Compare/Contrast Paper

Darius White Michael Duffy TSEM Blood, Lust, and the American Dream 13 October 2012 The articles I have selected all involve metaphorical medicines and addictions in vampire media. The in class article I have chosen is highborn not to Be Toyed With Drug Addiction, Bullying and Self-empowerment in Buffy the vampire slayer by Rob Cover and it involves the fictional character, Willow, and her addiction to magic. The article shares several(prenominal) similarities with the peer reviewed article Battling Addictions in Dracula by Kristina Aikens, and Is it dangerous? secondary readings of drugs and addiction in Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Jo Latham. All tierce articles rationalise the drug references in vampire media albeit with different points and interpretations. They briefly explain what an addiction is and how it applies to that particular subject. But two articles in particular, Not to Be Toyed With and Is it dangerous? both mention the negative aspects of peer pressure and b ullying and what effect it can have on someones top dog specifically on the character Willow.Both articles explain how Willows magical curiosity began to manifest into something darker through time. The more she used magic, the more she relied on it and the more she became reluctant to control herself. She excessively began to exhibit signs of an addiction, including withdrawal. The articles differ from Not to Be Toyed With in the sense that they explain drug use utilize different examples. Is it dangerous? takes a more in depth wait in how Willows addiction causes her to become more compulsive, and how her friendships lead off to crumble the more she hurts others with her magic.The article states that The show succeeds in depicting drug use and its consequences as a complex web of dynamic intra-action among personal agency and structural forms of social restraints. Magic is pharmAkon poison and cure, and the greenback arises from how it is used for good or evil, productiv ely or destructively. It states that the show attempts to show that drugs arent entirely bad, exclusively can be used constructively. It evens takes it a step further by comparing her to other drug abusers and the health check aspect of addictions.It mentions that there may be properties of magic that has universal do that may result in addiction, not the magic itself. In Battling Addictions in Dracula, It doesnt use magic as a metaphor for drugs, but it compares drug abusers to a vampire addicted to human blood, more specifically the war on drugs. It briefly mentions the various drugs and makes several references to vampire culture. It also states that the drug use in Dracula refers to real life instances where doctors would find out to control drug consumption during that era.The article elaborates further by stating, Doctors guardedly regulate the use of drugs in the novel, implying that disaster will surely obey if the drugs are used improperly, which is demonstrated when Lucy dies as an indirect result of the maids organism drugged. Works Cited Aikens, Kristina. Battling Addictions in Dracula. Manchester University/Gothic Studies, 17 Mar. 2010. PDF. 13 October 2012. http//ehis. ebscohost. com. proxy-tu. researchport. umd. edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? id=0737b5e2-8766-4318-a13a-9ef14709da71%40sessionmgr111&vid=3&hid=120 Latham, Jo. Is it dangerous? Alternative readings of drugs and addiction in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. attestant Junior. June 2010. Web. 13 October 2012. http//www. watcherjunior. tv/05/latham. php Cover, Rob. Not to be Toyed With Drug addiction, Bullying and Self-empowerment in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Continuum Journal of Media & Cultural Studies 2005 19(1) 85-101.