Stories Information

Musical context of Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been

inspired by Charles Schmidt and Bob Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”

Historical Context of Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been

main character rebelled through clothing (counter-culture) and concept of pop culture

Mood of “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”

loss, death

Psychoanalytical perspective: Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been

Connie is self-centered and vain, deep-down she is insecure

Why is Connie insecure (Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been)

She’s always compared to her sister

How does Connie feel about intimacy? (Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been)

She is afraid of it

Evidence of Connie’s fear of intimacy (Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been)

dad doesn’t speak to them, mom is combative, sister and her aren’t close, friends aren’t named, she is isolated

Themes of Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been

Dual-identity (seen through Connie and Arnold)

Fantasy vs. Reality

Arnold’s dual-identity (Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been)

Caring Arnold vs. Angry Arnold

Young Arnold vs. Old Arnold

What commentary does Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been make?

the sexual revolution in 60s

Why does Joyce Carol Oates not like the sexual revolution?

she feels it can be too much for young people

33, 19, 17 meaning (Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been)

33=Arnold’s age, 17-19=age of his victims

Devil’s marked number

Why does Connie leave with Arnold? (Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been)

insecure and low self-esteem

Themes of Everyday Use

heritage, education, family, race (identity)

Setting of Everyday Use

Maggie and Mom’s home, yard, rural farm area

What does the family living on a farm signal? (Everyday Use)

sharecropping

What does the family see the yard as? (Everyday Use)

their second living room

What does Mama dream about in the beginning of the story? (Everyday Use)

Being a white, skinny and quick-wittedmother in a happy family on the Carson Show

How does Mama compare to the version of herself in her dream? (Everyday Use)

Black, big-boned, “built to work” (rooted in slavery), feels oppressed and stupid

Dee vs. Wangero (Everyday Use)

Dee is her “oppressor” name and Wangero is her “traditional” name

Mama’s reaction to Wangero’s new name (Everyday Use)

she is confused because she feels like her (Mama’s) experience has been devalued

Quilts significance (Everyday Use)

community, strength, communication between enslaved people

Why is Wangero condescending? (Everyday Use)

She feels like she is better than her family due to her education

Quilts symbol (Everyday Use)

different views of heritage- Wangero sees the quilt as historical/art

Mama sees quilt as family/personal

What is Everyday Use both a critique and support of?

black nationalism

Main events of Everyday Use

Wangero comes home with her fiance/boyfriend, Hakim-a-barber, who greet Mama in Arabic

Wangero asks to take churn top, dasher and quilts

Mama refuses because the quilt is for Maggie

Wangero angrily storms out because she believes Maggie does not value the quilt

Mama realizes Wangero is selfish

Why do Wangero and Hakim-a-barber greet the family in Arabic? (Everyday Use)

they joined Islam to get in touch with their African roots

What does Recitatif mean?

mode in opera where they sing the dialogue

Main characters of Recitatif

Twyla, Roberta, Maggie

Why did Mama and Maggie move? (Everyday Use)

Their house burned down leaving Maggie scarred from burning

Why is Twyla at the orphanage? (Recitatif)

Her mother wanted to “dance all night”

Why is Roberta at the orphanage? (Recitatif)

Her mother is sick

Why were Twyla and Roberta ostracized from the orphanage?

Their parents weren't dead

Purpose of Recitatif

Friendship despite race, show readers racial biases

Why does Toni Morrison intentionally leave out race? (Recitatif)

to show reader’s own racial baises

Why Recitatif is post-modernism

Challenges stereotyping (metanarrative)

Twyla and Roberta not like the other girls (rejection of the other)

Rejecting trad. ideas of what is right using Maggie as a device (rejecting metanarrative)

Timeline of Recitatif

St. Bonny’s (8 y/o, mid ‘50s), Howard Johnsons (20 y/o, 1967-68), Groceries/Coffee (30 y/o, late ‘70s-’80s), Protests (30s, 1970-80), Diner (40s, mid 80s)

Important events at St. Bonny’s (Recitatif)

Maggie falls

Mothers meet & don’t get along

Important events at Howard Johnson’s (Recitatif)

Roberta sneers at Twyla

Ends when they ask about each other’s moms

Important events at Grocery/Coffee (Recitatif)

Robert is a yuppie

Gentrification

Ask about moms again

Important events at Protests (Recitatif)

Protesting about bussing

Roberta telling Twyla she kicked Maggie

Important event at Diner (Recitatif)

Roberta admits she misremembers

Both admit they wanted to beat Maggie

Why did Roberta and Twyla want to beat Maggie? (Recitatif)

They felt powerless

Themes of Recitatif

memory, friendship, mothers, class, raceWh

When do the women bond over their mother’s? (Recitatif)

St. Bonny’s and DinerW

When do the women hurt each other with their mother’s? (Recitatif)

Howard Johnsons and Coffee

What culture are Ayah and Chato a part of? (Lullaby)

Native American, specifically Navajo

How does Lullaby start?

