English 202:001
Essay 2 (Neuromancer)
The second essay should be 5-7 pages (double-spaced), and should address some question pertaining to William Gibson's Neuromancer.
Some possible topics are listed below (you are not limited to these topics, but I would like to know what other topics you are considering):
- The concept of "the self" in Neuromancer. You might choose to focus specifically on two or three characters (Case, Armitage/Corto, Dixie Flatline, Wintermute/Neuromancer).
- An analysis of the AI (Wintermute/Neuromancer): To what extent are its motives understandable? What is Wintermute doing, and why?
- Why are AIs regulated in Neuromancer? (The Turing Police consider AIs to be "demonic." What do they mean by this?)
- An analysis of the beach scene (chapters 21-22) in Neuromancer. What does Neuromancer mean when he tells Case that "to live here is to live" (p258)?
- A comparison of Do Androids Dream? and Neuromancer. Such a comparison must be focused on a single issue, such as the literary merit of the novels, or their views of the future, or their relationship to Vinge's Singularity, for example.
No matter what topic you choose, you will need to develop a thesis, not merely compare or state a fact. You will need to support this thesis with examples from the text (or the film). Outside sources are not required for this essay, but if they are used they must be cited using MLA style.