course guidelines path 1 calendar path 2 calendar essay prompts class discussion



ornamental line

Evolution Towards Dystopia or Utopia?

"'I saw other vast shapes--huge buildings with
intricate parapets and tall columns . . ." (19).


Points for Reflection

C. Darwin's The Origin of Species (1859)

  1. does Darwin's notion of the "universal struggle for life" (1), as applied to humans, clash with the theological notion of a selfish and sinful nature?
  2. does Darwin's claim that the struggle for existence follows from "the high rate at which all organic beings tend to increase" (2) apply equally well to humans as to other living things?
  3. Darwin notes that the numbers of flowers, bees, mice, and cats in a particular area can be determined by recognizing certain rules governing these creatures' interrelationships (2-3). What kinds of "rules" govern the rate of human reproduction in our own time, and are these behavioral laws tied primarily to material factors?
  4. does Darwin believe that the geological record provides clear, irrefutable evidence of the mutation of species (5)?
  5. what important limitation of the reasoning mind tends to prevent humanity's ready acceptance of the theory of the "mutability of species," according to Darwin (3-4)?
  6. Darwin suggested earlier that he sees no reason his views "should shock the religious feelings of any one" (3). Does his idea that humans and plants alike may derive from "some one primordial form" (5) contradict any particular Christian, Jewish, or Muslim teachings?
  7. how do Darwin's ideas in The Origin of Species inform the assumptions of H. G. Wells's Time Traveller when this fictional character arrives in the future?


C. Darwin's The Descent of Man (1871)

  1. Darwin asserts that humankind's cellular and structural similarities to other living creatures (and he does not here mention the geological record) requires us to recognize a common progenitor (1). Is there any other way of explaining such shared characteristics?
  2. Darwin notes that, across species, one sex or the other boasts "attractions" connected with the reproductive process. In most species, males are the sex with such features (2). Is this the case with humans as well?
  3. does Darwin sound at all sexist when he suggests that certain intangible qualities, including "courage, pugnacity, [and] perseverance" are--like physical strength and appearance--gradually gained "by one sex or the other" (3)? What would Mary Wollstonecraft think of this claim?
  4. does Darwin sound at all racist when he articulates his preference for a "heroic little monkey" to a Fuegian "savage" (3)?
  5. Darwin concludes this section with a reminder that he is concerned "only with the truth as far as our reason permits us to discover it" (3, my emphasis). Does Darwin disregard the human "imagination," or instead call on its services, as he espouses his theories? Is there, that is, a place for the imagination within Darwin's definition of "reason"?


H. G. Wells's The Time Machine (1895), chps. 1-4

  1. are the Time Traveller's conjectures concerning time and space (3-6) accessible to a moderately educated, twenty-first reader? Are we more or less likely to understand what he is describing than would a generic reader in Wells's own time period (c.1895)?
  2. does disease, which proves itself such a dangerous agent in Mary Shelley’s The Last Man, wield a similarly formidable power in The Time Machine?
  3. do you agree with the Time Traveller that the process of remembering a past event constitutes a kind of time travel--a movement backwards along the dimension of Time (6)?
  4. the Medical Man objects to time travel because it might result in anachronisms (6). What does he mean, and can you generate a few specific, possible scenarios that illustrate his point?
  5. what about the Time Traveller is so discomfiting, at least in the eyes of the narrator?
  6. note which types of observations and comments the narrator attributes to members of the various professional disciplines represented at the party in the novel's opening chapter. Which of the professionals come off as more intelligent and knowledgeable, and which less so? Does this intellectual hierarchy hold during the similar meeting (with, admittedly, a differently composed group) which occurs in chapter two?
  7. does the Time Traveller find any of his expectations about the future realized? Has cruelty "grown into a common passion" and humankind become "unsympathetic, and overwhelmingly powerful" (18-19)? Are those beings he converses with advanced in "knowledge, art, everything (21)? [sec 01: Michelle K]
  8. to what process is the Time Traveller alluding when he notes that "culture" is responsible for the creation of "delicate and wonderful flowers" (21)? Why might the fruits reminiscent of raspberries and oranges be hypertrophied (22)?
  9. does the architecture of the future improve upon that with which we are ourselves familiar in our own era?
  10. what difficulties does the Time Traveller face in trying to learn the language of the small beings he encounters (23)?
  11. what (imperfect) explanation does the Time Traveller come up with to explain the absence of obvious physical differences between the sexes (25), and the Edenic, garden-like environment in which he finds himself (26)? [sec 02: Andy L]
  12. what kind of artistic modality does the Time Traveller identify in the surrounding structures, and what might this aesthetic tendency denote?
  13. to the Time Traveller's mind, will the perfection of human intelligence, education, and cooperation ultimately perfect human existence (26-27)?
  14. what variables does the Time Traveller believe must be present for humanity to improve itself (27-28)?
  15. does the Time Traveller believe Art is an important element of culture (28)?
  16. the narrator notes the difficulty of his capturing in words the special quality of the Time Traveller's narrative. He complains that we, the readers, "cannot see the speaker's white, sincere face . . . nor hear the intonation of his voice" (15). Despite these drawbacks, does Wells--speaking through the narrator--transmit the story in vivid enough detail for our imaginations to generate a clear picture of what is described, or does he fail? [sec 02: Wesley S]


partial image of painting showing top of decayed temple in black and white
detail from The Gateway to the Great Temple at Baalbek (1841)
David Roberts, RA


Dr. Paul Marchbanks
pmarchba@calpoly.edu