Blog Post #2: True Blood

"Do you realize," Bill says to Sookie during the first episode, "that every person in this bar is staring at us?" Sookie asks "Who cares what they think," to which Bill responds that, since he plans to make Bontemps his home, he does. Respond to what is at stake in this moment. What's occurring, what is the moment standing in for allegorically? Why are people staring and what is the political import of Bill's decision to obey the authority of the public glare? Does his choice seem, at the time, to threaten or aid the causes he claims to represent? Try to incorporate the readings into your answer if they help your argument.

Blog Post #1--Nosferatu

In her work on the history of the vampire mythology, Nina Auerbach suggests that "every age embraces the vampire it needs." Consider the changes which occurred to the representation of the vampire between the Englishman Polidori's early portrait in his 1819 short story and the German Murnau's (retelling of Bram Stoker's) version just over a century later. What changes are most striking, which are more subtle? How might these representations reflect the time and place that they were produced? Choose one marked deviation of the vampire between the two works and suggest what might have motivated each artist to have presented the vampire in that way.

Welcome

Welcome students of ENGL 1001 sections 30 and 31. On this discussion board we will share our thoughts on the different examples of monster culture that will serve as the basis for our class discussions and, for some of you, your essays.

Be sure to make an account for Blogger so that you can comment on these threads. Please consult your syllabus for more information about how to do this.