Blog about Phillip Dick

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Phillip K. Dick

Read the rest of this book by Oct. 7 and blog four times, Mon., Tue, Wed. and Sunday nights. Blog about a paragraph response to what you’ve been reading. Don’t summarize. Instead explore interesting questions that the author raises, as we’ve been doing in class and as you did for your first essay.

Here are some passages to respond to (if you need a place to start):

Explain these quotes and the issues they raise:

p.100 “that other cold, which he had encountered in so many androids.” (empathy)

p.98 “I’m part of the form-destroying process of entropy.” (entropy)

also see p.65 “First Law of Kipple” (compare to second law of thermodynamics)

p.95 “knowing intellectually that they were machines, but emotionally reacting anyhow.” (knowing vs. emotional attraction to androids)

p.94 “Most androids I’ve known have more vitality and desire to live than my wife.” (androids vs. wives)

p.90-91 “one of them will get you” (is Rachael sincere?)

p.85 “Polokov is mimicking a special, an anthead” (deceit vs. sincerity in Asimov)

p.69 Buster Friendly vs. Wilbur Mercer: can you explain both?

P.59 “Does she know?” (Rachael doesn’t know she’s not human. How can machines be given consciousness and false memories? What are the implications

MORE QUESTIONS AND PAGE NUMBERS:

102 Luba Luft outsmarts Rick. How can she? Is this Asimov’s 3^rd Law?

122 Garland convinces Rick that Phil Resch is an Android, then admits he is one.

130 Phil Resch clings to the fact that he has a pet squirrel as a sign that he is not an android

132 Luba Luft like most androids gives up. The will to live is just a program, not a life force.

133 Luba is touched by Rick’s gesture to buy her a gift

140-142 Phil passes the test, but doesn’t have a lot of empathy and likes to kill. Rick has empathy for female androids. What does that mean to you?

150 Androids are lonely too!  (Pris Staton)

156 John Isidore thinks androids are strange, but still wants to protect them. They are the only friends he has.

161 flattening of affect = no empathy

161 androids turn each other in, with no empathy

178 Mercer speaks to Rick, but is not a religious figure

187-195 Rachael and Rick in a hotel room

197 Rachael only has two years to live. Rick would marry her.

202 Rachael is victorious over Rick.

206 Pris, who is living with John, mutilates a spider, no empathy. John hates it.

214 John bonds with Mercer and heals the spider.

220 Mercer warns Rick before he is killed.

227 Rick and Iran’s goat is killed

230-233 Depressed, Rick goes to barren Oregon and climbs a hill, gets hit with a rock

236 & 241 Rick finds an extinct toad but Iran discovers it is electric and calls the faux vet

 

Revise your first essay by Sept. 26

 English IV Essay due to Dr. Forman Sept. 26

Revise your rough draft into a polished final draft

Due Thur Sept. 26 for A & F periods (both hardcopy in class and email Word attachment)

◊2-4 page polished essay, double-spaced with proper formatting (100 points)

◊Revised, edited, proofread, no more than two errors per page

◊Must have a main point (a point of view, a claim) that is not too obvious

◊Compare and/or contrast two basketball poems (A period)

   Or Asimov’s vs. Phillip Dick’s portrayal of robots (F period)

◊Header in upper right hand corner (last name, space, #)

◊Upper left hand corner: name, class, period, date, teacher

◊Title: unique to your essay, should preview your essay topic

◊Opening sentence that hooks the reader

◊Introduction that sets up your argument and context

◊Thesis statement: most specific sentence you can craft that outlines your main argument and analysis. Revise this sentence several times, even after you write your paper.

 ◊Paragraphs: topic sentences that are not examples, but claims, then quotes, evidence, examples carefully analyzed to show how they support your claims. End paragraphs with your main point or a transition.

◊Conclusion: Your best points and their larger implications. If you use ‘I,’ use it in the conclusion.

◊Proofread carefully for errors, especially these: 1) ‘s possessives

2) its vs. it’s

3) comma before quote: ,” not “,

4) don’t underline your own title

5) don’t space differently between paragraphs

6) poems in quotes, novels in italics (“Fast Break” vs. I, Robot)

 7) avoid sentence fragments

8) Works Cited: separate page listing all the works you’ve consulted in alphabetical order

9) avoid comma splices

10) proper imbedded parenthetical citations: “insignia” (Hirsch line 20)

11) don’t risk plagiarism by searching the internet without citing your sources and finally

12) proofread after you print.

Most important of all, in college essays, you must have something to say and know what it is.

How do you organize a compare/contrast essay? So many possibilities

1. Brainstorm ideas for comparing robots in Asimov vs. androids in Phillip Dick
2. Sketch out a structure for your essay: intro, 1st body paragraph, etc.
3. Come up with a working thesis (that you will revise)
4. Post your outline and working thesis to your blog by Wed.
5. Complete a rough draft of your essay by Thursday
6. Keep reading Phillip Dick every night

Remember there are many ways to structure an essay
simplest structure:

intro+thesis

similarities

dfferences

conclu

Remember, a thesis should be as specific a statement of your main claim

Don't list 3 examples like a History essay

Revise, revise, revise your thesis (like your college essay)

A. intro+thesis

similarities in how Asimov/Dick portray robots

differences

conclusion

B. intro+ thesis: human relationships to robots

1. Robbie is loved by Gloria/Dad by hated by neighbors and mom

2. Androids are offered as bribes to emigrate to Mars, master/slave

3. Rick Deckard hunts down and kill rogue robots

4. synthesize all relationships to robots

conclusion

C. intro+ thesis

1. relationships to Robbie v. andy (Asimov v. Dick)

2. IQ of Robbie v. andy

3. Moral structure of Robbie v. andy

conclusions