歐慈獲得2019的耶路撒冷文學獎 https://www.facebook.com/groups/emilybooks/permalink/613408039159781/

May 22, 2012

Quiz on Joyce Carol Oates

1. Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”

**text文本 

**“Smooth Talk”: trailer, interview, film

**Sparknotes

**Quiz: http://www.gradesaver.com/where-are-you-going-where-have-you-been/study-guide/quiz1

http://www.shmoop.com/where-you-going-where-you-been/quizzes.html

2. A Friend in Disclosure(1994): 桃色機密, 桃色機密, 電影為何／如何憎恨女性？, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109635/quotes

3. For Bob Dylan: “Bob Dylan - Its All Over Now, Baby Blue,” http://www.bobdylan.com/#/songs/blowin-wind

4.多產作家Joyce Carol Oates（1938-；雙子座）被認為是1960年代以來最重要的美國小說家：Oates是典型美國夢的縮影─成長於紐約郊區的工人階級家庭，Oates是她家第一個念完高中的孩子，後來靠文學獎學金完成雪城大學學士學位，甚至還去威斯康辛州攻讀碩士。1963發表首部短篇小說集By the North Gate，Oates開始她的創作生涯。她的小說除了Them (1969)獲得1970的National Book Award之外，Black Water (1992),What I Lived For (1994), 和Blonde (2000)也被提名Pulitzer Prize for Fiction。Oates1962年起開始在大學教creative writing,目前任教於Princeton University。"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"是Oates最常被選入文集的一篇短篇小說，早先發表於Epoch Magazine，靈感來自Life Magazine報導的一宗謀殺案。Oates把這篇作品獻給Bob Dylan，因為他的"Its All Over Now, Baby Blue"那首歌(lyrics)，啟發她創作這篇關於15歲女孩Connie的故事。跟所有惶惑青少年一樣，Connie不甘讓她的青春落得像她媽媽或胖姐姐般的平庸無趣，恣意揮灑之餘卻招惹禍端Arnold Friend…

5. Forest Gump soundtrack

• Forest Gump_ Joan Baez - Blowin in the wind
• Forest Gump_ The Beach boys - Sloop John B
• Forrest Gump - Sweet Home Alabama (Forrest Gump 1994)

6. Essay 25: https://alinihatekenblog.wordpress.com/2007/08/14/for-teachers-and-students-2-where-are-you-going-where-have-you-been-joyce-carol-oates/

Discussion questions for Joyce Carol Oates‘s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”:

1. Comment on the first sentence of the story: “Her name was Connie.” What could it tell us about the possible themes in the story?
2. Why is the story dedicated to Bob Dylan? Find out some background information on him and America in the 1960s. Find out which song of Bob Dylan influenced Joyce Carol Oates and discuss the significance of this in the story?
3. Underline the repeated references to rock music and discuss how they might contribute to our understanding of the story and the youth depicted in the story.
4. Underline the references to other examples of teenage culture in the story and discuss how they might contribute to our understanding of the story.
5. Comment on the following excerpt: “The restaurant was shaped like a big bottle, though squatter than a real bottle, an on its cap was a revolving figure of a grinning boy who held a hamburger aloft.” What could the shape of the restaurant signify? What could the revolving figure of a grinning boy signify? Could you establish a connection between the grinning boy and Eddie? What does Eddie’s name signify?
6. Discuss the character of Arnold Friend. What inspired Joyce Carol Oates to create this character? Think about what his name might suggest. Comment on his car, clothes and language. What does he represent in the story?
7. Comment on why Arnold speaks “in a simple lilting voice, exactly as if he were reciting the words to a song.”
8. Discuss the character of Connie. What does she represent in the story? Comment on what her name might mean.
9. Discuss the character of Ellie Oscar. Comment on what his name might mean. Consider the following: Ellie’s appearance: his hair, his sideburns, his clothes, his sunglasses/ Ellie’s radio.
10. Comment on the significance of the disc jockey’s name (Bobby King). Why does Arnold speak in his voice?
11. What is the significance of the title of the story?
12. What does “Where are you going, where have you been” tell us about good and evil?
13. Greg Johnson, in Understanding Joyce Carol Oates, argues that “Where are you going, where have you been” has explicit feminist concerns. Discuss what these concerns could be.
14. What does the story tell us about how physical beauty is perceived by the society?
15. In what ways do you think “Where are you going, where have you been” could be a comment on American society?
16. What is your interpretation of how Connie’s mother and father are represented?
17. What could the numbers on Arnold’s car (33, 19, 17) represent?
18. What could Arnold’s drawing an X in the air symbolize?
19. What could the kitchen symbolize in the story?
20. What could the telephone in the kitchen symbolize in the story?
21. Comment on how Connie and Arnold are depicted in the following excerpt: “And his face was a familiar face, somehow; the jaw and chin and cheeks slightly darkened, because he hadn’t shaved for a day or two, and the nose long and hawk-like, sniffling as if she were a treat he was going to gobble up and it was all a joke.”
22. Identify how Connie is represented as the story opens, as it progresses and as it ends and discuss to what extent the protagonist is a round character.
23. What is your understanding of the ending of the story? What happens at the end?
24. Discuss the reason(s) for the dreamlike atmosphere in the story.
25. Can you find any parallelism between Oates’s “Where are you going, where have you been?” and the famous fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood”. Discuss.

Essay 6: http://members.cox.net/dmhutchi/documents/where.htm

1. Discuss Connie’s character.  What kind of person is she?  How might her name be symbolic?

2. Talk about Arnold Friend. Give three details about him that make him peculiar or unusual. Use quotes from the literature, please.

3. What do the flies in the story suggest?

4. Where IS Connie going?

5. Oates alludes to at least three fairy tales in the story.  Try to find these allusions and comment about how they enhance the story’s meaning. 

6. Using your steps of literary analysis, state the story’s theme.