Assignment #1

Due Monday, Jan. 31

Format: typed, single-spaced, using 12-pt serif font like Times New Roman. Do not use a font like Courier or a sans serif font like Arial or Helvetica.

Re-read Scigliano's article, "Through the Eyes of an Octopus" (165).

1. Briefly, what is the key science-related knowledge?

2. What is the story? Who are its characters? What are their relations to each other? How does it begin? Is there a complication that makes the story interesting? How does it end?

3. What is the meaning Scigliano extracts from the octopus research he covers here? How does he extract (derive) this meaning?

4. What makes (or tries to make) the opening interesting?

5. In one to two paragraphs, not forgetting to quote, describe how Scigliano both (1) makes the strange or unfamiliar (the non-human) more human and (2) makes the human seem a bit more strange (or makes us see what we ignore or take for granted in a new way).