Ayah is looking for Chato; they’re old

Why is Ayah’s life so tragic? (Lullaby)

She lost all her children

What is the first memory in Lullaby?

Jimmie dies in the war which Ayah is angry about because it is the white man’s war; she gets Jimmie’s blanket

Ayah’s childhood (Lullaby)

her job was to clean cotton for the traditional blankets

Navajo Traditional Blanket symbolism (Lullaby)

protection

Main symbol in Lullaby

blanket

What is Ayah’s ideal of Navajo tradition?

She only speaks Navajo while her husband and kids spoke English

She sees land as sacred

Matriarchal (mother is earth)

Why does Ayah begin to resent Chato?

He taught her how to sign her name which is why they lost the kids

Which children got taken away? (Lullaby)

Danny and Ella

What does Ayah do at the end of Lullaby

sings for Chato as he dies making her change her role from wife to mother

What does Chato do with their welfare money? (Lullaby)

blows it on alcohol

Main themes of Lullaby

Earth is mother

Having no culture severs you from Earth

What does Ayah see her predominate identity as?

A Navajo mother

Why is Lullaby postmodernist?

Rejects metanarratives: white assimilation, war

Other theme of Lullaby

loss

Why is Amy Tan’s Joy Luck Club criticized?

Critics say it paints Chinese culture in a negative light and is orientalist

What story that we’ve read is a chapter in the Joy Luck Club?

Two Kinds

What is the narrator reflecting on in Two Kinds?

Her mothers belief in the American Dream

What 3 prodigal children were pushed on Jing-Mei? (Two Kinds)

1. Shirley Temple
2. Prodigal kids in magazines


1. Prodigal child playing piano on the Sullivan Show

What does Jing-Mei believe her true talent is? (Two Kinds)

Rage/anger

What does Jing-Mei tell her mother during their fight while her mother is trying to get her to go back to piano lessons? (Two Kinds)

She wishes she died just like the dead infant’s her mother gave birth to in China

What do “Pleading Child” and “Perfectly Contended” symbolize? (Two Kinds)

symbolize her life as a child vs. adultWh

What happened to Jing-Mei’s mother prior to Two Kinds?

she lost everything in China

Why is Two Kinds so popular?

Tan wrote to a broader audience, making the story relatable to many

Themes of Two Kinds

Mother and daughters

American Dream

Info on Richard (Separating)

dad, distraught over separation, scared of the past vs. future, wants to tell the kids as a group because he is selfish

Info on Joan (Separating)

mom, is more sensitive to the kids’ emotions, wants to tell the kids separately because she thinks it will be calmer

Why does the Maples family have the dinner?

Celebrating Judith coming home from abroad

Maples family children ages

Judith=19

Richard Jr./Dickie=16-17

John=15

Margaret=13

Why is Richard Jr. not at the dinner?

he’s at a rock concert

What plan do Joan and Richard settle on to tell the kids?

Telling separately

Why is the plan ruined? (Separating)

Richard starts crying at dinner

Judith’s reaction to divorce

practical, says they should either get divorced or stay together

John’s reaction to divorce

Throws a tantrum, more selfish about it

Margaret’s reaction to divorce

calm and relieved

What is one reason Joan and Richard are separating that is subtly mentioned? (Separating)

Richard cheated

What metanarrative does Separating reject?

Women being emotional and men being rational

Major symbol in Separating

tennis court=failing marriage

Major Themes of Separating

Confusion

Self interest

Autobiographical aspect of Separating

Updike also got divorced and had 4 kids

What type of protagonist is Richard?

non-hero

What does Richard Jr. do at the end of Separating that is shocking?

kisses' Richard on the lips

What school of writing is Cathedral representative of?

dirty realism

What is dirty realism?

white, blue collar middle class characters navigating heartbreak, disappointing life circumstances and small revelations

What is the narrator’s outlook on life? (Cathedral)

jealous, pessimistic, purposeless life, confused

Wife and Robert’s relationship (Cathedral)

Send tapes back in forth which is more intimate than a letter

Narrator’s epiphany (Cathedral)

Life isn’t superficial and there is deeper meaning

Major Themes of Cathedral

Looking vs. Seeing

Art as Insight

Looking vs. Seeing Theme Cathedral

Narrator is seeing but has a superficial way of life, he does not truly see things

Robert is blind but he can see the wife’s emotions and the beauty of life

Art as Insight Theme Cathedral

Wife’s poetry, narration/tapes, drawings

Other Theme Cathedral

confusion

Cathedral symbolism (Cathedral)

places of worship → see the deeper meaning of things there

Audiotapes symbolism (Cathedral)

Narrator is blind to his wife but Robert isn’t