Frankenstein/Bladerunner essay questions (1 Viewer)

[deswa1]

Hey guys,

I was looking through all the past HSC and a lot of trial papers for questions and these were the ones I'm not that confident I'd be able to answer well. How would you guys approach them?

2009 HSC: A deeper understanding of disruption and identity emerges from considering the parallels between Frankenstein and Blade Runner. Compare how these texts explore disruption and identity.

The next three are similar:
1. In spite of different contexts and values, both Shelley and Scott are concerned with the question of what constitutes true humanity. Explore this statement.
2. "What does it mean to be human?" Explore this statement in relation to Blade Runner and Frankenstein
3. Compare the ways in which both texts offer insights into the human experience.

For those three, I've got stuff on humanity etc. (like pervading irony of replicants/monsters exhibiting more humanity, definition of humanity etc.) but how would you sustain a whole essay on that? -> Would you try and branch out and link Frank's hubris into his lack of humanity etc.?

And finally:

The notion of responsibility is the critical connection between Frankenstein and Blade Runner. -> Again, how do you sustain a full essay?

Love you guys

 

[Amleops]

I'm going to take a total stab in the dark here, feel free to criticise.

With the first one, my first instinct was to divide my essay into how disruption is conveyed and then how identity is conveyed, as the two are practically synonyms for a number of more established themes. However, in this case, I think disruption and identity here would go hand in hand, as many of these themes would overlap. So I would frame the essay by saying that both composers extrapolate from their contextual concerns to create situations in which humanity has disrupted the natural order, which has had a negative impact on our identity, and how Shelley and Scott are able to educate us on the flaws of humanity. I would then specify those flaws (for this particular essay, I think the nature of monstrosity and overdependence on technology work quite well), bring up examples from both texts and relate back to how this exhibits disruption and identity, and hence what deeper understanding we gain from it.

The humanity ones are a little tricky; the nature of humanity can be considered an overall theme (at least it is according to what I've learnt in class), but if you consider, for example, monstrosity and technology like I have mentioned above, you can easily draw connections to our humanity through that (e.g. technology has surpassed humanity and thus we have degenerated, or with there being ambivalence over who is the real monster this causes us to question our own humanity and whether we are as virtuous as we make out to be). For purposes of "branching out", as you have said, I would be inclined to do the latter and encompass the key concepts of humanity that the composers are trying to convey (overambitious, prone to emotional paucity etc) and apply that to two or three other vastly different themes, thus expanding my scope for what I can talk about. Then of course, I would bring up contextual influences to justify the textual evidence, and relate that back to notions of humanity.

With the last one, I'd instantly interpret "responsibility" to be about man exercising control over their environment or playing God, as these concepts are explored in great depth within both texts, and you could mention how doing this involves an obvious neglect of human responsibilities. Again, this concept can be emphasised in monstrosity and technology (I know it's probably bad practice to be relying on two themes alone, but just for the sake of an example I still think these themes can be applied quite well in all questions you have mentioned). So, the fact that the composers cause us to question our responsibilities in the case where man plays God/supreme ruler of nature would probably be my overall approach, and through implementing the "texts in time" aspect, as the aforementioned attitude of human domination was becoming quite common in both Shelley and Scott's context, would prove that it is a critical interconnecting theme between the two. Then I'd continue with the generic textual evidence, context, relation to question approach, and I think that would be enough to constitute a solid essay.

 

[deswa1]

I love you .

 

[Amleops]

Thank you . Glad to help.

 

[Demise]

I love you .

I second that.