42 pages • 1 hour read
James Tiptree Jr.The Girl Who Was Plugged In
Fiction | Novella | Adult | Published in 1973A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
How does Tiptree use and/or subvert conventional tropes of science fiction?
Is P. Burke really a passive figure with little agency throughout the story? How does or doesn’t she develop as a character?
To what extent could “The Girl Who Was Plugged In” be read as a tragedy?
Why is it necessary for GTX to use the elaborate system of Remotes to control celebrities? How does operating behind the scenes further their control?
How complete is the order that GTX have succeeded in creating, and what are the forces of disruption that unsettle it?
Should the future Tiptree describes be viewed as dystopian? You could consider comparisons with other sci-fi dystopias in your answer.
Discuss the depiction of mass culture and the entertainment industry in the story and compare it to contemporary culture.
Discuss the role of one of the following in Tiptree’s novella: the grotesque, the body, faith, technology, comedy, love, consumerism.
To what extent can Tiptree’s novel be read as a critique of post-war capitalism?
What role does the narrative structure play in the story, and how might the story have been different with a more traditional narrator?
Discuss the depiction of mass culture and the entertainment industry in the story and compare it to contemporary culture.
Discuss the role of one of the following in Tiptree’s novella: the grotesque, the body, faith, technology, comedy, love, consumerism.
To what extent can Tiptree’s novel be read as a critique of post-war capitalism?
What role does the narrative structure play in the story, and how might the story have been different with a more traditional narrator?
