Knowing words with multiple vowels proves useful when you’re faced with a rack of mostly, or all, vowels. Here’s a list of the four-letter words with three vowels, beginning with a through m:
aeon: a long period of time (also eon)
agee: to one side (also ajee)
agio: a surcharge applied when exchanging currency
ague: a sickness associated with malaria
ajee: to one side (also agee)
akee: a tropical tree
alae: wings (pl. of ala)
alee: on the side shielded from wind
amia: a freshwater fish
amoa: a kind of small buffalo
awee: a little while
eaux: waters (pl. of eau)
eide: distinctive appearances of things (pl. of eidos)
emeu: an emu
etui: an ornamental case
euro: an Australian marsupial, also known as wallaroo, for being like the kangaroo and the wallaby; also a unified currency of much of Europe
ilea: the terminal portions of small intestines (pl. of ileum)
ilia: pelvic bones (pl. of ilium)
jiao: a Chinese currency (also chiao)
luau: a large Hawaiian feast
meou: to meow
moue: a pouting expression
After Fall Break
On Monday, October 12, we will examine the student analysis “One Mississippi,” which you will read and annotate for class. We will also discuss your journal entries on the excerpt from Maus as a lead-in to our reading of a second sample analysis, “The Strange Fruit of Sosnowiec,” which I will distribute in class that day.
If you were absent when I distributed “One Mississippi” and the Maus journal exercise or misplace yours, print copies from Blackboard. “One Mississippi” is in the sample papers folder; the Maus journal exercise is in the readings folder.
Also, be sure to have your copy of Dan Rockmore‘s “Should the Classroom Be More Like the Gym?” We will look back at his essay as we review some short passages from your midterm reflections.
I encourage you to read the post, which includes a photograph of students in each of your classes examining the book covers. Two sections of the post, “Four Ways to Read a Cover” and “From Looking to Making an Argument” may spark an idea for your revision of you analysis. If a line in the post is relevant to your analysis, you include the blog post as a second source. Here is the model for the works cited entry:
Ward, Gerald. “Covering Science Fiction: When Special Collections Becomes the Classroom.” HPU Libraries, 1 October 2026, https://www.highpoint.edu/library/.
In your MS Word or PDF file, the second line of the entry should be indented five spaces.
Read. Reflect. Connect.
HPU Libraries‘ Read. Reflect. Connect. offers members of the university community the opportunity connect through a shared reading (this year, The Happiness Project). Registration is open now and continues through October 15. If you sign up, later in the fall, you will receive a copy of the book (your choice of a physical or digital copy). In the spring semester, you will have the opportunity to take part in events that focus on readers shared experiences of reading Gretchen Rubin‘s book.
After you have signed up, compose a brief blog comment stating that you have registered for Read. Reflect. Connect.
Post your comment as a reply to today’s blog post by 7:30 a.m. on Friday, October 16.
To post your comment, click the title, “ENG 1103: Irritable Vowel Syndrome . . . ,” then scroll down to the bottom of the post. There you will see the image of an airmail envelope with a rectangular box for your comment. Type your comment in the box and hit return.
Happy Fall Break!
I look forward to seeing you back in class on Monday, October 12.
Early editions of I, Robot (l-r): 1950 1st edition hardcover by Gnome Press; 1950 dust jacket of 1st edition hardcover by Grosset & Dunlap; 1963 Science Fiction Book Club edition by Doubleday
As a model for your own analyses, I am writing one that examines Isaac Asimov’s “Runaround” and three early covers of I, Robot (pictured above). The first part of today’s blog post features excerpts from my draft in progress and my commentary on the writing.
One of the hardest parts of composing an analysis is building paragraphs by moving effectively from sentence to sentence. The ideas you want to express may be clear to you, but shifting from one idea to the next logically and gracefully requires revision. The screenshots and commentary that follow demonstrate how I have structured my introductory paragraph and one of the body paragraphs.
Writing the first paragraph required solving several problems, including these:
I needed to show a connection where there is no readily apparent one (between “Runaround” and early covers for I, Robot).
The opening paragraph needed to include a summary, but I did not want to begin with a summary.
Whatever I began with would need to lead to the summary. How would I connect the first lines to the summary that would follow?
The summary would need to lead to the thesis. How would I turn from an overview of the short story to a claim about the story and the I, Robot covers?
In the opening paragraph (above), I begin by acknowledging the lack of any readily apparent connection between the book covers and “Runaround.” In the second sentence, I offer details that show the lack of a readily apparent connection (nothing indicates that Mercury is the setting), and I liken the robots to guards. I use what the robots don’t do (“offer any inkling of the narrative that unfolds”) as a lead-in to the summary, the first sentence of which serves as an appositive for “the narrative that unfolds.” The next two sentences continue the summary.
At the end of the summary, I turn back to the covers with the statement, “The covers illustrate none of that.” Then I shift from what the covers don’t depict to the connection I have identified, which I present as an appositive after “representations of Asimov’s themes.” After I assert the similarity between the robots on the covers and medieval knights, I acknowledge that the parallels could simply be the product of a marketing decision. I disagree with that theory; however, and my reason for that disagreement serves as my thesis: the last sentence of the paragraph (highlighted above).
In the body paragraph below, which is not the second paragraph of the analysis, I demonstrate how images of the knights of chivalry–a word that derives from an Old French term for horse soldier or horseman–occur in “Runaround.”
You are not required to cite any text other than the story or stories that serve as your subject. In the paragraph above, I cite Le Morte d’ Arthur to demonstrate the use of the term errant. No page numbers appear in the parenthetical citation because I am quoting an unpaginated online version of Thomas Malory’s chivalric romance on Project Gutenberg.
Elsewhere, I note the descriptions of Donovan and Powell riding the old robots as if they’re on horseback, and the parallels between the Three Laws of Robotics and the chivalric code. After fall break, I will post the complete analysis.
Parenthetical Citations
Yesterday in the 10:40 class (section eight), I presented models for the parenthetical citations required if you need to clarify which supertoys story you are quoting. Those models appear below.
(“Supertoys Last” 3).
(“Supertoys When” 16).
(“Supertoys in Other” 27).
Note the abbreviated versions of the titles and the placement of the periods. Brian Aldiss‘s last name is not included because you establish in your introductory paragraph that he is the author. If it’s clear in your analysis which story you are citing, do not include the abbreviated title; it’s used only to clarify the source.
