Coming of Age (Journal #7, Marking Period 1)

Journal #7
Was/is your coming of age story similar to James Schloeffel’s story? Is your youth just slipping away… have you noticed anything of the sort? How does James’s “coming of age,” relate to the two we have already read (Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been and Almost Famous), and then your own life. How does this story compare?

Coming of Age

A Potential Definition…
Coming of age is a term used to describe the transition between childhood and adulthood. For some cultures, coming of age is determined at a certain age when a child is no longer a minor. Other cultures determine a child's coming of age when he or she hits puberty. In the United States, coming of age often refers to the preteen years, when children leave their toys behind in pursuit of more grown-up interests. The coming of age milestone is an important one, and can also be a difficult transition as some children are hesitant to leave childhood behind. Literature, the movies, and music often refer to the coming of age theme, and the problems or challenges associated with the transition.

An Article…

Why the coming of age is really the going of youth
By James Schloeffel, originally posted August 10, 2009

IT WASN'T until I was about 16 that I honestly grasped the reality that I was going to become an adult one day. Until that point I had subconsciously assumed that you were either a child or an adult, not both, and that I had been blessed by being born the former. It was a sobering realisation. All of the special privileges I had become accustomed to - such as cheap bus tickets, endless leisure time and constantly being referred to as ''the future'' - were, I now understood, going to come to an end. Well, not if I could help it. In defiance - or perhaps denial - I spent the following eight or so years, like most others my age, going all out to prove I was still young and still the future by staying out until 5am, drinking as if it were a sport and generally not taking anything too seriously. These are the years, between childhood and serious responsibility, when the government refers to you as a ''youth''. It's a rather peculiar label that conjures up images of loitering and knife crime and yet gives you access to all sorts of government initiatives, competitions and forums, none of which you will ever get around to becoming involved with.


These are your invincible glory years. You are effortlessly fashionable, you don't get hangovers. You know everything and everyone worth knowing. You don't take advice; you don't need to. You ''get it''. No one else does. These are the precious years when you think you are totally different from your parents and spend every waking moment trying to confirm the fact. (For the years before and after this you're either trying desperately to be like your parents or coming to terms with the fact that you already are.)
These are the years when you are expected to be obnoxious, selfish and self-absorbed. If you're going to start a rock band, or star in Big Brother or get arrested for urinating in public these are the years to do it. The truth is, it's all a big farewell party to your childhood self. Because soon, strange things start to happen. Little things at first. Like the first time a stranger refers to you as a man. I remember my first time. I was at Coles and a woman told her son to ''let the man through''. I turned around to see who she was talking about but, strangely, there was no man there. There are other examples. Like when you realise your favourite band hasn't put out a record in a decade or when you start using the word ''sensible'' in the same sentence as the word ''fashion''. Or when you sit out the last round of drinks (because you have to mow the lawn tomorrow) or catch yourself thinking it would be a nice idea to go for a drive on Sunday. Or when you start cleaning. It's not so much that age arrives, it's more that youth asks you to quietly leave the premises. You're wearing the wrong shoes, behaving inappropriately, and you no longer know the girl on the door. And as you are dragged to the exit, kicking and screaming, you suddenly realise you've been replaced by a new set of kids with funny hair and cheap bus passes.

From then on, it only gets worse.

Like when I saw someone in a line-up to a nightclub pull out an ID card with a birth year of 1990 emblazoned on it. I wasn't in the line. I was walking past on my way to the shop to pick up some milk for my cup of tea. But I could have been. At least I thought I could have been. Before you know it, you're talking work and wives and babies and bank loans. By then, it's well and truly over. You shake your head at the wild house parties across the road and ''tut tut'' at the graffiti on the fence.

So, to all the so-called ''youth'' out there, here's my advice: start a pretentious rock band, audition for a reality TV show and make the most of that fake ID while you still need it.

Just do it soon, because time waits for no man. Whatever his age.

Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? - Discussion Questions (9/26/16)

{These questions are due on Thursday, 9/29/16)

Directions: While reading the story, please answer the following questions. We will be discussing the story, in tomorrow's class. Please finish what we do not cover in today's class.

