"Do Androids Dream?" Climax

I really liked the climax of this book.  I thought it was very interesting and surprising.  The climax really brought everything together and connected the different stories of the novel.  For me, it cleared up some confusions I had had throughout the book.  It also revealed secrets that were kept under wraps throughout the chapters.  The climax definitely met my expectations.  It was exciting and intriguing.  I was throughly entertained and it kept me interested.  The whole situation with Rachel and Rick definitely added some drama to the story.  Their relationship was very complicated and it definitely came to a halt in the climax. In my opinion, the true nature of many characters was revealed.  It was the final confrontation between androids and humans.  Rick killed Pris and Rachel killed Rick's goat.  It was sort of a back and forth battle.  In additions, I think the whole situation with Mercer was very interesting.  Throughout the novel, it is questioned whether Mercer is real or made-up.  In the climax, it is revealed that he is indeed fake.  I think that really added a lot of suspense to the final chapters.

"Do Androids Dream" Interesting Scene

I found the scene with Luba Luft to be very interesting.  Rick and Phil go back to the opera house to find Luba Luft.  When they get there, someone tells them the rehearsal has ended and that Luba had left.  They find out that she is at the museum.  Eventually, Rick and Phil find Luba and they confront her.  Luba is very hesitant and realizes quickly that these men are bounty hunters.  However, she does not resist them very much.  Luba does not want to make a scene in front of everybody in the museum.  While Rick and Phil are leading Luba outside, she starts talking about how impressed she is by humans and their sympathy.  She mentions that ever since she has been on earth, her life as consisted of imitating humans. Luba then says something about Phil being an android and he loses it.  Phil wants to kill Luba, but Rick stops him.  He tells Phil that they must run a test before they retire her, however Phil does not listen and he shoots Luba.  I found this part interesting because it shows the difference between Phil and Rick.  Phil is ruthless and feels no remorse, while Rick feel empathy for Luba.  Rick did not want to kill her. He didn't think there was a point to doing that.  Phil enjoys killing androids, while Rick only does it because it is a means to an end.  Rick thought Luba was a superb singer and he didn't understand how she would ever be a threat  to society.  Pretty much, Phil and Rick are two completely different people who happen to be in the same business.  Rick questions himself, while Phil just kills without any emotions.
Why was it such a big deal that Rick spent twenty-five dollars to buy a book for Luba Luft?

A & B: Revising

In chapter 11 of "Allyn and Bacon", I learned many interesting things about composing and revising work.  The goal of a writer is to make their ideas clear to the readers, and to do this they must revise their work many times.  I found the part about the differences between expert writers and novice writers very intriguing.  I never realized how many times an expert writer has to revise his or her work in order for it to be suitable for the public.  I also agree with everything that it says in the book.  Novice writers tend to write one draft and that is it, while expert writers compose many drafts.  I also found the advantages of writing multiple drafts interesting.   For one, multiple drafts help writers overcome the limits of short-term memory. I thought that was intriguing and also very true.  Writing more than one draft really implants the information in your head and it is easier to pick out the problems one by one.  Before I read this chapter, I had never heard of the words "writerly" and "readerly."  The author mentions that when someone is peer editing another paper, he or she should make "readerly" comments.  These comments are easier for the other person to understand, and make you a better peer reviewer.

Blade Runner (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep)

In this novel, I find the emphasis on animals to be very strange.  In the first chapter, Rick Deckard is distressed about the death of his sheep, and so he decide to buy an electric sheep.  Everybody in the apartment building owns an animal that lives on the roof.  I was very confused by this focus on animals.  However, throughout the following chapters, the animal obsession is discussed more and the reader starts to realize why these people are so infatuated with animals.  Sheep, horses, ostriches and dogs are some of the animals that are mentioned.  They are a sort of status symbol, and the larger they are the better.  Rick goes to a pet store and wants to buy an ostrich displayed in the window.  The conversation between Rick and the animal salesmen makes it seem like there is some sort of secret market for the buying and selling of animals.  Trading animals is briefly discussed and Rick makes a sketchy phone call.  I am interested to find out more about this emphasis on animals.  I am still a little confused by the whole thing, but I'm sure that as I read on it will be further explained.

Interesting Concepts from A&B

In Allyn and Bacon, I found many things to be very interesting and informative.  It states that we should see writing as critical thinking.  Also, it states that the skills we learn through this book will be directly transferrable to our other college courses.  I think that is very helpful and comforting.  I was also very intrigued by the idea of open and closed writing forms.  I had never heard of that before I read this book and I found it very interesting.  Good writing can vary from open to closed forms depending on how you want your audience to react.  I really liked the quote, "good writers write for a purpose to an audience with a genre,"  I think that is true and also very relevant. The section about messages also interested me a lot.  It stated that messages persuade through their angle of vision and through appeals to logos, ethos, and pathos.  I discovered the difference between ethos, logos and pathos, which I had rarely heard of before this book.  A quote that I was really intrigued by was, "humans are beings that by nature respond to symbols."(Burke).  I found that interesting because it is so true, but many people do not really think about it very much, I certainly didn't think about at all when writing previously.  Also, A&B talked a lot about thesis statements and their importance to a paper.  I will definitely use the advice when I am writing a paper in the future because the author put it in such simple words that it makes it very easy to understand.  I think that what I have learned so far in A&B will come in very handy when I am writing papers for this and future college courses.

first blog entry

This class is English 151.  The theme is the apocalypse.  I am writing this blog as a part of my class to better understand the idea of apocalypse and the themes that surround it.  I am exposed to a lot of technology in my everyday life.  Computers, phones and Ipods are the most common for me.  Many things revolve around technology and daily life would not be the same without it.  The computer is very helpful in everyday life, and it has many benefits.  In the past, I have written many papers.  I had to write many research papers in high school, along with one annotated bibliography.  I enjoy writing papers about topics I enjoy. I have also been exposed to many different genres of books.  Some of which I enjoyed, and some I did not.  I don't have one favorite book, but I enjoy Jodi Piccoult's and Nicolas Spark's writing.