AI, English 1103, Reading, Teaching, Writing

ENG 1103: Planning for Your Analysis

Posted on September 22, 2026September 29, 2026 by janemlucas

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.

English 1103, Reading, Teaching

ENG 1103: Brian Aldiss’s Supertoys . . .

Posted on September 21, 2026September 21, 2026 by janemlucas

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.

Brian Aldiss by Godfrey Argent. National Portrait Gallery, London https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw108880/Brian-Aldiss.

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.

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.

AI, English 1103, Reading, Teaching

ENG 1103: Covering Sci-Fi Follow-Up, “Supertoys Last All Summer Long”

Posted on September 17, 2026September 17, 2026 by janemlucas

Yesterday in class, after you wrote your individual observations about the paperbacks from the Asimov Collection, you developed talking points for our discussions of “Runaround” and “Supertoys Last All Summer Long.”

Today’s blog post includes the talking points you generated, along with pictures of your observation work.

If you would like to revisit the cover art that you examined yesterday, remember that all the paperbacks are included in the images in yesterday’s blog post. Because there is a glare on the cover of I, Robot: The Illustrated Screenplay, that book figures prominently in the photo above. Notice that my copy has a slightly different cover from the one in the Asimov Collection. My edition has the same cover art by Mark Zug, but the image is framed by a black border with words of the Three Laws of Robotics in gray.

Foreground (L-R): Claire Jahnke, Ryder Pitek, Hayden Porter; Background (L-R): Michael McNamara, Kel Wadley, Brenna Murphy, Bridgette Murphy, Gavin Godfrey-Ryan, Madison Haugk, Nicole Halucka, Grace Duffy, Oliver Henderson

Talking Points

“A common theme of forced space exploration. Why do authors use this topic?”
“All very technologically centered, and show humans’ relationships with technology.”
“We discussed that the covers all convey a sense of danger.”
“The covers all also represent exploration, adventures, and discovering the unknown.”
“The covers convey a negative effect on humanity through artwork.”

(L-R): Ryder Pitek, Seb Olander, Kai Jarvis, Claire Jahnke, Michael McNamara, Brenna Murphy

“These books relate to the excerpts [sic] by showing the long-lasting detrimental affect [sic] technology has on humans.”
“One talking point is why do you think these authors/illustrators depict a sense of eerie loneliness when taling [sic] about the future?”
“How technology affects how society (high and lower class people) interact/ daily life/ and beliefs.”
“How sci-fi books influence technological development and our view of technology today.”

(L-R): Baylee Shattenberg, Madi Stone, Kel Wadley, Bridgette Murphy, and Oliver Henderson

“Very future orientated with robots and space.”
“The one group of books focused more on aging and time rather than space and technology.”
“Space/other worlds or planets.”
“Robots and spaceships.”
“Lack of human growth.”

(L-R): Ryan Lofton, Devyn Jones, Zach Roseman, Sophia Stewart, Vivian Laliberte, Leslie Mendoza Arreola, Skylar Bowry

“The covers from the books we looked at today connect with ‘Runaround’ and ‘Supertoys Last All Summer Long’ by projecting and predicting visions of space and the possible future.”
“The covers of the books also connect to the short stories by visualizing adventure & possible danger.”
“How do humans view their relationships with technology in these novels?”

(Background to Foreground): Lance Morgan, Cole Wilhelmsen, Layla Rothberg

“Why do authors depict AI taking over society?”
“Most covers displayed a very optimistic view of the future through technology that allowed them to accomplish feats, even in space.”
“Some covers conveyed that the relationship between AI and humans was not good and might have caused conflict.”

“Supertoys Last All Summer Long”

Because our class time yesterday focused on the science fiction book covers in the Asimov Collection, we didn’t discuss Brian Aldiss’s short story. We will, however, examine it on Monday, along with his other two Supertoys stories: “Supertoys When Winter Comes” and “Supertoys in Other Seasons.”

As you prepare for Monday’s discussion of “Supertoys Last All Summer Long,” consider these questions:

Unlike Isaac Asimov’s method of presentation in “Runaround,” which maintains the focus on Mike Donovan and Gregory Powell, Aldiss employs cross-cutting: the technique of shifting back and forth between two locations: the Swintons’ apartment and the banquet hall where Henry Swinton, Managing Director of Synthank, delivers his speech. Why might Aldiss have chosen that technique? What does it achieve?
Near the end of the story, Aldiss reveals that Teddy is not the only robot in the Swinton household. What words reveal that fact?
What details foreshadow the story’s revelation?

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 with Scrabble tips.

Coming Soon

For Monday’s class, you will read and annotate Brian Aldiss’s short stories “Supertoys When Winter Comes” and “Supertoys in Other Seasons,” which I distributed in class yesterday. If you were absent or misplaced your copies, print ones from Blackboard.