Prompts for Response Paper #9

Prompts for Response Paper #9:

Due Tuesday, March 29 in class (and before class on turnitin.com).

You should have citations and a work/works cited entry for this paper. Be sure to demonstrate some of the moves that Harris discusses in Rewriting.

1)      This one is recycled from last time: Using what you’ve learned in Chapter 5 of Rewriting, pick one of your earlier response papers and revise it. Then, below where your revised entry ends, write at least a page explaining why you chose to make the revisions you’ve made and how they fit Harris’s definition of or strategies for revising. Hand in both the revised document and the original entry (with my marks on it). Realize that the second part of the new entry (the “what I changed and why” section) is the most important part of this prompt and should be an organized and clear mini-essay in itself.

2)      In “Asian Objects in Space,” Leigh Adams Wright argues, “This is what the world of Firefly does: it takes Asian culture (Asian cultures), takes each artifact, and strips it of its original meaning until it’s just an object…which can be used to signify something else entirely….[T]he result is entertaining but curiously empty” (31-32). She later adds, “I’m not saying that Firefly’s treatment of Asians is a major cultural crime; it’s just that I expected more” (33). Respond to Wright’s claims, not necessarily agreeing or disagreeing (although either is just fine), but certainly be sure to argue your own thesis about Firefly’s use of Asian culture.

3)      In “Objects in Space,” while holding a gun, River states, “It's just an object. It doesn't mean what you think.” Later in the episode, Early tells Simon, “People don't appreciate the substance of things. Objects in space. People miss out on what's solid.” In his article, “We’re All Just Floating in Space,” Lyle Zynda gives his own interpretation of what these lines mean—and what’s going on in this episode. In your response, give your interpretation of “Objects in Space,” being sure to discuss, at least in passing, Zynda’s analysis.