Works Cited
If you cite two or more of Brian Aldiss’s stories, use the list below as your model.
Note that if you cite more than one work by an author, his or her name is not repeated. Instead, three strikes of the hyphen key denote that the entry has the same author as the previous entry. Also note that the stories are alphabetized by title. “Supertoys When Winter Comes” is the second story chronologically, but it’s the last story alphabetically, so it’s listed third.
If your analysis focuses on “Runaround,” use the entry below as your model.
Note that the first date, 1950, indicates the book’s date of publication, and the second date, 1963, is the publication year of the edition you are citing. (Your class handout is a copy of the story in the 1963 Doubleday Science Fiction Book Club edition.)
If your analysis focuses on one or more of Aldiss’s stories, but you quote or paraphrase the Three Laws of Robotics, your works cited list should include an entry for “Runaround,” and the analysis should include a parenthetical citation for the laws.
Next Up
Wordplay Day! To prepare for class, revisit the Merriam-Webster Scrabble Word Finder page, and review your journal notes and the blog posts devoted to Scrabble tips.
This morning, I will return your drafts with my notes, and you will have the remainder of the class period to begin revising your analyses on your laptops. Because next week is fall break, you will have two additional weeks to continue your revision work before you submit the assignment to Blackboard and publish it as a WordPress blog entry. The due date is Wednesday, October 14 (before class). The hard deadline is Friday, October 16 (before class).
Analysis Draft Notes
Along with my handwritten notes on your draft, today you will receive a handout of general notes to review before you begin your revision work. An additional copy of those notes is included in yesterday’s blog post.
Early editions of I, Robot (top row, l-r): 1950 1st edition hardcover by Gnome Press; 1950 dust jacket of 1st edition hardcover by Grosset & Dunlap; 1950 1st book club edition by Doubleday; 1952 1st UK edition by Grayson & Grayson; 1956 Signet cover; (bottom row, l-r): 1958 Digit Books; 1961 Signet 3rd printing; 1968 Signet 6th printing; 1970 Fawcett Crest; 1968 Panther Science Fiction.
Model Analysis in Progress
As a model for you, I am composing an analysis of Isaac Asimov’s “Runaround” that considers the story in relation to some of the early cover art for I, Robot (pictured above). Tomorrow’s blog post will include excerpts from the second draft, along with my commentary on the writing.
After fall break, we will examine “The Strange Fruit of Sosnowiec,” an earlier analysis of mine, as well as the student analysis “One Mississippi.”
The Writing Center
As you continue to revise your analysis, consider visiting the Writing Center. If you do so, you will earn five bonus points for the assignment.
To schedule an appointment, register online here, email the Writing Center’s director, Professor Justin Cook, at jcook3@highpoint.edu, or scan the QR code below. To earn bonus points for your analysis, consult with a Writing Center tutor no later than Thursday, October 15.
On Friday, October 16, Professor Cook will send me a list of the students who met with Writing Center consultants to discuss their analysis drafts. That record of Writing Center visits will provide the documentation needed for students’ bonus points.
Writing Center Consultations for Literacy Narratives
Section 1: 3 of 19 students, 15.7%
Section 8: 3 of 19 students, 15.7%
If you are one of the students who did not take advantage of the Writing Center when you were composing your literacy narrative, do not miss the opportunity to receive that guidance–and those bonus points–for your analysis, and later for your final essay and annotated bibliography.
Next Up
Wordplay Day! To prepare for class, revisit the Merriam-Webster Scrabble Word Finder page, and review your journal notes and the blog posts devoted to Scrabble tips.
After Fall Break
After fall break, we will examine the student sample analysis “One Mississippi,” which I will distribute in class today. Before class on Monday, October 12, read and annotate “One Mississippi” and complete the journal exercise I will distribute along with it.
Blitt, Barry. “Pulling the Plug.” The New Yorker, 28 Sept. 2026.
First, a Short Exercise
As practice in moving from observation to analysis, ask yourself what you see (what cartoonist Barry Blitt depicts in this week’s New Yorker cover), then ask yourself (1) why he may have included some of the details, and (2) what he is trying to convey.
Tomorrow in class, I will return your analysis drafts with my annotations, and you will have the class period to devote to revising on your laptops and tablets. Along with my handwritten notes, I will distribute a handout with general notes to consult as you proceed. An additional copy of those notes follows.
The opening paragraph of your essay should include a short summary that serves as a lead-in to your thesis statement. Remember that summaries are objective by nature. If you comment in any way on the quality of your subject (the text you are writing about), you turn from summary to commentary or analysis. That should not occur until you present your thesis statement, which will follow the summary.
Summaries are written in the third person. No singular or plural first- or second-person pronouns should appear in your summary. In other words, you should not use the words “I,” “me,” “you,” “we,” or “us.” MLA style requires the present tense in writing about literature and other texts.
An effective thesis makes a claim, one that readers will question, and some will disagree with. Avoid these thesis missteps:
A thesis that makes no claim. (“This analysis explores the Three Laws of Robotics”).
A thesis that is obviously true or a statement of fact (“For Monica and David, and for any other parent-child relationship, communication is key”).
A thesis that restates conventional wisdom (“Powell and Donovan’s troubleshooting demonstrates that two heads are better than one”).
A thesis that makes an overly broad claim (“Rapid technological advances are good [or bad]”).
On first reference, refer to the author by first and last name. On subsequent references, refer to the author by last name, not first.
On first reference, refer to characters by first and last name. On subsequent references, refer to the Swintons by their first names, and refer to Powell and Donovan by their last names (because the narrator refers to them by last name).
Text is a blanket term for all your readings. When you refer to a particular reading, do not use a blanket term. Instead, identify it by type: short story or trilogy of stories. Do not refer to a short story as a chapter, a novel, or a passage. Factual errors such as those will undermine your analysis.
Write in active voice. The subject of the sentence should perform the action. Avoid passive constructions such as this: It is seen that Speedy malfunctions. Instead, simply write, Speedy malfunctions.
Do not foreground the words page and paragraph in your sentences. In other words, do not write on page twenty-two . . . . Page and paragraph numbers are for parenthetical citations.
For conventional academic writing, MLA’s editors recommend you use first-person sparingly, if you use it at all. If you find it difficult to write in third person, compose your analysis in first person, then afterward recast it in third person.
