In order to respond to this DB, you need to have reviewed the following texts:
Read: have entire book read – Romeo & Juliet & Vampires (Gabel)
Watch: watch film – What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
Review: Literary Theory: New Historicism
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DB Writing Prompt: Write a 300-500 word reflection in response to this assignment prompt. Your response to this discussion post should try to create a reflection, with supportive textual evidence, that engages with as many questions as possible, in mini-essay form, while also creating a foundation for how you think about and respond to your peers’ posts.
How do Gabel’s Romeo & Juliet adaptation and the film, What We Do in the Shadows, both reflect a cultural context of narratives we might already be familiar with, that still offers us a new history? How do these texts offer a modern depiction of the vampire narrative with the reconstructed stories, especially Shakespeare’s renowned Romeo and Juliet play? How should we approach these texts as readers and viewers? How did you make sense of the nuances (subtle differences) in each text? Why do you think it was important for us to review these texts in order to continue the conversation of how plots are constructed in vampire narratives and stories? How did you interpret each text? What about these texts celebrate aspects of popular culture? What were some creative choices that you liked in Gabel’s book, as well as the What We Do in the Shadows film? How do the narratives in each of these stories shape what we know about vampire fiction, and even further, perhaps about society and culture at large? How did these texts innovate the vampire narrative, or gothic fiction? What were some things you did not like about each text? Explain why. Finally, how do you think representing the vampire narrative through these texts can be considered influential to the entire canon (academic collection) of vampire stories and gothic fiction?
In order to fully answer these questions, be sure to use specific examples from the film and book, citing quotes, i.e. page #s and time stamps (Gabel 15, Gabel 15-18) or (4:23-6:12), to support your ideas.
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Please share your thinking and reflection, especially if it includes personal connections, experiences, and stories. Also, in order to support your thinking, please include the quotes, references, in-text citations, via MLA Format. You can include a Works Cited section with this post, listing all the references (separate from in text), though you are not required to.
