skills necessary for
writing. More importantly, this feature of multimodality that distinguishes SF would help FYC
teachers fulfill another goal of the "WAP Outcomes Statements for First-Year Composition," by
making students "adapt composing processes for a variety of technologies and modalities."
The SF novel, however, should be carefully selected so as to fulfill the goals of the
writing course. SF, based on the emphasis it lays on science, is divided into two main categories:
Hard SF and Soft SF. The former is characterized by its complexity; it offers a lot of scientific
details and long scientific explanations, for it aims at scientific accuracy, extrapolative thinking,
and the literary excitement (Westfahl, 161, 182) while the latter is more readable and engaging.
Therefore, I recommend that teachers of freshman composition integrate Soft SF in their
classroom as the focus here should not be on the scientific details or the literariness of the text
but on the themes and the cultural concerns that students can infer from the novels and relate to
the real life. In their article "Science Fiction as a Mode for Interdisciplinary Education," Quina
and Greenlaw recommend that teachers select an interdisciplinary SF novel "with broad
spectrum" whose level of complexity suits the students' reading level (105). They even propose
that teachers begin with "a broad spectrum stimulus" such as a movie (109).
Application:
My proposal is holding three class workshops in the second and the fourth month of the
semester in which two Soft SF novels H. G. Wells' The Time Machine (adventure-dominant)
and Isaac Asimov's The Caves of Steel (sociology-oriented) will be assigned for students to
read, discuss and respond to an issue raised in them.

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To encourage students to read the novel of the month, each student should post at least
three questions on the discussion board prior to the workshop day. In each workshop, a group of
(4-5) students will lead the discussion for 20 minutes, raising questions that stimulate their peers
to think critically. The leading group should also manage to present a multimodal material a
movie scene/trailer, zine, video game, magazine, comics, storyboard, etc.related to the novel, a
stimulus that functions as a springboard to the discussion of the novel. After the discussion,
students will be asked to write an analytical, persuasive, or comparative/contrastive essay of 1-2
pages in class on a theme or an issue they deduce from the novel.
The teacher's role here is to keep the discussion alive and gear it toward the themes by
posing some questions now and then. Of the questions that a teacher can raise on the novels
provided are: How do the names "Eloi" and "Morlock" typify the characters in The Time
Machine? What type of society is depicted in Wells' novel? Is it a utopian or a dystopian, a
Capitalist or a Communist society? What is the significance of the contradiction in the title of
Asimov's The Caves of Steel? What motivates the Commissioner to commit his murder? How
does the setting affect the characters?
For the final project, students will be asked to write an argumentative essay of 4-5 pages
on an issue/a topic they infer from one of the two SF novels they read. They can refer to the
novels as a context and a source of supporting ideas which will help them figure out their claim
and build on it. After that, students will translate their essays into zines of 6-8 pages in which
they are expected to materialize the knowledge of the rhetorical patterns and choices they obtain
throughout the course.

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Integrating Science Fiction as a Genre into Writing Classes:
An Annotated Bibliography
Fenstermaker, John J. "Literature in the Composition Class." College Composition and
Communication. 28.1 (Feb., 1977): 34-37.
Fenstermaker starts his article by demonstrating how bringing literature to composition
classes is met with critical eyes by many rhetoricians who see it as a transformation of a
composition course into an introduction to literature one. Yet, after years of focusing on the goals
of the composition courses, he concludes that including literary materials becomes a necessity as
it provides students with the context and the details that makes the process of generating ideas
and writing on a specific topic easier. In the end of his article, he legitimizes using literature
when it is balanced with the goals of the composition course, giving examples on literature-based
assignments and listing their advantages in developing students' writing skills.
Horner, Winifred Bryan, ed. Composition and Literature: Bridging the Gap. Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 1983.
This book is a collection of essays written by scholars who teach composition and
literature in an attempt to bridge the gap between the two fields. The introduction traces the
history of this breach and offers explanations of the historical facts behind it. The essays
"LICOMP," "Discerning Motives in Language Use," "Literature, Composition, and the Structure
of English," and "Literacy and Orality in Our Times" are practical applications that FYC teachers
could benefit from as they suggest a program and/or assignments. They offer answers to the
following questions: Why is reading important in writing? Why to spend time reading literature
instead of focusing on teaching composition? How would using literature help students
understand the rhetorical choices they make in their writing? How could students achieve voice
in their writing? How do they imagine an audience?
Jay, Gregory S., Elizabeth Latosi-Sawin, Leon Knight, and Jeanie C. Crain. "Four Comments on
Two Views on the Use of Literature in Composition." College English. 55. 6 (Oct., 1993):
673-679.
The article offers four views counter to Erika Lindemann's "Freshman Composition: No
Place for Literature" and in support of Gary Tate. It begins with Jay's counterview of
Lindemann's article. He responds to her call for the autonomy of rhetoric and composition from
the English Department and thus for a writing course instead of an English one by calling for an
English course that is inclusive. And he ends his counter-argument with a syllogistic statement: if
literature is denied in FYC classes, then the FYC course doesn't belong to the English
Department.
Latosi-Sawin discusses how to integrate literature in composition classrooms in an
efficient way. She gives examples on how literature has been utilized in different fields of
knowledge and calls for making a place for it as it would develop students' "critical literacy".
Knight supports Tate's argument in favor of using literature in freshman composition. He
contends that academic writing is based on reading and thus calls for using literary materials,
enhancing his argument with several points.
Jeanie Crain calls for expanding the definition of literature, and says that though literature
has been misused, these mistakes shouldn't hinder us from using it the right way. And she gives