In your drafts, some of you presented ideas that you heard in class as if they were your own, which is a form of plagiarism. If you mention an idea that I presented in class, you should introduce the idea with a signal phrase, such as this: As Professor Jane Lucas has observed, telling David not to grieve, as Monica does, indicates that she perceives him as human because machines cannot grieve.
In the example above, the signal phrase verb is past tense because it refers to a statement from a previous class, but Monica and David’s verbs are present tense (does, perceives) because of the present-tense MLA rule. See https://style.mla.org/literary-present-tense/.
If you paraphrase a statement of mine from class, include the following work-cited entry at the end of your revision. You will need to consult your class notes to identify the correct date.
Lucas, Jane. English 1103: Academic Research and Writing. 21 September 2026, High Point University.
Do not use the phrase in conclusion or any variation on it at the beginning of the final paragraph of your essay. While that transitional phrase can be useful in a speech (because the audience cannot see that the end is near), there is no reason to write those words when readers can see for themselves that only one paragraph remains. For more, see Harvard University Writing Center’s notes on conclusions: https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/conclusions.
Early editions of I, Robot (top row, l-r): 1950 1st edition hardcover by Gnome Press; 1950 dust jacket of 1st edition hardcover by Grosset & Dunlap; 1950 1st book club edition by Doubleday; 1952 1st UK edition by Grayson & Grayson; 1956 Signet cover; (bottom row, l-r): 1958 Digit Books; 1961 Signet 3rd printing; 1968 Signet 6th printing; 1970 Fawcett Crest; 1968 Panther Science Fiction.
Kudos
Avery Broadbent, Madison Haugk, and Devyn Jones received bonus assignment credit for correctly identifying the typo on the cover of one of the early editions of I, Robot pictured above. What is the error? For the answer, see the end of today’s post.
Not the AI Tool Called Einstein (Albert, the Physicist)
In his New Yorker essay “Should the Classroom Be More Like the Gym,” Dan Rockmore addresses the viral A.I. tool Einstein–a short-lived stunt and mostly hype–that would not only generate students’ assignments but also post them on their behalf on the Canvas learning management system.
Bonus Assignment
One of the science fiction stories we have studied includes a reference to the real Einstein (Albert, the physicist). Which story is it?
Directions for Finding and Submitting Your Answer
Review Isaac Asimov’s “Runaround” and Brian Aldiss’s supertoys stories to locate the reference to Einstein.
Compose a response of one or more complete sentences that includes the title and author of the short story, a signal phrase that introduces your quotation from the story–a phrase or clause that mentions Einstein by name–and a parenthetical citation with the page number.
Post your comment as a reply to this blog post by 7:30 a.m. on Friday, October 2.
To post your comment, click the title, “ENG 1103: Analysis Notes . . . ,” then scroll down to the bottom of the post. There you will see the image of an airmail envelope with a rectangular box for your comment. Type your comment in the box and hit return. Voila! You have submitted your answer. I will make the comments visible after Friday’s deadline.
Next Up
On Wednesday, I will return your handwritten drafts (with my notes), and you will have the class period to begin revising on your laptops. Because the first week of October is Fall Break, you have two additional weeks to revise before you submit your analysis to Blackboard and publish it on WordPress. The due date for your revised analysis is Wednesday, October, 14 (before class). The deadline is Friday, October 16 (before class).
This morning, you will compose a reflective essay focusing on your experiences in English 1103 throughout the first half of the semester. Instructions for your reflective essay are included below.
Directions
Plan and compose a midterm reflective essay that documents your work in the first half of the semester, focusing on two or three assignments or aspects of the course that have contributed to your development as a writer and a student. Since you have already written a reflection devoted solely to your literacy narrative, your midterm reflection should focus primarily on other assignments or aspects of the course, including these:
Keeping a journal
Studying one or more of the class readings, including “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” “The Day Language Came into My Life,” the excerpt from To Kill aMockingbird, the excerpt from “The Falling Man,” “Runaround,” or one of the supertoys stories. On first reference, identify the reading by title and the author’s first and last name.
Reading and editing sample student literacy narratives
Creating and maintaining a WordPress blog and writing for an audience beyond the classroom
Collaborating with your classmates on in-class writing assignments
Playing Scrabble and collaborating with your teammates on Wordplay Day
Writing longhand
Limiting screen time
Include in your reflective essay the following elements:
A title that offers a window into your reflection
An opening paragraph that introduces your focus and presents your thesis
Body paragraphs that offer concrete details from your work to support your thesis
One relevant quotation from Dan Rockmore’s essay “Should the Classroom Be More Like the Gym?”
A signal phrase and a parenthetical citation for the quotation
A conclusion that revisits the thesis without restating it verbatim
A work cited entry for Rockmore’s essay.
You are welcome to refer to any of your class handouts and journal notes as you write, but you are not permitted to consult any online sources or use any digital devices as you write. If you followed the preparation guidelines in yesterday’s class notes, the citation information you need is recorded in your journal.
If you choose to include an optional second quotation from another reading for the course, that quote should also be introduced with a signal phrase and followed by a parenthetical citation. You will need to include a works cited entry for that quotation also.
Kudos
Vivian Laliberte posted a blog entry about the HPU Book Fair, where she won a container of kinetic sand, picked up freebies (such as the ones pictured above), and learned about the HPU Libraries‘ resources. For her efforts, she received a bonus assignment credit.
Next Up
On Wednesday, I will return your handwritten drafts (with my notes), and you will have the class period to begin revising on your laptops. Because the first week of October is Fall Break, you have two additional weeks to revise before you submit your analysis to Blackboard and publish it on WordPress. The due date for your revised analysis is Wednesday, October, 14 (before class). The deadline is Friday, October 16 (before class).
Monday in class you will plan and compose a midterm reflective essay that documents your work in the first half of the semester, focusing on two or three assignments or aspects of the course that have contributed to your development as a writer and a student. Since you have already written a reflection devoted solely to your literacy narrative, your midterm reflection should focus primarily on other assignments or aspects of the course. One of the requirements of the reflection is incorporating a relevant quotation from Dan Rockmore’s essay “Should the Classroom Be More Like the Gym?” Before Monday’s class, determine what phrase, clause, or sentence you will quote, and draft a sentence in your journal that introduces the quotation with a signal phrase and follows it with a parenthetical citation.
