ENG 239: Slipstream Fiction Exam #1 Essay Question [80 Points]

Write a single essay of 2-3 pages [700-1,000 words] in which you present your personal definition of slipstream fiction drawing on both the essays and introductions that we have read and on the stories and films that we have discussed in the first two weeks of classes. You must use a size 12 font, preferably Cambria or Times New Roman, and your typed essay must be double-spaced with one-inch margins set for all four sides of the page. When you present quotations from the essays and stories, use the standard MLA documentation procedures illustrated in class and always integrate the quotations; that is, at no pint in your essay should you stop your writing and present a quote that is not introduced by some of your own language. For example: In his essay. “Slipstream,” Bruce Sterling argues that slipstream “is the kind of writing that makes you feel strange” [3].

To simplify the process somewhat, I am providing the general pattern that your essay should take:

Your opening paragraph should state your purpose to define the developing genre, slipstream, and then recount the definition of slipstream that is presented by our authors in “Slipstream,” “The New Weird,” and the introductions to our two anthologies. Of course, you cannot present all of the arguments found in these four texts, so it is a good idea to identify common features of the essays while arguing that despite the differences in the presentations these writers seem to have certain ideas in common as they attempt to define this developing genre. You are not required to directly comment on and quote all four essays, but you certainly should evidence your familiarity with at least two of them.

Then transition to a second paragraph in which you state that you accept some of the principles described by the slipstream authors, but that you are developing your own understanding based both on their comments and the stories and films that you have investigated in the course. Present you personal definition of slipstream by the end of your second paragraph and transition to a defense of your understanding of slipstream through discussion of at least three or four of the assigned stories.

You cannot, of course, discuss three or four stories in their entirety in just a few remaining paragraphs, so you should organize each of the following paragraphs by features of slipstream and not by detailed address to any single story. In other words, your definition of slipstream should break down into a list of perhaps three features of the genre. Then each of the following three paragraphs should emphasize one of those features and provide examples of the appearance of those features in a couple of stories. Over the course of the body of your essay, you should refer to at least five or six of the assigned stories.

Your final paragraph should be a brief conclusion.

So. Your essay should include six paragraphs following this format:

  1. An introduction of your purpose and presentation of the professional writers’ definition of slipstream as you see it.
  2. A presentation of how you are coming to understanding slipstream including at least three elements common to the genre.
  3. A body paragraph discussing one element of slipstream and providing examples from two stories.
  4. A second body paragraph discussing your second element and providing examples from two stories.
  5. A third body paragraph discussing your third element and providing examples from two stories.
  6. A brief conclusion.

As I think you can see, it will be difficult to complete this project in fewer than three pages. I will accept slightly longer essays but do not want you to go much beyond your third page. This, of course, requires that you write a first draft of your essay, let it sit for a day, then go back and revise your presentation, correcting errors and refining your language to reduce the essay’s length.

The essay must be submitted in Microsoft Word by e-mail attachment no later than 11 a.m. on Monday, July 22.

If you submit your essay early, you will receive your evaluated essay early because I will evaluate and return them in the order in which they have been received.