Class Discussion Questions

Here are all the actual questions I had prepared to ask for the class discussion. Feel free to use any of them in your blogs.

1) What is emotion? What is it's worth/purpose as an aspect of humanity?
2) Was Ben innocent? How do we determine innocence?
3) In "Weight of the World," Glory claims that "Gods don't pay [they're not supposed to feel anything." Are gods above guilt? What is guilt?
4) How can gods feel guilt if they can do no wrong? Think about the biblical myth of Noah and the Arc (God promised never to kill so many again) and the ancient Egyptian myth of Ra who regretted separating Nut and Geb. Hercules too felt guilt and he was half human like Glory.
5) What role does guilt play in the slayer's world?
6) Why does Dawn say Buffy isn't guided by her emotions when Buffy has proven on multiple occasions that she is very emotional? (refer to her discussion with Kenya, her search to gain emotion in "Intervention," and how Giles puts her heart as her greatest asset in "Spiral") Does Dawn believe what she tells Glory? Has Buffy perhaps harnessed her emotions so she is no longer controlled by them?
7) There are a lot of allusions to the Christ image in these three episodes. She is portrayed as the savior, sacrificed, and resurrected. Is she really the savior though, or is she just giving up? Some of her last words to Dawn are "It's harder to live in this world than to die for it."
8) How is worship portrayed in BtVS?
9) Compare Buffy to other heroes and superheroes. How is she different from them? From Christ?
10) Buffy has fulfilled the death wish Spike said would destroy her. Is she now unbeatable? She's no longer curious; she's been dead for three months.
11) At the end of "Buffy vs. Dracula," Buffy set out on a quest to learn more about where she comes from. By the end of "Bargaining Part One" has she accomplished this?
12) There has been a lot of character development with both Willow and Xander. How have they each matured in season 5?
13) These episodes make it pretty clear that Willow is second in command. She becomes the leader when Buffy is out of commission. One of the essays we read talked about how the structure of the scooby family allows each person to develop on their own. We've spent a lot of time talking about where Buffy is on the female hero's journey, but what about Willow? How has she progressed on this path?
14) In "Bargaining" when they are arguing about resurrecting Buffy, Xander tells Willow, "It's done. She's buried." and Willow responds, "That was just her body." How does the series usually look at death? Do they associate the person as the body, the mind, or the soul? Is it different when it's Buffy?
15) The show has consistently used demons as metaphors for everyday issues? What might Ben/Glory symbolize? What about the Buffy bot?

We've learned a lot more since the first episode of season six so some of these questions might no longer be applicable, but these are what I have.