For a final writing prompt, I asked students what they thought of the course material and if there were any new insights. Here are some of their responses:

The most interesting thing I’ve learned this semester was to really think outside the box and embrace something different. I not only had a hard time reading Neuromancer, but Fahrenheit 451 and Brave New World were difficult for me (at first) as well. As with most of us, reading sci-fi books was nothing close to what I was use to. It took me a while to get past the first chapter of Fahrenheit 451 but once I did, I couldn’t put it down. I couldn’t wait to see how Montage would turn out. The first couple pages of Brave New World through me a huge! Curve ball but I was able to not only get through it and understand it, but enjoy it. Neuromance was a completely different story though.
The most important thing I learned though was to really take pride and put effort into my writing assignments. I think essay 1 was a huge wake up call to the majority of the class. I had become accustom to handing in papers after only 1 draft and putting half hearted efforts into them. Not that it was my intension to be such a lazy student…..I now know how to correctly format an MLA paper (which I’ve now used in other classes) and take the time and put real thoughts into them as well. I’m glad I received such a low grade on essay 1 and that I stuck with this course and didn’t bail at the first sign of a Challenge.

The most interesting thing that I have learned from the assigned novels is that no matter how long ago they were published these novels can be related to the present day. As far back as 1932, 1954, and 1984 these novels were released and yet I don't feel as though these books are outdated in the least. I haven't been able to read a full book in quite a while and my hope is now I will make that happen, I see what I have been missing even during my hectic schedule.

I enjoyed all three especially Fahrenheit 451, I felt it was the easier read, I could relate well with the characters, fiction, and message. Brave New World right away made me think of a controlled,immoral, negative society. Neuromancer was the most difficult for me personally, it didn't click unless I re-read it many times which is time consuming.

I would say the most interesting thing I have learned from the assigned novels is how they seemed to be way before their time. Fahrenheit 451 was published in 1953 and it was about the banning of things, in this case it was books. The banning of things (or the trying of) happens to this day. In Brave New World how it was telling a story of people being manufactured in 'test tubes' just reminds me of how the talk of cloning happens now and even the in vitro fertilization goes on today and to think this book was published around 1931. I wouldn't think in vitro to of even been around at that time, although I do no know for sure. Neuromancer is all about 'cyberspace'. The odd things is that I didn't really understand the book except for that it revolves around technology. This is like todays world. Computers and technology are relied upon for almost everything today.
I guess just that the novels each seemed to depict something that seems way before its time is something that I find interesting.

The most interesting thing that I have learned from the assigned novels is the dystopian world that the government exists in the three novels, but the government thinks that they live in utopia, so every citizen must be happy. However, the worlds are not part of a utopian society. The government system is totalitarianism. In totalitarianism, the citizens complacent seem satisfied but they do not have freedom. Moreover, they always have to abide by the laws. This is not a utopian society; it is a dystopian world

Reading the novels that we did in this class really have made me think. It is not a normal kind of thinking. It feels out of the box for me and at the same time the way that I am thinking is completely plausible. All of the novels are about government control and after reading them I cannot help but think that our generation and time could be in the same situation.
We are controlled in ways, but there may be more than what we think we know. For instance, there is the fact that the government can listen to our phone conversations and read from our computers memory to see what sites we have visited. There is also a way that we can be traced by satellite. If you think about it, our world is not much different than the novels. It is just that we are reading the novels and realize what is going on. In all actuality we could be exactly where Montag and Case were in their world. They are just little pawns used by the government for their own enjoyment and sacrifice.
It is scary to think that we are living the same life, but at the same time we may never know. The novels that we have read have brought out a part in my mind that I was not aware of and actually made me think of different situations and scenarios.

I have learned a lot from the three novels especially, "Brave New World" and "Fahrenheit 451".I have learned how really dystopic the world I live in really is. I learned how important one's identity really is. I have also learned that, no matter how much I think I am in control of my life, there is always an apparatus to remind me that someone else is still in control. I learned that just because I am free only means to a certain extent. After doing the many discussion boards, the writing prompts, and the three novels in comparison; they have only been a summarization of life as we see it.

I would have to say, the most interesting thing I learned from the assigned novels would be how the times, in the present can also relate to the novels. The novels were written long ago, but some of the things that were written about has come true today. The novels that I could relate to, the most would be Fahrenheit 451, and Brave New World, reading the novels and understanding how a community could be controlled by a corporate company.