ENH 110 Plot in fiction

1. ENH 110 Plot in fiction

2. Plot: It is a series of carefully devised, interrelated events that progress through a struggle of opposing forces to a climax and to a conclusion/not always a resolution. Peripeteia Climax crisis Epitasis Complication: an element that introduces some problem or difficulty Catastasis Rising Action Falling Action Conflict: the tension that results from the struggle of opposing forces in a plot. Person vs Person Person vs Environment Person vs Self Exposition Resolution /Denoument Protasis Catastrophe

3. The “Players” in a Short story Protagonist: He or she is the leading figure both in terms of importance in the story and in terms of his or her ability to enlist our interest and sympathy, whether the cause is heroic or ignoble. Antagonist: The character (or force) in a story who stands directly opposed to the protagonist, a rival or an opponent of the protagonist. Agon = “struggle” or “contest” (conflict) Greek roots Proto = “first” Agonistes = “one who struggles for a cause” Agony = “mental struggle”

4. John Updike 1932-2009

5. “A & P” discussion questions 1. Of what significance is the 10 paragraph expository section? (Par 11 begins: “Now here comes the sad part of the story . . . .”) Sammy then says that his parents think it’s the sad part . . .(He’s obviously told them the same (?) story) However, based on the implied ambiguity of “sad part,” do you think they might be siding with his being chivalrous or do you think they would remain faithful to Lengel’s interpretation of events? 2. Often in first person narratives we learn the name of the narrator early on in the story. Why does Updike wait almost twenty paragraphs before revealing “Sammy”? (Even his age is held back until par. 8)

6. “A & P” discussion question What do you consider to be the primary dramatic conflict, and do you think the narrative’s ending effects a resolution? Conflict in fiction: Person vs Person Person vs Environment (Societal norms / Nature) Person vs Self

7. “A & P” discussion question At what point in the story come a crisis and climax?

8. “A & P” discussion question Do you think women readers characterize Sammy differently than men do? Explain.

9. “A & P” discussion prompt • Critics of the story offer various interpretations • for Sammy’s quitting: • *A typical teenager’s vaingloriousness • *The dehumanization of people caused by the • economic system’s penchant for commodification • *An Emersonian rebelliousness against the • forces of conformity • *A symbolic presaging of the iconoclastic behavior • of so much of the youth in the 1960s • What is your interpretation?

11. Joyce Carol Oates Born 1938

12. Death and the Maiden

13. Bob Dylan

14. Charles Schmid “The Pied Piper of Tuscon”

15. Smooth Talk, 1985, directed by Joyce Chopra

16. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Discussion Questions What is the purpose of the expository section in this story? Does the story have any foreshadowing incident or incidents? What do you think constitute crisis and climax in this plot?

17. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Discussion Questions What is your impression of Connie? Is she in any way appealing? Is she imperceptive and immature?

18. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Discussion Questions What is your impression of Arnold Friend? As some critics have suggested, is he a “supernatural” character?

19. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Discussion Question Critics Gretchen Schultz and R. J. R. Rockwood posit the idea that Friend is not a real person, but is created by Connie’s imagination, as a means of dealing with her adolescence and its confusions. Do you agree or disagree?

20. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Discussion Question Why doesn’t Connie succeed in breaking loose from Arnold’s spell? (Several critics think “music” is very important in answering this question)

21. Early Transistor Radio Modern Transistor Radio

22. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Discussion Questions Explain the title: Where is Connie going? Where has she been? Does Arnold Friend shed any light on answers to these questions? Do you think the story’s ending is clear or abstruse? Critic Tom Quirk thinks Connie leaves with Friend because she is rebelling against the norms of society, against the American Dream. What are your thoughts on her reason for leaving with such a demonic figure?

23. Hades abucting Persephone