Directions
To comply with the requirements for your reflection assignment, you will need to complete the planning exercise that follows. In class, you will not be permitted to refer to this blog post or any other online resources. You will need to have all the necessary citation information written longhand in your journal.
Review “Should the Classroom Be More Like the Gym?” and number its paragraphs.
Choose a phrase, clause, or sentence pertinent to your experience as a student in English 1103. What you select may remind you of a particular assignment or activity in the course, or may speak to your experience with or concerns about A.I.
After you have chosen a passage, compose a signal phrase in your journal to introduce the quotation. (See the examples below.) Many academic writing assignments, including most that follow MLA style, require a signal phrase. A quotation that lacks one is considered a dropped quotation.
Follow your signal phrase with the quotation, and follow the quote with an MLA-style parenthetical citation. (See the examples below.)
Optional: Below your sentence, write the MLA-style work cited entry for Rockmore’s essay. You will not need to refer to your journal for that information because it’s included on your copy of the essay. In class, when you write your work cited entry, you can refer to the one on your handout. Why write a work cited entry in my journal if I’m not required to? you might ask. As Rockmore notes, “the exercise is the point” (par. 15).
Examples
In “Should the Classroom Be More Like the Gym?” Dan Rockmore observes, “If the process is the goal, we should be focussing on how to create classrooms that make the process worth doing for its own sake” (par. 8). That aim underlies my classes’ varied structure. Alternating close reading of texts, drafting, and revising, with frequent short exercises, small-group collaboration, and weekly Scrabble play provides students with a variety of opportunities to hone their skills as writers, readers, and thinkers. And the range of assignments and activities reduces the risk of the monotony that can plague a seventy-minute class period.
In “Should the Classroom Be More Like the Gym?” the author observes, “If the process is the goal, we should be focussing on how to create classrooms that make the process worth doing for its own sake” (Rockmore, par. 8). That aim underlies my classes’ varied structure. Alternating close reading of texts, drafting, and revising, with frequent short exercises, small-group collaboration, and weekly Scrabble play provides students with a variety of opportunities to hone their skills as writers, readers, and thinkers. And the range of assignments and activities reduces the risk of the monotony that can plague a seventy-minute class period.
The two examples above are very similar, not identical. The first one names the author, so only the abbreviation par. and the paragraph number appear in the parenthetical citation. The second does not name the author, so his last name and a comma precede the paragraph number in the parenthetical citation.
Notice how the two sentences that follow the quotation demonstrate the relevance of Dan Rockmore’s ideas to my own teaching philosophy and practices. If I were to continue the reflection that I began in the examples above, I would offer examples to support my claim that such activities as close readings of essays and short stories and Scrabble play develop students’ analytical skills.
Note that Rockmore’s spelling of focusing as focussing with two s‘s is an acceptable variation, but the single-s spelling is preferable in formal writing.
You are welcome to cite one or more additional readings in your reflection. If you plan to do so, repeat the steps in the directions above with your chosen essay, short story, or chapter. In your journal, make note of the examples in the September 8 class notes. Pay close attention to the differences between parenthetical citations for sources with page numbers and those without. You do not need to write the work cited entry in your journal because it’s included on your copy of the reading. In class, when you write your work cited entry, you can refer to the one on your handout. Note the hanging-indent style of the work cited entries, which is the opposite of an MLA-style paragraph.
Constant Consonants
In Scrabble, if you think it’s impossible to make a play with the tiles on your rack, you can forgo a turn and swap tiles, all seven or fewer. If you think losing a turn and swapping tiles is inevitable, examine the board closely to determine whether a one- or two-letter low-point play is an option. Often it is. If not, and the problem you face is a rack without vowels, one of the words in today’s list might be an option.
brr: used to indicate that one is cold
crwth: an ancient stringed instrument (pl. -s)
cwm: a cirque (a deep, steepwalled basin on a mountain, pl. -s, prounounced to rhyme with “boom”)
hm: used to express thoughtful consideration (also “hmm“)
mm: used to express assent or satisfaction
nth: describing an unspecified number in a series
phpht: used as an expression of mild anger or annoyance (also “pht“)
psst: used to attract someone’s attention
sh: used to urge silence (also “shh” and “sha“)
tsk: to utter an exclamation of annoyance (-ed, -ing, -s)
tsktsk: to “tsk” (-ed, -ing, -s)
Next Up
In class on Monday, you will write your midterm reflection. Review the guidelines in today’s blog post to prepare.
Coming Soon
On Wednesday, September 30, I will return your handwritten drafts (with my notes), and you will have the class period to begin revising on your laptops. Because the first week of October is Fall Break, you have two additional weeks to revise before you submit your analysis to Blackboard and publish it on WordPress. The due date for your revised analysis is Wednesday, October, 14 (before class). The deadline is Friday, October 16 (before class).
The pictures above, featuring the card we gave to Gerald Ward, Assistant Director and Head of Archives and Special Collections at HPU Libraries, are from a LinkedIn post he made about the card and our library session devoted to cover art from the Asimov Collection. The complete LinkedIn post appears later in today’s class notes.
Using AI Ethically for Your Analysis
Just as I turned to ChatGPT as a model for your own possible literacy-narrative brainstorming with AI, I prompted ChatGPT to ask me a series of questions to help me choose a topic for a textual analysis. The images below are screenshots of that conversation.
Review the screenshot above and note how many specifics I offer about the two topics I’m considering and how I ask the AI agent to ask me a series of questions. Developing your initial question and requesting multiple questions in response will lead to a more productive exchange of ideas.
In response to my answer to the first question, the AI agent asks me a question I would ask you: “When you think about these two possibilities, which one are you more curious about right now . . . ?” If you’re still trying to decide between two or more topics, ask yourself that same question.
Note that the AI agent shifts from the question of curiosity to the kind of analytical work each topic involves. In the second question (pictured below), the AI agent asks me to imagine that I’ve already written each essay and what the writing might have led me to discover.
Notice how my reply to question two (pictured above) provides me with paths for my writing. Also note that the AI agent tells me, “Don’t worry yet about whether either answer is a defensible thesis.” Those words echo ones in your assignment: “Think of your preliminary draft as your down draft; your aim in the early stage of the process is to get your ideas down on the page. You may need the process of drafting to discover what you think the text means and how it conveys its meaning.”
