Buffy the Vampire Slayer: “Hush”

Buffy the Vampire Slayer:“Hush”

Background

• Aired from 1997-2003• Written by Joss Whedon• The town of Sunnydale is on top of a

“Hellmouth”, a place where the divisionbetween the human and demon world is weak. BuffySummers is a student, but also a “Slayer”, whose jobis to fight demons to protect the town. She workswith her “Watcher” and her friends to keep her townsafe.

Buffy

• University student• Demon slayer since age of 15– Special powers: super strength & speed

• Interested in Riley, but hasn’t told him– He doesn’t know she fights demons

Riley

• University student• Works for government group that fights

demons• Interested in Buffy, but hasn’t told her– She doesn’t know that he fights demons

Giles

• Librarian• Buffy’s “Watcher”– Trains Buffy and often fights beside her– Leader of Buffy’s group of friends that

fights demons

Anya & Xander

• Anya was a former demon who was transformed into a human

• Both are friends with Buffy and fight demons with her (though Xander has no special powers)

• Dating, but often argue

Willow & Tara

• Willow: a witch who wants more opportunities to meet other witches and learn more magic

• Tara: a very shy witch who is beginning to discover her powers

• Both are members of the school’s Wicca group, which is a modern religion of witchcraft, but most don’t believe in real magic

Spike

• A vampire– Used to be Buffy’s enemy

• The government put a chip in his brain to stop him from harming humans: he feels immense pain if he attacks a person

Comparison Essay

Due Tuesday, May 7

Structure

• How many paragraphs are usually in an essay?– What are they?

Structure• Introduction– “Hook” to get reader’s attention– Introduction to topic– Thesis statement

• Body Paragraph 1: First Essential Question• Body Paragraph 2: Second Essential Question• Body Paragraph 3: Third Essential Question• Conclusion– Restate thesis– Summarize argument

Thesis• Your essay has to have a point, not just summarize the

3 essential questions• BAD thesis: Harry Potter and Twilight both answer the

questions why is magic important, how can we be responsible with magic, and what can we learn from magic?

• GOOD thesis: Harry Potter and Twilight both show the importance of magic and the consequences of using it incorrectly.

• BETTER thesis: Harry Potter and Twilight use the theme of magic to show the relationship between our dreams and our actions.

Step 1

• Choose 2 of the texts we have studied– “The Word”– “Write Me Sometime”– “Don’t Insist on English”– “Mazes”– “Not Waving But Drowning”– “Hush” (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Step 2

• Write your thesis• Why is communication important in these two

texts? What point are they trying to make?

Step 3: Works CitedFormat for a story in a collection or anthology

Family name, First name. “Title of Story.” Title of Book. Ed. Editors name. City: Publishing Company, Year. Page #’s. Print.

Note: Format page numbers as (for example) 14-18, not page 14-18

Format for a poem from a website

Family name, First name. “Title of Poem.” Title of Website. Web. Date of website update.Website name: Poetry Archive Date updated: 2010.

Format for an episode of TV

“Title of Episode.” Title of TV Show. Writ. Writer’s name. Dir. Director’s name. Company, Year. DVD.

Writer: Joss Whedon Director: Joss Whedon Company: 20th Century Fox Year: 1999

Format for a speech

Family name, First name. “Title of Speech.” Conference name. Country. Date. Note: Patricia Ryan’s speech is from December 4, 2010.

Step 4: Make an outline

Thesis: ________________________________________

Body Paragraph 1: What is the origin of communication?-notes about both texts

Body Paragraph 2: What constitutes communication?- notes about both texts

Body Paragraph 3: Who are we without communication?- notes about both texts

Step 5: Find evidence

• Look for quotations to support your ideas• Remember to cite them properly– “Quotation” (Author’s Family Name Page #)– “Piggy grabbed and put on the glasses” (Golding 76)

– If you are using “Don’t Insist on English”, there will not be a page number, just the author’s family name

Step 6: Writing the Essay

• We will discuss this on Monday, and you will have time in class to work

• For homework, think about ICE– Ideas: How does each text answer the essential

questions?– Connections: What is similar and different about

each text’s answer to each question?– Extensions: What are the effects of the different

answers to the questions? “So what”?

Homework

• Buffy questions on handout• Essay outline: – Thesis statement– Answer the essential questions for each text– Find quotations from the texts to go in your essay

• Bring your short story book every day• You do not need your textbook on Monday,

unless you want it for working on your essay