Climax

I thought the climax of this book was somewhat predictable, but good at the same time. I was however shocked when it was revealed that Mercerism is completely false and Mercer doesn't even exist. That meant that the empathy boxes in which you fused with mercer were a complete hoax too and was only a figure of the Humans imagination. I was not shocked when it was revealed that Buster Friendly was an android, i got a feeling that he was when it was revealed that he did 40 hours a day of tv and radio which is not even possible for a human to do. I did think that Rick was going to successfully retire all six androids in one day, however i did not think it would be that easy for him to do the last three. It helped that John told him about the androids in his apartment, even after promising the androids he wouldnt. I think that john didnt mean to give up that information, but since he is a special he accidently let it slip without even realizing what he was doing. Now that Rick has retired those six androids he is contemplating retiring as a bounty hunter and joining anothewr section of the department which is kind of suprising, but at the same time he is beginning to feel empathy towards androis because he now view them as living so he has a good reason to quit. Overall this book met my ecpectations, and i thought it flowed very well and made alot of sense. It was easy to follow and easy to get into as well.

How well can an android blend in?

One scene that i found particularly interesting in this novel is the one where Rick is arrested while attempting to administer an empathy test to Luba Luft. He is utterly confused when the policeman doesnt not recognize him or his superior and claims that Rick is not a bounty hunter. He is taken down to the station and booked on multiple charges. He is also shocked when he is taken into the station since it is not the one he is used to operating out of, and has never seen or heard of it before. He also does not recognize the police chief, any of the officers, or the bounty hunters from that station.When he attempts to call his wife, he dials his phone number and a random lady shows up on the screen. After talking to the police chief for a while, he finds out that the police chief as well as some of the officers are in fact androids posing as human police officers. Thew bounty hunter, Phil Resch, is not aware of this, and ends up killing the police chief when he finds out. I find it shocking that these androids could run a fake police station and have everyone, even a proffesional bounty hunter convinced that they are humans. Rick came very close to being killed that day, as did Phil, all because they could not tell that they were essentialy surrounded by androids. I also found it interesting that these androids are so technilogicallly advanced that they can pose as humans no problem, and run something like this without any humans, even the police being aware of what is going on. I just want to know, how did the SF PD not know about this at all or discover it?

Read and Revise

The most interesting concept i found while reading chapter eleven was to use multiple drafts. I have always only done a rough draft, and then a final draft in all my writings. I never even considered any more than that. After reading this however i learned that most successful writers use multiple drafts before they reach a final product. One of the most helpful things about writing multiple drafts is that it allows writers to overcome the limits of short term memory. That way they can have all their ideas on paper and add new ones when they come instead of trying to absorb all the knowledge on the subject they're writing about. Multiple drafts also let the writers come up with new ideas and put them all on paper, and not even worry about correctness untill later in the process of writing. It makes it alot easier to go back and eliminate useless parts of a paper as well. Some drafts can come after peer editing or others can come after the writer learns new information on the subject he's writing about. Also, when a writers produces multiple drafts it is more likely that his work will be more thorough, full of information, and grammatically correct. Overall i'd say writing multiple drafts makes the process of finishing a paper alot easier.

Animals.. the next big thing?

I found it quite interesting how big of a deal it is to own an animal in post-war days in this novel. Its understandable due to the fact that most of the animals went extinct, but it seems like animals are used to show status. The fancier or rarer the animal, the higher up in society the owner is. It seems as if your status depends on your animal. If you don't have an animal, you are no one. You could always get a "fake" animal for a good price, but if anyone found out then you were looked at differently. Rick even carries around a catalog with animal prices that vary depending on condition, age, and how rare the animals are. It seems crazy to me that having an animal is such an important matter, personally and socially. There are even animal dealers and animal catalogs where you can order animals such as ostriches, dogs, cats, mice, and many others. There are some however that you cannot find, with the rarest being an owl. Its funny how animals were once not worried about at all and just looked at as part of everyday life, but now are looked at as entitys that show your class and your worth as a person. It is also a horrible thing to let your animal die, whether accidentally or on purpose. An owner must take many steps to insure the safety and well being of his animal. Back before the war birds were a common sight, but since the war, they are the rarest animals of them all. Rick is amazed when he is shown a living owl while at the Rosen Association Building. Its crazy to think about how important even the smallest and simplest animals really are in this post war society.

A&B Concepts

Over the past few days we have done a lot of reading in the A&B Guide to Writing, and there are quite a few interesting concepts i came across. I would have to say the most interesting concept to me is the difference between closed and open prose. I was not even aware there were multiple forms of prose before reading this, and when i read the differences my mind was just about blown! I thought that every paper ever written had a thesis, and boy was I wrong. In open forms of prose there usually isn't a thesis, but rather an implicit theme instead. Closed forms of prose are more instructional and all tie back to the thesis, whereas open forms are chronological and usually are used to deepen a problem, or show its human significance. Another interesting concept is that good writing isn't usually about following the rules, but instead its about thinking critically and asking good questions. Some critical thinking skills crucial to good writing that professors love to see are; The ability to pose problematic questions, the ability to imagine alternative solutions to the problem, and the ability to write an effective argument. All through high school i had been taught that writing was a pretty straight forward process and in order to be successful one must follow the rules. In reality however, that is far from the truth. One must still follow some rules, such as grammar, formatting, punctuation and all that fun stuff, but at the same time you can branch out and be creative. A big part of a successful piece of writing is the writers angle of vision and the question the writer is attempting to ask, or the message the writer is trying to send. A writers stance on certain issues is also very crucial to a paper, and that stance can be decided by former life experiences. So not only can you be creative and branch out while writing but you can actually use experiences from your past to help you become a great writer. I was shocked to learn all of these new concepts about writing!

First Post

This blog will be one of the main areas of activity this year for Eng. 151. It is an interesting yet seemingly effective way to teach writing. Every student in the Eng. 151 class is required to create a blog and maintain it by posting on it regularly. The main focus of the class this year is apocalypse which is why you see the picture above. The reading that I am exposed to most often is either novels or news sources such as newspapers or magazines. Some of my favorite novels are detective stories, and my favorite author is John Grisham. Other than English class my senior year the extent of my recent writing is facebook wall posts or status updates. Some of my favorite writing assignments in High school were argumentative papers or persuasive papers. I feel like I'm really good at being persuasive, so when a topic strikes my interest and its a persuasive writing assignment, i can write for days. I also enjoyed research papers if it was over a topic that i was interested in. I am constantly exposed to the newest technology, whether its Blackberrys, I-pods, or computers. I love technology and i can play around with it all day. If there is ever a problem with someones electronic it seems like I'm always the person to come to if you want it fixed.