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practical examples on how teachers should focus on writing and avoid lecturing on or discussing
the literary material intensively. Finally, she advocates what Tate calls for, a composition course
that goes beyond the academic discourse to encompass the human's life.
Lide, Francis and Barbara Lide. "Literature in the Composition Class: The Case against."
Rhetoric Review. 2.2 (Jan., 1984): 109-123.
The Lides trace reinstating literature in composition in the sixties and the seventies and
present several opinions of scholars endorsing and defending a literature-based composition
course. Then, they offer their counterview in which they see the insertion of imaginative
literature is unsuitable in teaching writing, summarizing and pointing out the flaws of three
models of a literature-based composition course: the introduction to literature-based, the themes,
and the reader-response model. Thus, the Lides build a strong counterargument that can be used
by FYC teachers who believe that since composition is a one year course, the focus should only
be on rhetorical patterns and choices.
Lindemann, Erika. "Freshman Composition: No Place for Literature." College English. 55.3
(Mar., 1993): 311-316.
Lindemann begins with presenting different scholarly opinions on placing literature in a
freshman writing class. She sees using literature as a divergence from the goals of the writing
course and consequently calls for the autonomy of rhetoric and composition from the English
Department and for a writing course that focuses on producing the text instead of an English
course consuming it.
Quina, James and M. Jean Greenlaw. "Science Fiction as a Mode for Interdisciplinary
Education." Journal of Reading. 19.2 (Nov., 1975): 104-111.
In this practical article, Quina and Greenlaw call for replacing an outdated curriculum
with a new one that aids students in such a changing world and suit the future to come. Though
they don't specify using SF in composition classes, they highlight the goal and value of making a
place for SF in the curriculum in general. They include several examples of SF novels and the
fields they explore and present three approaches which teachers can follow in composing their
syllabi. They also raise questions on the topics these novels tackle to aid teachers while utilizing
SF. Moreover, they introduce a research-based approach (which fits more in English 102 classes)
in which students search for and read an article based on a SF novel they discussed.
Reynolds Jr., John C. "Science Fiction in the 7-12 Curriculum." The Clearing House. 51.3 (Nov.,
1977): 122-125.
This practical article begins with a survey conducted in four southeastern states in which
300 teachers of the 7-12 grades responded to the question whether they include SF in their
curriculum. The results show that 177 teachers see using SF material as beneficial to students for
several reasons. Though SF seems to be used more in Literature than in basic English classes,
Reynolds stresses that SF is "interdisciplinary", and hence it is increasingly gaining interest and
beginning to "materialize into a solid, integral part of the total curriculum" (123). This article
lists ways that will help FYC teachers incorporate SF in their writing courses, and it summarizes
the themes that recur in SF works for teachers to utilize them in their classes.

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Steinberg, Erwin R. "Imaginative Literature in Composition Classrooms?" College English. 57.3
(Mar., 1995): 266-280.
Steinberg begins with two opposite views of scholars on integrating literature into
freshman composition. He traces the presence of literature in composition from the 30s. Then, he
defines imaginative literature and argues against its presence in composition classes being a
distraction to students from focusing on rhetoric and the rhetorical knowledge.
Stone, William B. "Teaching 'The Dead': Literature in the Composition Class." College
Composition and Communication. 19.3 (Oct., 1968): 229-231.
In this article, Stone argues that bringing literature into composition is useful. He explains
the reasons behind the inclination of composition teachers to use literary materials in writing
classes and shows when it is effective and when it becomes a deviation from the course' goals.
He showcases his teaching of Joyce' stories, one of which is "The Dead", in which he raises
questions (like "What is this story about?") to stimulate students to think of some important
details and connections that will eventually lead them to the theme. Stone believes that by
relating the theme of a literary work to the thesis statement, teachers can "do justice to both the
course and the literature" (230). He also stresses that reading literature develops students'
analytical skills. This article is thus a practical application of effective integration of literature
into writing classes.
Tate, Gary. "A Place for Literature in Freshman Composition." College English. 55.3 (Mar.,
1993): 317-321.
Tate begins his article showing how the presence of literature in composition was very
limited in 1992, and he cites Richard Larson's national survey of freshman composition and the
CCC books as evidence. He gives three reasons for this exclusive stance against integrating
literature in freshman composition. Then, he argues that a composition course should not be
solely academic as this makes it boring and detached from students' life. He doesn't call for using
literature as the main and only resource in writing classes, but he contends that literature
shouldn't be excluded. Thus, Tate's article is an insightful text for teachers of freshman
composition to read, as it balances the academic and literary discourse in writing classes.
Westfahl, Gary. "'The Closely Reasoned Technological Story': The Critical History of Hard
Science Fiction." Science Fiction Studies. 20.2 (Jul., 1993):157-175.
This article traces the history of Hard SF and summarizes its characteristics. It also
explains the reasons why some critics see Hard SF as an intruder on the conventions of SF,
calling it the "stepchild", while others praise it.