Prompts for Response Paper #5

Prompts for Response Paper #5:

Due Tuesday, February 22 in class (and before class on turnitin.com).

You should have citations and a work/works cited entry for this paper. Remember our discussion in class of picking one specific and interesting point/thesis to discuss, rather than trying to cover all the bases.

1)                   In “City of,” the first episode of Angel, Doyle explains to the show’s title character, “High school’s over. You gotta make with the grown-up talk now.” You might read this as the writers’ attempts to signal that Angel, while a spin-off, is a different show from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Based on what you saw in “City of,” discuss Angel as the “Buffy Spin-off.” You might consider how it is different to or similar to Buffy, the constraints or freedoms a spin-off has, how a spin-off tries to both keep a core audience and add to it, etc. (Wide open topic, but you must find something specific to focus on, not a whole lot of separate ideas.)  

2)                   In her article, Jessica Prata Miller explains that the larger questions of feminism and Buffy—including whether or not Buffy is a feminist role model—remain contentious. Buffy and feminism—indeed, Joss Whedon and feminism—remains a rich subject of debate. Find a text that engages in this debate—a blog post, a critical article, a review—and summarize and analyze it, giving your reader a sense how the writer engages with this complicated topic. (You might start with Slayage, the peer-reviewed journal, http://slayageonline.com/.)

3)                   In her article, Jessica Prata Miller discusses “feminist ethics” and writes the following: “I set out to address the…question of whether there is something uniquely feminine in the way Buffy’s strength and goodness are portrayed….the answer is clearly yes” (48). Respond to Miller’s claim. Go beyond whether you agree or disagree.

4)                   In “City of,” Doyle gives Angel a sort of mission statement, explaining that it’s about “saving lost souls, possibly your own.” He also tells Angel it’s a good thing to have Cordelia around as she will keep him connected to the world. Think about Jessica Prata Miller’s concept of “feminist ethics.” Can you apply it to “City of”? What are the implications of doing so?

5)                   Think about Jessica Prata Miller’s concept of “feminist ethics.” Discuss how you see that concept in play in another fictional work. But do more than simply say, “This text embodies feminist ethics.”