The AI agent’s third question (pictured above) and its examples lead me to additional points to consider by asking what puzzles I would need to solve.
ChatGPT’s fourth question (pictured above) and the commentary that precedes it address the two distinctive types of analysis the projects would require. Would I rather “move outside the story” of “Runaround” or remain “more firmly inside the text” of the supertoys trilogy? The answer isn’t clear to me yet. It will emerge as I continue to put pen to paper and see where it leads.
Though I could have continued the conversation after question four, I was ready to turn away from AI and from the screen. As you continue your own draft, remember that using generative AI to write your analysis and presenting an AI agent’s words as your own violates High Point University’s Honor Code and is grounds for an F. However, using AI ethically, as I do in the model above, can be a useful step.
Congratulations to Brenna Murphy and Avery Broadbent, winners of yesterday’s drawings for Supertoys Last All Summer Long and Other Stories of Future Time.
Gerald Ward’s LinkedIn Post
Bonus Assignment Opportunity
Students who correctly respond to question below will earn a bonus assignment credit.
Uncovering the I, Robot Cover Blunder
One of the eight early covers featured in the September 22 post includes a typo. Which one would have benefited from additional proofreading?
Directions for Finding and Submitting Your Answer
Examine the I, Robot covers in the September 22 post, and identify the one with a typo.
Compose a response of one or more complete sentences that identifies the edition of I, Robot by publisher and year (see the photo caption) and briefly explains the error.
Post your comment as a reply to this blog post by 7:30 a.m. on Monday, September 28.
To post your comment, click the title, “ENG 1103: Using AI Ethically . . . ,” then scroll down to the bottom of the post. There you will see the image of an airmail envelope with a rectangular box for your comment. Type your comment in the box and hit return. Voila! You have submitted your answer. I will make the comments visible before class on Monday, September 28.
Next Up
Wordplay Day! To prepare for class, revisit the Merriam-Webster Scrabble Word Finder page, and review your journal notes and the blog posts devoted to Scrabble tips.
This morning in class, you will begin drafting your analysis, which will focus on Isaac Asimov’s “Runaround,” one or more of Brian Aldiss‘s supertoys stories, or “Runaround” and one or more of the early covers for Asimov’s I, Robot. Assignment details are included below and on the handout you will receive in class. An additional copy of the assignment is posted on Blackboard.
Overview
A textual analysis aims to demonstrate how a text works, how it achieves its effects. The process of writing your analysis will include these steps:
Summarizing the text precisely so the reader can envision it. An analysis is not a summary, but your introductory paragraph will include one that will serve as a lead-in to your thesis or main claim: what you think the text achieves or what it means and how it conveys its meaning.
Paying close attention to details, what they imply, and how they relate to each other and the whole
Explaining what the text means or what it achieves and the significance of that.
Prompts
Compose an analysis in response to one of the prompts below.
Isaac Asimov’s “Runaround” recounts the events of the second Mercury expedition conducted by U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men, and Brian Aldiss’s supertoys stories chronicle the evolution of the Synth company, from Synthank, to Synthmania, to Worldsynth-Claws. Explore the trajectory of the technological advances in Asimov’s story or Aldiss’s trilogy.
Both “Runaround” and the supertoys stories portray robots in service to humans. Examine Asimov’s or Aldiss’s notion of robot service and how that vision of servitude shapes the character of one of the robots and the humans it serves. You may address more than one robot, but your analysis should focus on only one.
Probe Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics and consider how one robot’s adherence to or violation of one or more of the laws reflects on the laws, the robots, and/or the humans whom the robots serve.
Brian Aldiss’s supertoys stories not only mark the change of seasons—referenced in the titles—they also depict changes in the environment. Explore those changes and their links to technological advancements.
Examine the interactions between one of the humans and one of the robots in “Runaround,” or between one of the humans and one of the robots in the supertoys stories. What do the human’s interactions reveal about his or her perceptions of artificial intelligence? You may address more than one human and one robot, but your analysis should focus on the relationship between one human and one robot.
Study the cover art for one or more early editions of I, Robot and consider the relevance of that cover or those covers to one or more aspects of “Runaround.”
In “Supertoys Last All Summer Long,” David questions whether he is real. That line of inquiry continues in the second and third supertoys stories where he short-circuits the illusions of his virtual home and tries to make sense of the ravaged reality that remains. Explore David’s desire to be real and his search for meaning in the world.
Directions for Planning and Drafting
Review the texts that you have read for class, and determine which one interests you most as a subject of analysis. You are not permitted to read any of the texts on screen during your drafting period today.
Identify the details in the text that are thought-provoking or revealing.
Develop your analysis through a close examination of those details.
Write in dark ink, preferably black.
Double-space to allow for room for my annotations. You are welcome to use both sides of the page.
Before you leave class today, staple your handout to the top of your draft and submit it to me. Next Wednesday, I will return your draft with notes, and you will have the class period to begin revising and editing on your laptop or tablet.
Think of your preliminary draft as your down draft; your aim in the early stage of the process is to get your ideas down on the page. You may need the process of drafting to discover what you think the text means and how it conveys its meaning.
Elements for Textual Analysis
Language and Stylistic Devices: Literary devices (metaphors, irony, symbolism), diction (word choice), and syntax (sentence structure).
Content and Themes: Recurring ideas, patterns, or points of contrast.
Structure: Organization, including scene structure, and how it adheres to or breaks from convention.
Characterization: Character development, motivation, and their role in the story.
Guidelines for Revising
Your revised analysis should include the following elements:
A title that offers a window into your analysis
An introduction that presents a summary of the text
A thesis statement, or main claim, that presents your take on the text based on your close study of it
Textual evidence that supports your claims
A minimum of two relevant quotations from the text, introduced with signal phrases and followed by parenthetical citations
A conclusion that revisits the thesis without restating it verbatim
A work cited entry
A minimum of 600 wordss
Directions for Formatting and Posting Your Revision
Save your revised essay as a Microsoft Word file or PDF and submit it to Blackboard in compliance with MLA manuscript guidelines.
Publish your revision as a blog post. In your post, omit the first-page information included in your file submitted to Blackboard (your name, course, section, professor’s name, and date). Add to your blog post an image that documents some part of your writing process away from the screen, such as a photo of your reading notes or a page of your draft. Also, add to your blog post an embedded link to a relevant website.
The complete guidelines for your assignment, along with the grade criteria, are also posted on Blackboard.
