Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep Response Paper Essay

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
After finishing this novel, do you think Deckard is an Android or a human? There is ample evidence in the text that suggest he could be either one or the other. Does it ultimately matter? Why or why not?
Your papers must be a minimum of 6-8 pages in length and should strive to be more than mere exposition, by which I mean a general recycling of the themes discussed in class. You will be expected to do a close reading that includes citing the texts, as well as demonstrating strong argumentative and rhetorical skills. In other words, do not merely summarize a text. You may use up to three secondary sources, though I would like you to try and limit the core of your argument to the primary text. Your papers must adhere to MLA formatting standards.

[Paper Topic]

After finishing the novel, do you think Deckard is an Android or a human? There is ample evidence in the text that suggests he could be either one or the other. Does it ultimately matter? Why or why not?

Your papers must be a minimum of 6-8 pages in length and should strive to be more than mere exposition, by which I mean a general recycling of the themes discussed in class. You will be expected to do a close reading that includes citing the texts, as well as demonstrating strong argumentative and rhetorical skills. In other words, do not merely summarize a text. You may use up to three secondary sources, though I would like you to try and limit the core of your argument to the primary text. Your papers must adhere to MLA formatting standards.

[OUTLINE]

INTRODUCTION (200)

-          Deckard is an android;

-          Evidence: …

-          Even though he is not an android; makes sense; doesn’t matter whether he is an android or not; the author deliberately blurs the line between humans and androids;

fundamentally no difference between human or android despite some biological difference; many people lack the empathy to be considered as humans while androids have empathy in many cases.

1. 1.      Empathy (500)

In the novel, having empathy is what distinguishes humans from androids. By detecting facial expressions and muscle reactions to a series of questions, the Voigt Empathy Test is able to tell if the person being tested is an android or a human (Dick 19). The implication is that having empathy is the only requirement to be defined as humans. Therefore, an android can certainly be defined as a human being as long as it has empathy. Similarly, a human being who lacks empathy cannot be considered as a human being.

[Androids]:

-          feel empathy for other androids (Pris)

However, androids sometimes do show empathy. For instance, Pris seems to be an android who is unable to understand real feelings. However, she did care for her friends who might be in danger. When Isidore proposes to protect her from bounty hunters who tried to kill her, Pris told him that ”If they're dead then it really doesn't matter. They're my best friends” (Dick 59). Here, an android shows empathy for other androids. Isn’t it enough for Pris to be defined as “human”?

-          Racheal Feel empathy for human(Deckard; characterized as a human in the book)

-          double (androids) - compared human twins: feel empathy for each other (textual evidence)

[Humans]:

-          Deckard killing many androids; no empathy for androids; Deckard shows no empathy for Dave Holden;

When Rick Deckard heard that Dave Holden, the chief bounty hunter in the department, was hurt by an android and would be in the hospital for at least a month, what Rick and the secretary discussed and cared about were the newly developed androids. They showed no empathy for their coworkers who were in the hospital (Dick 11).

-          Phil Resch

In another case, Phil Resch, who is also a bounty hunter, has absolutely no empathy for androids at all. He killed Luba Luft as soon as she admitted that she is an android. According to the test, there is a “defect in (his) empathic, role-taking ability” (Dick 51).

In these two scenarios, humans sometimes are gradually dehumanized because they have little empathy for humans or androids.

[Test not accurate]

….

[conclusion]

Overall, the distinctions between androids and humans are blurred. There are no absolute “humans” or “androids”  if the definition of human is based on how much empathy someone has.

1. 2.      Social

-          Human: Special; chickenhead; treated poorly; less than humans (like the way androids are treated); hierarchy;

-          Similar to Mercerism - empathy (religion)

3. Biological: androids: organic; not made up of circuits; not like fake animals;

4.?

[Relate to the world outside the text]