GIRLS: Five Essay Prompts (Episode 5: ‘Hard Being Easy’)
These questions regard last night’s episode of HBO’s Girls. Please answer the prompts with specific examples from LAST NIGHT’S EPISODE, though supplementary material will be accepted as a secondary source. Please write legibly. #2 pencils only. You have an hour to finish this test. See below for questions and example responses.
1. Lena Dunham has been described as “the voice of her generation.” Her generation’s other contributions to American culture include artisanal house-made infused vinegars and responsibly sourced small-batch chocolate bars. How is girls Girls the premium-cable equivalent of a pizza from Roberta’s, and how is it not?
Merriam Webster’s Dictionary defines the word ‘generation’ as, “A body of living beings constituting a single step in the line of descent from an ancestor.” That doesn’t really seem to apply to Girls, since Hannah is an only child. Marnie and Shoshanna are cousins, so perhaps that’s it.
In this essay I will compare and contrast Girls to a pizza from Roberta’s near the McKibben lofts in East Bushwick (Slogan: “What, your restaurant doesn’t double as a radio station?”), using examples from both real life and the show. I will also compare and contrast Girls to the general aesthetic of what our culture defines as quote-unquote hipsters. Read More