Next Wednesday, September 30, I will return your handwritten drafts (with my notes), and you will have the class period to begin revising on your laptops. Because the first week of October is Fall Break, you have two additional weeks to revise before you submit your analysis to Blackboard and publish it on WordPress. The due date for your revised analysis is Wednesday, October, 14 (before class). The deadline is Friday, October 16 (before class).
Writing about I, Robot Cover Art
If focusing on a visual text in your analysis appeals to you, but the I, Robot covers you viewed don’t spark any ideas, that probably isn’t the prompt you should choose. As the side-by-side pictures below demonstrate, the robots in artist John Berkey’s cover for I, Robot (on the left) bear no resemblance to Mark Zug’s Speedy.
(L-R) John Berkey’s cover for the 1970 Fawcett Crest paperback edition of I, Robot and Mark Zug’s illustration of Speedy in I, Robot: The Illustrated Screenplay (1994).
Although Berkey’s painting and the other early covers of I, Robot may not initially lead you to any ideas for your analysis, thinking about “Runaround” as you plan your draft may reveal a connection between the story and one or more of the covers.
Be open to discovering unexpected parallels as you write, and alter your focus if your interest changes.
In your September 16 writing about the book covers in the Asimov Collection at Smith Library, some of you observed that the robots in Berkey’s cover resembled droids in Star Wars. Notably, Berkey’s painting pictured below served as a concept poster for the first film in the franchise.
(L-R) John Berkey’s cover for the 1970 Fawcett Crest paperback edition of I, Robot and his concept poster for Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
Next Up
Wordplay Day! To prepare for class, revisit the Merriam-Webster Scrabble Word Finder page, and review your journal notes and the blog posts devoted to Scrabble tips. Also, look back at the Scrabble debriefing notes on moving from observation to analysis. Those notes are included in the September 21 blog post.
Early editions of I, Robot (top row, l-r): 1950 1st edition hardcover by Gnome Press; 1950 dust jacket of 1st edition hardcover by Grosset & Dunlap; 1950 1st book club edition by Doubleday; 1952 1st UK edition by Grayson & Grayson; 1956 Signet cover; (bottom row, l-r): 1958 Digit Books; 1961 Signet 3rd printing; 1968 Signet 6th printing; 1970 Fawcett Crest; 1968 Panther Science Fiction.
Tomorrow in class, you will begin drafting your analysis, which will focus on Isaac Asimov‘s short story “Runaround, one or more of Brian Aldiss‘s supertoys stories, or “Runaround” in conjunction with one or more of the covers of I, Robot pictured above.
In the early stages of your work, pay attention to the details that interest you. Don’t concern yourself with developing a thesis before you begin writing. The preliminary writing itself is a step that will lead to your thesis and the textual evidence that will support that claim.
One of the details you and your classmates addressed in your writing on Monday may figure in your analysis. Review those prompts and your responses, included below. Could any of them serve as a building block for your analysis?
Below are the prompts from Monday’s class exercise, along with your responses. The groups’ statements appear in bold, followed by my notes.
Although “Supertoys When Winter Comes” and “Supertoys in Other Seasons” are sequels to “Supertoys Last All Summer Long,” Aldiss’s first supertoys story was published as a stand-alone work of fiction in Harper’s Bazaar magazine in December 1969. (The second and third stories were first published in 2001, in the collection Supertoys Last All Summer Long and Other Stories of Future Time, as never-before-seen sequels to the original.) If you chose to analyze “Supertoys Last All Summer Long” as a stand-alone story, what detail would you be certain to include?
Near the end of “Supertoys Last All Summer Long” by Brian Aldiss, the image of “artificial sunlight [. . .] growing long and golden across the lawn” (10) shows evidence of more than just the child robots not being real. It also points to a trend: Everyday things taken for granted may not be real in the future. Note: If you choose to focus on Aldiss’s “Supertoys Last All Summer Long” as a stand-alone story, you might explore how that image of the virtual sunlight and other illusions contrast with the depiction of the real world of the story. How have technological advancements impacted the environment and the people in it?
Towards the middle of “Supertoys Last All Summer Long,” Monica asks, “‘Why can’t we communicate?” to which Teddy responds, “‘Because David’s upstairs'” (6). That exchange captures how the relationship between Monica and David is being processed through Teddy. Note: The group’s statement does not convey why Teddy’s role as a go-between is significant. If you choose to focus solely on Aldiss’s first story, you might consider the nature of communication between Monica and the supertoys or between the two supertoys themselves.
Where and how is one or more of Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics evident in the actions of David, Teddy, or Jules, the serving-man, or where and how do the actions of one of those characters defy one of the laws?
Near the end of “Supertoys When Winter Comes,” David, in a fit of despair, “had struck the house’s control centre” (21). That led to the house disappearing, which causes a dangerous situation for Monica to be in, breaking the first of the Three Laws of Robotics. Note: David’s violation of the first law causes more than the disappearance of the virtual facade of the Swinton’s apartment, the illusion of a Georgian Mansion. Striking the house’s control centre demolishes the Swintons’ actual apartment, apparently leaving Monica Swinton, Jules, the serving-man, and Teddy in the rubble. If you address one or more of the Three Laws of Robotics in your analysis, the first mention should be followed by a quotation or paraphrase of that law with a parenthetical citation for Isaac’s Asimov’s story: (Asimov 51).
In “Runaround,” one of The Three Laws of Robotics states, “One, a robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm” (Asimov 51). David breaks that law in “Supertoys When Winter Comes” when he goes rogue, and it leads to his Mom’s passing: “David struck the house’s control centre, wrenching it from the wall in a fury of pain and despair. Everything stopped playing”(21). That allows the readers to see that nothing is left except David. Note: The group states what David’s actions allow the readers to see, but their statement doesn’t convey the implications of that action. What does his violation of the first law indicate about the laws, the robots, and/or the humans they serve?
Henry Swinton’s words about obesity and malnutrition in “Supertoys Last All Summer Long” are repeated by him, almost verbatim, in “Supertoys When Winter Comes” and the Crosswell Tape and weight gain are also mentioned in “Supertoys in Other Seasons.” How are those issues linked to technology in Aldiss’s fictional world?
