tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8692381608294018617.post978892000437305804..comments2023-11-05T07:27:43.837-05:00Comments on Narrative and Technology: The Neuromancer Science FictionAdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16302919444091859459noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8692381608294018617.post-62515399458400513932014-02-01T20:50:32.564-05:002014-02-01T20:50:32.564-05:00This essay doesn't even vaguely follow the pro...This essay doesn't even vaguely follow the prompt. The assignment asks for you to argue *for or against* Aldiss' definition of science fiction. You make no attempt to do so. Even more problematically, you seem to have no particular argument at all. You have interests - for instance, you're interested in singularity (by which I think you mean individuality - they aren't the same thing!) in the novel, and how it relates to genetic engineering. This idea has potential, but it's hard to see where you're going with it.<br /><br />Your understanding of the Gothic is random. It's not necessarily wrong, but not really focused on literature and what the gothic might have to do with Science Fiction.<br /><br />In short: I have no idea what you're trying to argue, or why, and I have no idea what you think of the applicability of Aldiss to the novel. You bring up some interesting ideas, but with no clear strategy or focus.Adamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16302919444091859459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8692381608294018617.post-32422894808562926112014-02-01T15:13:23.693-05:002014-02-01T15:13:23.693-05:00I really liked your essay, and thought it brought ...I really liked your essay, and thought it brought up good points that I didn’t think of. I wrote my essay on the same topic, but I didn’t consider the ability of less-active technology interacting with humanity (in your case, the Mercedes cars). I downplayed the idea of biological technology in the form of elective surgery, and thought your focus on that was very good. Secondly, you’re explanation for the Gothic nature of the book was very well done.<br />My one issue with the piece is that it strayed from the prompt. The prompt wanted you to support or refute Aldiss’s definition of “Science Fiction” using Neuromancer, rather than what you did, in saying Neuromancer takes the definition of Aldiss, and modulates it a bit. If you spent more time focusing on how the presence of strange and imaginative biotechnology must force reconsideration into the definition of humanity, or how technology changes how humanity interacts with one another.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04845210295365139528noreply@blogger.com