So, yep - in general terms, looks solid; really importantly, you need to give defining transhumanism as a concept/philosophy etc the appropriate time and space in your essay to ensure your reader has a clear understanding of what it means and to what it relates. In terms of your structure, I'd suggest that one of the key goals of this definition is to show that people are ambivalent about it - so there are 'hopes' and 'fears' about the future of mankind. Once you've done that you can begin talking about the specific aspects in the film. Logically, it feels to me that it might be better if you start off looking at the positive elements of the film as they relate to trans humanism - so the implied technology and setting of the ship, the fact that replicants exist etc - and then establish the film as a more cautionary tale. At the moment, your structure jumps about about between 'bad' transhumanism and 'good' transhumanism, and I'd suggest you can avoid that by using the setting of the film and its general implications (space travel, cryogenics, replicants) as a means of talking to the 'hopes' of transhumanism, before then showing how this same setting becomes the site for so much carnage via the Alien and Ash - both of which threaten 'pure human identity' in different ways.
So avoid the 'back and forth' implied by your structure and make sure you 'do the work' around defining the concept of transhumanism because this is your theoretical 'meat and potatoes'.
Hey Louis,
ReplyDeleteSo, yep - in general terms, looks solid; really importantly, you need to give defining transhumanism as a concept/philosophy etc the appropriate time and space in your essay to ensure your reader has a clear understanding of what it means and to what it relates. In terms of your structure, I'd suggest that one of the key goals of this definition is to show that people are ambivalent about it - so there are 'hopes' and 'fears' about the future of mankind. Once you've done that you can begin talking about the specific aspects in the film. Logically, it feels to me that it might be better if you start off looking at the positive elements of the film as they relate to trans humanism - so the implied technology and setting of the ship, the fact that replicants exist etc - and then establish the film as a more cautionary tale. At the moment, your structure jumps about about between 'bad' transhumanism and 'good' transhumanism, and I'd suggest you can avoid that by using the setting of the film and its general implications (space travel, cryogenics, replicants) as a means of talking to the 'hopes' of transhumanism, before then showing how this same setting becomes the site for so much carnage via the Alien and Ash - both of which threaten 'pure human identity' in different ways.
So avoid the 'back and forth' implied by your structure and make sure you 'do the work' around defining the concept of transhumanism because this is your theoretical 'meat and potatoes'.