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
crisis
Climax
Epitasis
Complication: an
element that
introduces some
problem or
difficulty
Catastasis
Conflict: the tension
that results from the
struggle of opposing
forces in a plot.
Person vs Person
Person vs Environment
Person vs Self
Exposition
Protasis
Resolution / Denoument
Catastrophe
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.
Greek roots
Agon = “struggle” or “contest” (conflict)
Proto = “first”
Agonistes = “one who struggles for a cause”
Agony = “mental struggle”
John Updike
1932-2009
“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)
“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
“A & P” discussion question
At what point in the story come a crisis and climax?
“A & P” discussion question
Do you think women readers characterize Sammy
differently than men do? Explain.
“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?
Joyce Carol Oates
Born 1938
Death and the Maiden
Bob Dylan
Charles Schmid
“The Pied Piper of Tuscon”
Smooth Talk, 1985, directed by Joyce Chopra
“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?
“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?
“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?
“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?
“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)
Early Transistor Radio Modern Transistor Radio
“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?
Hades abucting Persephone