Spring Elective: Literature of Time Travel
Terms: 1
Grades: 11, 12, PG
“Can’t repeat the past?…Why of course you can!” — if you own a time machine. But should you? In this course we will read a few time travel classics and explore both the ethical challenges and paradoxical realities of travelling backward or forward in time. Is changing the course of history in a well-intended effort to prevent current suffering ethical or dangerous? What happens if a time traveler alters the past in a way that removes the reason for the journey in the first place? Until someone discovers an alternative to moving through time at our current standard–one day every day–these questions remain speculative. However, at its best, the literature of time travel affords imaginative glimpses into rich historical pasts, futures that may or may not be and inspires us to consider what is important in our own lives. Assignments will include analytical and creative writing, as well as a project on time travel.
Readings may include:
A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens — free download on Gutenberg.org
The Time Machine, H.G. Wells — free download on Gutenberg.org
Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut ISBN: 978‐0‐440‐18029‐6 (paperback)
How To Stop Time, Matt Haig ISBN: 978‐0‐525‐22898 (paperback)
Selected short stories
Films may include:
The Time Machine; About Time.