In Brian Aldiss’s “Supertoys Last All Summer Long,” Henry Swinton states, “Obesity’s our problem, not malnutrition” (3). That observation indicates how becoming reliant on technology leads to unique problems that are not typically faced in the modern day. Note: The group’s statement indicates a contrast between the advances in technology in Aldiss’s fictional world and real-world advancement. In both classes, however, we considered the similarities between Synthank’s Crosswell Tape–the company’s leading product–and the synthetic peptides of GLP-1 drugs.
Throughout Aldiss’s story “Supertoys When Winter Comes,” he connects the conflicts of obesity and malnourishment with technology by mentioning the “safe parasitic worm [that] enables anyone to eat up to one hundred per cent more food and still keep his or her figure” (18). Aldiss continuously references Crosswell Technology to emphasize how technology plays a role in the pursuit of unrealistic beauty standards and issues in population and malnutrition within all three stories. Note: The group’s statement essentially rephrases the prompt rather than moving from observation to analysis. The group introduces the idea of body image, but doesn’t convey how that preoccupation with appearance is linked to Henry Swinton’s Synth company or how the conflicting issues of obesity and malnutrition correlate with technological advancement.
In “Supertoys When Winter Comes,” Monica Swinton tells David he’s “only a little android” (20). Where in the story do her words or actions seem to contradict that assertion?
In “Supertoys When Winter Comes,” Monica Swinton faces terror when her android friend dies. She says, “Oh God! It’s Jules. Poor Jules! He was a friend to me” (20). That contradicts her feelings about David because Jules is an android, but Monica valued him as more than that. Note: The group does mention that Jules is the Swintons’ serving-man, an important detail because his function in the household is different from the supertoys.’ Jules’s role is to serve, but Monica thinks of him as a friend. What does that reveal about her ambivalence regarding AI?
Near the beginning of “Supertoys When Winter Comes,” Monica, says to David and Teddy, “Come in now, children. Go upstairs and play”(14), demonstrating her connection to the boy and bear, the other “little android” (20), as she mourns the loss of her human child. Note: In your analysis, if you choose to address the inconsistencies in Monica Swinton’s exchanges with the androids, you might consider how her desire for a human child in the first story and the death of that child, revealed in the second story, may affect her words and actions.
“Supertoys in Other Seasons” begins in Throwaway Town, which the narrator calls “the land of the obsolete” (24). Who besides the mechanicals becomes obsolete, and who or what leads to his demise?
In “Supertoys in Other Seasons,” there is a parallel between the mechanicals being trashed in “the land of the obsolete” and how Henry’s life values have become obsolete as well. As Henry became increasingly greedy, his work decreased. Henry gets pushed out of the company and is made obsolete by the robot he created. Henry not only loses his company, he loses his wife and his son too. Henry’s life becoming obsolete leads Henry to remember that family is the most important thing and that David is family. That is further demonstrated when Henry asks, “David? Are you David Swinton?” (31). His words show Henry still claims ownership of David and shows that while everything else was lost, David never left. Note: The group refers to Sam Savvy as a robot, but there is no indication that he/it is mobile. Sam Savvy, the Supersoftputer Mk. V. that essentially runs Worldsynth-Claws, may be a form of AI more akin to the agents of Copilot, ChatGPT, and Claude. Also, the group writes that David “never left,” but he does leave the crumbled remains of the Swinton’s apartment for Throwaway Town. Later, Henry finds him.
In “Supertoys in Other Seasons,”Henry says, “My ambition got the better of me . . . my life is a complete cock-up” (33), showing how Henry becomes obsolete and how he leads himself to his demise. Note: The group does not mention that when Henry Swinton is forced into retirement by Worldsynth-Claws, it is Sam Savvy, the Supersoftputer Mk. V.–a product of Henry Swinton’s own company–that dismisses him. It is not only the decisions Henry makes but also his unwelcome proposals (decisions he isn’t permitted to make) that lead to his downfall.
In your brainstorming exercise last Wednesday, all of your groups developed analysis prompts that featured humans’ relationships with robots and the impact of artificial intelligence. Whatever you choose as the focus of your analysis, those two ideas are ones that you will be able to address in your conclusion. There, in your final paragraphs, you can express what your observations about the story (or stories) reveal about humans’ relationships with robots and the impact of A.I.
If your analysis focuses on “Runaround” and I, Robot cover art, you are also welcome to incorporate a study of one or both of the I, Robot covers pictured in the September 14 blog post: the 2020 Del Rey cover designed by Charles Brock and the 2004 Bantam cover designed by Jamie S. Warren Youll.
Seeing Letters and Words Anew
Seeing anew–which means seeing in a different, fresh, or modified way–is an important practice when you are studying your options for Scrabble play or analysis. When you play Scrabble, don’t hold some of the tiles in your hand. Keep all seven on the rack so your teammate can see them. And rearrange them as you consider options. Leaving the letters in one order may lead you and your teammate unable to see other possibilities (such as evil, which the second team missed in the September 4 game).
On the rack above, I have spelled a word, toy, as many players will when they first recognize a word among the seven letters. But leaving a word on the rack may prevent you from seeing other possibilities: lover, over,rove, toyer, very, vet, and one that’s far more valuable. What is it? See the end of this post for the answer.
In tomorrow’s class drawing, you will have the chance to win one of the copies of Brian Aldiss’s short story collection pictured above.
Next Up
On Wednesday, we will briefly examine some additional details in Asimov’s and Aldiss’s stories. Afterward, you will begin drafting your analyses longhand. Next Wednesday, September 30, I will return your drafts, and you will have the remainder of the class period to begin revising on your laptops. Because the following week is Fall Break, you will have two additional weeks to continue revising before posting to Blackboard and WordPress. The due date for your analysis is Wednesday, October 14, before class; the hard deadline is Friday, October 16, before class.
Answer
Repeatedly rearranging the letters on your rack can lead you to discover new potential plays. Looking beyond toy and finding overtly could mean a play of more than fifty points if you were able to play all seven letters at once.
Just as rearranging the letters on your rack enables you to see them anew, rereading the story that’s the subject of your analysis and posing questions–for instance, What else might that detail indicate?–allows you to see the words and phrases anew and can lead you to more material for your analysis, details that had previously escaped your notice.
As a starting point for our study of Brian Aldiss’s supertoys stories, this morning–after your Scrabble debriefing–you and two or three classmates will address a detail from one of the stories that may figure in the analysis you will begin drafting on Wednesday.
