East of Eden

East of Eden Resources:  Short Story

1. "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates

Class Assignment: 

1. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”  By Joyce Carol Oates
   Acc American Literature
   Mrs. Bailey & Mrs. Earley
   Task #1:  Choose 1 of the five prompts below.  Log onto your new blog, and respond to this prompt in detail.  You should write quietly for 5-10 minutes, and use clear examples in the blog to explain your thoughts.
   1. What kind of music do you find most appealing? How does this music represent you and your peers?
   2. Is there a difference between how you identify yourself and how others see you? Which is the truth?
   3. Write about a time when you found yourself in a situation that you thought you could manage only to learn later that you couldn’t. In retrospect, how would you handle yourself differently?
   
   
   4. In your opinion, how important is outward appearance? Have you ever been judged based solely on your looks or how you dress?
   5. Write about a time when regret/guilt was your best teacher.
   Task #2:  After we listen to the song “It’s All Over, Baby Blue” by Bob Dylan, you are to complete an ANNOTATED CLOSE READING of the text that you read for homework. (Sample annotated page of the short story “Sweat” by Z. N. Hurston is on the last page of this packet).  Your story should look very similar to this sample page.
   We asked you to keep track of the following terms:
   music flies character names       character descriptions
   Now, go back through the text to the places where you highlighted the textual references.  Using the reasoning skills we have employed all year, see if you can figure out the PURPOSE for these references.
   The responses to these bulleted prompts SHOULD BE WRITTEN (ANNOTATED)  IN the MARGINS of the STORY.
   • Characterize Connie and her friends
   • Characterize her family
   • Describe Arnold Friend.  What is so strange about him?
   • What is the deal with Connie’s house seeming “unreal” to her?
   • What happens at the end of the story?  Do we know for sure what happens to Connie?
   You might want to make sure that you REVIEW the PLOT and clear up any lingering questions you might have about what happens in the story.
   
   
   Task #3:  A class discussion/informal Socratic Seminar will occur.  The following questions will be the focus:
   1. What is the role of identity within the story? How should identity be formed in adolescence?
   2. How does Connie’s home life and lack of male role model contribute to her alienation? Why does she seek approval from Arnold Friend?
   3. Connie believes that life and love will be “the way it was in movies and promised in songs.” What impact does Connie’s version of reality have on her actions?
   4. What kind of mood is created by the lack of resolution in the story? How might readers react to the ambivalent ending?
   5. Who has the power in this story?  How is the power defined or gained?
   6.  Identify the societal values that are promoted by the story.
   7.  Does the message of the story help to challenge or perpetuate stereotypes of women?
   
   
   Homework:  
   You will FURTHER DEVELOP are personal response to one of these questions on your blog.
   This will be a twenty point assignment.
   
   
   
   
   
   This plan was adapted from Melissa Scholes Young’s Lesson 3:  Bridging the Gap Between Literature and Life in the AP Lit and Comp Curriculum Module on close reading.
   http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/cm-eng-lit-close-reading.pdf
   Sample of Annotated Text - yours should look like this!!!
   
   
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