Read a book written for the general public on some of the theories of quantum physics as applied to everyday life. Suggested authors are Amit Goswami's The Quantum Doctor: A Physicist's Guide to Health and Healing (2004) or Fred Wolf's Matter into Feeling (2002) or watch the movie What the Bleep Do We Know? (2005). List some of the concepts that most appealed to you or made you think about life in a different way. Discuss these ideas with your class.

Read some literary criticism on Updike's Toward the End of Time, looking at the ways in which the criticism evaluates the work. Then write an essay in which you argue either that the novel succeeds or that it fails, using quotations from the criticism you read to support your argument. Present your paper to your class.

Updike presented his view of what the year...