Each group of three or four students will compose a statement of at least one complete sentence that begins with a signal phrase for a quotation from one of the stories, follows the quote with a parenthetical citation, and concludes with words that convey the detail’s significance without stating its importance explicitly but instead showing it.
Example
Near the end of “Supertoys When Winter Comes,” David spots “a sickly rose growing by a crumbling brick wall” (21), evidence of the frailty of the real world he enters after the collapse of the Swinton’s apartment.
Your group will respond to one of the prompts below. The highlighted section of your class handout designates your group’s prompt.
Although “Supertoys When Winter Comes” and “Supertoys in Other Seasons” are sequels to “Supertoys Last All Summer Long,” Aldiss’s first supertoys story was published as a stand-alone work of fiction in Harper’s Bazaar magazine in December 1969. (The second and third stories were first published in 2001, in the collection Supertoys Last All Summer Long and Other Stories of Future Time, as never-before-seen sequels to the original.) If you chose to analyze “Supertoys Last All Summer Long” as a stand-alone story, what detail would you be certain to include?
Where and how is one or more of Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics evident in the actions of David, Teddy, or Jules, the serving-man, or where and how do the actions of one of those characters defy one of the laws?
Henry Swinton’s words about obesity and malnutrition in “Supertoys Last All Summer Long” are repeated by him, almost verbatim, in “Supertoys When Winter Comes” and the Crosswell Tape and weight gain are also mentioned in “Supertoys in Other Seasons.” How are those issues linked to technology in Aldiss’s fictional world?
In “Supertoys When Winter Comes,” Monica Swinton tells David he’s “only a little android” (20). Where in the story do her words or actions seem to contradict that assertion?
“Supertoys in Other Seasons” begins in Throwaway Town, which the narrator calls “the land of the obsolete” (24). Who besides the mechanicals becomes obsolete, and who or what leads to his demise?
English author, artist, and editor Brian Aldiss (1925-2017) was best known for his science-fiction novels and short stories. Along with writing sci-fi, he wrote Billion Year Spree (1973), a history of the genre, which he revised and expanded as Trillion Year Spree (1986), coauthored with David Wingrove.
Aldiss’s short story “Supertoys Last all Summer Long” was published in 1969, in the December issue of Harper’s Bazaar. It was later used as the basis for the first part of the film A.I. (2001), directed by Stephen Spielberg. In the year of the film’s release, the short story was republished as the title story in Aldiss’s collection Supertoys Last All Summer Long and Other Stories of Future Time.
Harper’s Bazaar. December 1969.
Scrabble Debriefing, continued
I have asked you to consider the similarities between the composing processes of writing for class and playing Scrabble. And last Friday, I mentioned that in both your writing and your Scrabble games, you should practice moving from observation to analysis. As you examine the images of the game boards and the commentary that follows, note how and where making that move to analysis more often would have benefited the players.
From Observation to Analysis
In the game below, the first team played lounges, using blanks for the g and the e. Even though playing both blanks and one u in a single turn could be a bad move, it was a good choice in this particular game. Why?
In the game above, playing both blanks and one u in a single turn was a worthwhile expenditure because the team played all seven of its tiles, which earned them an additional fifty points. So instead of scoring fourteen points for el and lounges, the team scored sixty-four points.
Though playing lounges (and el) was a smart move, playing vent in front of the s wasn’t. (See the board below.) There are two reasons that vets would have been a better choice. What are those two reasons?
First, vents places the e on the double-letter square for a score of nine. Playing vets instead would have placed the v on the double-letter square for a score of eleven. More importantly, playing vents sets up the opponents to score a vertical triple-word play.
As their answer to vents, the second team played live, with the i on a double-letter square, for eight points. By playing there, the second team set up their opponents to earn a score much higher than eight with a double triple-word play with a horizontal word with a d, n, or s on the triple-word square.
For their next play, the first team did not have d, n, or s, but they did have a z and an e, which earned them thirty-two points (with the z on a triple-letter square), four times the number of points the second team earned for live.
In their next play, the first team, which had drawn an s, was able to score a double-triple play with lives and spite for a total of forty-eight points. That means that the second team’s decision to play live for eight points netted the first team eighty points, ten times the points the second team scored with live.
Note that the last of the five pictures above is from the actual game played on September 4. I staged the previous four pictures to take you through some of the steps that led to live and its consequences. But the story doesn’t end there. Look back at the letters l, i, and e and ask yourself how the second team could have played those same three letters but scored a triple-word play.
By playing the e above the v and the i and l below it, the second team would have scored a twenty-four-point triple-word play, three times their score for live, and they would have prevented their opponents’ eighty-point gain.
The board pictured above includes one unplayable word: a misspelling of quills with one l.
Bonus Assignment
When you were growing up, did you look forward to browsing the shelves at the Scholastic Book Fair? Do you like to play classic video games? Do you like freebies? If you answered yes to one or more of those questions, drop by HPU’s Third Annual Book Fair on Wednesday, September 23, which runs from 1-3 p.m. on the outdoor basketball courts at Slane. In addition to books and video games, there will be zine-making, a food truck, and more.
If you complete the steps below, you will earn a bonus assignment credit.
Directions
Attend HPU’s Book Fair any time between 1 and 3 p.m. on Wednesday, September 23.
Compose a short blog post about the fair (one paragraph, minimum) that includes one or more pictures you took at the fair–it’s a chance to show off your freebies–and an embedded link to a relevant website. Your link may be the official site for an author whose book you received at the fair, or it may be one of the fair’s sponsors: HPU Libraries and the Writing Center.
Edit your post to eliminate errors, such as misspellings and sentence fragments, and publish it.
After you publish your post, notify me by email that it’s viewable on your blog so I can credit you for the assignment. I must receive your email no later than 7:30 a.m. on Friday, September 25.
Enjoy the Book Fair!
Next Up
In class on Wednesday, you will begin drafting your analysis longhand. Tomorrow’s blog post will offer guidance on preparing for your draft work. The post will include the prompts for your group exercise from today, along with your responses. Because the five groups in each class will respond to a different prompt, tomorrow’s class notes will provide you with five points to consider as you determine your topic.
Also, tomorrow’s post will provide you with images of eight covers from early editions of Asimov’s I, Robot. If you are interested in analyzing “Runaround” in conjunction with one or more of the covers, tomorrow’s post will give you eight options to choose from.
