Class Six 1.27.10

In this class, we discussed the differences between "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" and Smooth Talk. Like I'm sure a lot of other students said, I perfured "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" over Smooth Talk because Smooth Talk didn't leave anything to the imagination. I didn't like that I was spoon-fed the ending in Smooth Talk instead of leaving it up to my imagination, like was done in "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"

Class Five - 1.25.10

Today, we brainstormed other stories that have the same underlining idea as "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" and we came up with a couple examples: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Demon Lover ballad, Demeter & Persephone and Lolita.

Earlier this year, I checked out and watched a newer version of Lolita that I found at the MSU library. I had no idea what the movie was going to be about because when I get movies at the Library I often don't look at the summary on the back. I watched the movie and thought it was really well made. Today in class some students brought up the fact that the idea behind Lolita was sick - that an older man being attracted to a much-younger girl was wrong. Any sane person would agree, without watching the movie first. If you watch the movie, you learn that the man who was attracted to Lolita tragically lost a childhood girlfriend that haunted him until he was adult. He saw something in Lolita that he missed from this childhood relationship, and I think he was just trying to fill in the empty pieces of the puzzle.

Another thing to take into consideration in Lolita and any other Innocent/Evil stories is if it's always the evil side that is doing the antagonizing. In Lolita, the man wasn't the only one initiating contact - it was equally Lolita's initiation. Same with "Where Are You Going..." Connie enjoyed the attention of the boys - obvious by her actions and the way she dressed. Arnold Friend preyed on Connie's insecurities.

Class Four - 1.22.10

Today we discussed the meaning behind "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" and we came to the conclusion that there is an underlining story of innocence encountering evil/death in many well-known stories. Little Red Riding Hood is one. The wolf (evil/death) lures in the innocent Little Red Riding Hood with his charm. This theme has been around since the beginning of storytelling it seems.

Class Three - 1.20.10

After reading "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?", I read the newspaper article that Joyce Carol Oates used as inspiration for the piece. When I had only read "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" it puzzled me that Connie reacted to Arnold the way she did. Why didn't she just go into the house and lock the door? Why didn't she call 911 as soon as he started acting weird? But then after reading the article from the newspaper I realized why Connie hadn't taken actions into her own hands - she was mesmerized by Arnold - his mysterious, older qualities, his mature, suave nature. I remember when I was Connies age - if an older guy talked to me, I went with it, even if I knew deep down it was complete B.S. Older guys often have that power over younger girls and I think that's why he preyed on them in the first place.

Class Two - 1.15.10

So I'm running a little behind on this blog thing - its a pretty new concept for me so I'm working on getting into the hang of it. I was really impressed that Prof. Sexson had all 40-some of our names memorized by the second day of class. In this class we discussed the piece "Where Are You Going, Where have you been?" by Joyce Carol Oates. I read this piece my senior year of high school but couldn't remember how it ended. After reading it again, I have mixed feelings about the ending. One one hand, I like how it ended because it left the rest of the story open to the interpretation of the reader. On the other hand, the sick, twisted side of me wanted to know what actually happened to Connie... where did he take her? Did he kill her? Regardless of my mixed feelings, in the end I think that Oates choose the best ending to the story.

Class One - 1.13.10

First day of class was like most - going over the syllabus, taking roll.... the usual. I though Professor Sexson had a good idea of taking everyone's picture with their name to become familiar with all of us more quickly. I'm excited to get back into reading after being so busy with my major last semester. Hope the semester goes well!