Directions

• For this assignment, you will need to read at least one appendix in the Broadview edition of The Time Machine. Each appendix is organized thematically, so pick a topic that interests you.

• Each appendix contains brief selections from multiple writers. The selected writers either influenced Wells when he wrote the book or reflect ideas from his era that matter to the book. The headers at the top of each excerpt tell you who wrote it. Some are even written by Wells himself! Most are not. 

  After reading your chosen appendix, choose one excerpt for this synthesis activity.

  For example, you might choose to write about the excerpt by Friedrich Engels about the living conditions of the working class in England in the nineteenth century, or the piece by Thomas Carlyle about the sphinx.

• What matters is that the idea in your chosen excerpt shows how other people thought about an idea that is similar to, but different than, an idea that shows up in Wells's novel.

  For this activity, you will write two paragraphs for a total of at least 500 words.

  The first paragraph should summarize your chosen excerpt. You should highlight who wrote the excerpt, when it was written, and its key ideas.
  • Be sure to use quotations to illustrate what this writer said and thought. Include parenthetical citations in either APA or MLA for any quoted material.

• The second paragraph should explain how you think Wells uses or responds to the ideas that you described in your chosen excerpt. Your goal is to explain how you think Wells uses or responds to these ideas. What is similar? What is different? Think about this paragraph as making an argument. What's the argument: There is a connection between this excerpt and Wells's novel, and it is... 

  • Be sure to use quotations to illustrate Wells's ideas. Include parenthetical citations in either APA or MLA for any quoted material.

• You should use the page numbers from the Broadview edition of the book for the excerpt and the novel. The Broadview edition is where you read this material, so that's what you should cite.

• Write a citation in APA or MLA style for the Broadview edition of The Time Machine, not for the original publication in which your excerpt appeared. You don't want to cite the page number from a book written a long time ago and that you haven't seen! Cite the edition that you used and that other people can find.

• Here's an example. If you're writing about the excerpt from Darwin in the appendix and you want to quote something from page 158, you should include a parenthetical with Darwin's name and the page number. In MLA style, that would be (Darwin 158). Because you're quoting Darwin, you need to include an entry in a Works Cited for this piece. In MLA style, that would be

  • Darwin, Charles. “On the Origin of Species.” The Time Machine, edited by Nicholas Ruddick, Broadview Press, 2001, pp. 157-58.

• When you quote material from Wells's novel, you need to cite Wells, e.g., (Wells 70). You will also need to include a reference for Wells in your works cited. In MLA, it would look like this:

• Wells, H.G.. The Time Machine, edited by Nicholas Ruddick, Broadview Press, 2001.

  The key is that if you use an author’s name in a parenthetic citation, you have to include them in the works cited. That’s how we find references, and it’s what I’m trying to get everyone to practice next week.

See rubric below for grading details.