Friday, November 21, 2014

Project Proposal


Bibliography:

1.       Butler, Octavia E. Dawn. New York: Integrated Media, n.d. Web

I use multiple quotations and will get additional information once I read the last two books to support my argument. By using the text to show the Oankali’s incompleteness in knowledge further supports the argument that genetic determinism is incomplete.

2.       Freeman, Scott, et al. "Gene Structure and Expression." Biological Science. 5th

      ed. New Jersey: Parson Education Company, 2014. 237-304. Print.

I use my biology textbook for information on certain genetically inherited traits and how environmental factors are equally involved. The textbook provides factual scientific information to keep my argument scientifically correct.

3.       Lewontin, R.C. Biology as Ideology. New York: HarperCollins Publishers; 1991. Print.

Biology as an Ideology not only provides the basis of my argument off of Lewontin’s own ideas but I can also go more in depth into Lewontin’s background information to further support my argument.

4.       "An Overview of the Human Genome Project." National Human Genome Research

      Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2014. <http://genome.gov>.

This is a scientific website providing accurate information on the human genome project which is a strong example I use. The website gives an overall description on what research comes into play and the goals of the human genome project which I use against them to show the inaccuracies of the project.

 

I really am obsessed with this essay’s topic. I want to expand off my last essay and just further detail my main points. I think I have solid, valid supporting examples and want to hopefully keep all of them and just separate each one supporting argument out and again add more detail. My overall goal is to scientifically and accurately prove that genetic determinism is incomplete with the support of Butler’s symbolism and imagery as well as Lewontin’s theories and factual genetic examples from my biology textbook.

My argument is that Butler uses the Oankali to illustrate the errors/limitations in modern science that is supported by scientist like Lewontin and modern research to show there is a more scientifically correct way.

Why it’s important: Many modern scientist support genetic determinism like those creating the human genome project however there are many inaccuracies with this theory and it’s important to understand what they are. I will prove that genetic determinism is incomplete and use strong, scientifically accurate and relevant information to show that there is hope in modern science for better methods and thus better scientific institutions (which in itself is important).

I can fine tune this thesis further but my biggest struggle is how to end it with a clear statement. I want to say that Lewontin’s ideas and modern research of PKU and BRCA1 show that there are better methods and better science in modern science. However, even that doesn’t sound to pretty so one of my edits will be having a concise thesis.

Cutting and Keeping:

I plan on adding information from the last two books in Butler’s Lilith’s Brood, however I need to read them first and plan out what parts are useful so that will be determined later. I also want to add background information on Lewontin and possibly on Butler as well but I haven’t decided if that will be necessary. I will cut out (hopefully) every single grammatical error!

Outline:

1.       Introduction to thesis

2.       Defining genetic determinism

3.       Explaining the misconceptions and scientific inaccuracies of genetic determinism and scientifically proving it’s incompleteness

4.       Background information on Lewontin

5.       Research to support genetic determinism is incomplete

a.       PKU

b.      BRCA1

6.       The human genome project, explain its scientific inaccuracies to support the main argument

7.       Oankali’s incomplete knowledge of humans and thus the symbolic reference to the incompleteness of genetic determinism- use lots of quotes from Lilith’s Brood

8.       Then delve into the last two books to prove the Oankali’s errors

9.       Conclusion: Butler uses the Oankali to show the limitations of genetic determinism and Lilith to show instill hope for better scientific modern methods

1 comment:

  1. I don't have any complaints here. I think your argument is more clearly straightforward and interesting in its current form than you give it credit for: "My argument is that Butler uses the Oankali to illustrate the errors/limitations in modern science that is supported by scientist like Lewontin and modern research to show there is a more scientifically correct way." That's fine! Now, it leaves important questions unanswered, and if you could explain how we learn not only what we *shouldn't* do but what we *should* do from Butler, that would be great progress! So you'll need to continue to focus on that. I really don't have much more to say - at this point you're basically promise to extend your revision while streamlining it, and while we both know you'll need to adapt as you continue to read Butler, there's really nothing more to say about that at this point.

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