I'm currently making up my syllabus for Spring 2010, where I'll be teaching ENGL 191, Science Fiction, once again. I'm having a problem, though. Currently, the version of SF I'm teaching now ends w/ 2 novels: Snow Crash & Accelerando. The problem is that both of those books tip the scales at 400+ pages (470 & 415). This is especially a problem in a university environment where, as students start to get sucked into semester projects & final exams as the term concludes, the amount of time available for reading (esp. for an elective) starts to drop. So, essentially, at the same time their time is most impacted, I'm asking them to read over 150 pages a class period. As a comparison, I recently taught Patternmaster by Octavia Butler (a light 200 pages) & we had a great class discussion, as I suspect ppl actually read the thing. So, I'm starting to look into solutions for next Spring.

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