Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

• Genre: Fiction; science fiction/dystopian
• Originally Published: 1968
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 490L; College/Adult
• Structure/Length: 22 chapters; approx. 240 pages; approx. 9 hours, 12 minutes on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: In a dystopian world ravaged by nuclear war, Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter, is hired to kill six androids that have fled from Mars to Earth. During the assignment, he meets Rachael, who he discovers is an android. As their relationship grows, he struggles to remain detached enough to complete his mission.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Violence; killing; sex; ableist language; othering

Philip K. Dick, Author

• Bio: Born 1928 in Illinois; died 1982 in California; science fiction writer; wrote 44 novels and over 100 short stories; took courses at Berkeley; wrote prolifically but struggled to earn a living with his writing; adaptations of his work include the Blade Runner film from his novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and the Amazon series The Man in the High Castle; has a large fan following decades posthumously 
• Other Works: The Man in the High Castle (1961); Ubik (1969); A Scanner Darkly (1977)
• Awards: Hugo Award (1963); John W. Campbell Award (1975); British Science Fiction Association Award (1978)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Guide:

• Essential Empathy
• Isolation and Decay
• Artificiality Versus Authenticity

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Teaching Guide, students will:

• Gain an understanding of genre elements to contextualize the text and determine how they influence the novel’s structure, conflict, and themes.
• Through paired texts, analyze, compare, and discuss textual elements, such as allusion, language, conflict, and character development.
• Think critically about symbolism, motif, characterization, and structure and construct essay responses tying these elements to the novel’s themes of Essential Empathy, Isolation and Decay, and Artificiality Versus Authenticity.
• Explore philosophical questions and literary techniques by creating an original account of the events and conflicts presented in the novel from the perspective of another character.