1. Think about the question posed by the title. Where has Connie been (in her life)?
Where is she going now? What makes this story a good example of "The Initiation" story model?

2. Do you detect any irony in the name of our antagonist? After all, Arnold Friend is anything but a friend.

3. Do you see Friend as being a symbolic character? The Devil? The violent side of American male identity? Death personified ("Death and The Maiden")? Is he a projection of Connie's repressed desires for fast cars, loose morals, rock and roll, cruising, sexual liberation?

4. Why does Connie submit to Arnold Friend?

5. Does she have any choice in the matter? Is Oates making a thematic point here, as in, Connie must enter the world adulthood, sexual maturity, even the threatening world of male dominated society, no matter what?

6. Discuss how Connie leaving might be seen as a sacrifice.

7. How might Oates be hinting that Connie's act is a selfless act to protect her family from certain death?

8. Is Connie seduced by her own vanity?

9. While you are your reading "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?", you should be asking yourself some key questions about how these characters line up with differing archetypal definitions/descriptions. More importantly, where does the story structure fall in that spectrum?

This story was chosen because it has a narrative that lends itself to many differing story types. This benefits you as writer because you are able to see the way a good story has the ability to present itself with many different shades of emotional color.

This is to say, the story does not present itself as all one thing or another. The reader has room for interpretation and emotional engagement in a number of storytelling styles.

Historical Context - Drawing Villiains From Reality (9/21/16)

Villains do not just spring from the imagination of writers. For the most part, these villains are inspired by real people. Arnold Friend was inspired by Charles Schmid.

Charles Howard 'Smitty' Schmid, Jr. (July 8, 1942 - March 30, 1975), also known as "The Pied Piper of Tucson," was an American serial killer. His crimes, profiled in the March 4, 1966 issue of Life Magazine, are the basis for "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?," a short story by Joyce Carol Oates, and "The Lost," a novel by Jack Ketchum. The 1971 movie The Todd Killings is based on the Schmid case. Schmid's crimes also provide the source for the 1995 film "Dead Beat," starring Bruce Ramsay, Balthazar Getty, and Natasha Gregson Wagner. In addition, he was the inspiration for Treat Williams' character in "Smooth Talker", which was inspired by Oates' short story.

In 2008, The Library of America selected Don Moser's article "The Pied Piper of Tucson" from Life Magazine for inclusion in its two-century retrospective of American True Crime.

Joyce Carol Oates - Inspiration for "Where Are You Going..." (9/21/16)

Joyce Carol Oates

Born on June 16, 1938, in Lockport, New York, Joyce Carol Oates spent her childhood on her parents’ farm. Lockport, a small rural town, had struggled economically since the Great Depression, but it provided Oates with a wholesome environment in which to grow up. She attended elementary school in a one-room schoolhouse, where she developed a fascination with writing. Although her parents were not highly educated, they were always supportive of her budding talents. Oates’s grandmother gave her a typewriter when she was a teenager, and in high school she used it to write novels and short stories. She won a scholarship to Syracuse University, where she majored in English and graduated as valedictorian. She subsequently pursued and received a master’s degree in English from the University of Wisconsin. While studying there, she met her future husband, Raymond Smith. Though she kept her maiden name, she would later publish suspense novels under the pseudonym Rosamond Smith.

After marrying Smith in 1962, Oates and her new husband relocated to Detroit, where the bleak atmosphere and social turmoil that characterized Detroit in the 1960s influenced much of Oates’s writing. After securing a teaching position at the University of Windsor in 1968, she and Smith relocated to Canada for a ten-year period. In Canada, they started a small publishing house and literary magazine, the Ontario Review. In 1978, Oates and Smith moved to Princeton, New Jersey, where Oates is currently the Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of Humanities at Princeton University.

Oates’s fiction has garnered much critical acclaim. She is a three-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize—for Black Water (1992), What I Lived For (1994), and Blonde(2000). In 1970, she won the National Book Award for her novel them (1969). Before winning, she had been a finalist three times—for Wonderland (1971);Because It Is Bitter, and Because It Is My Heart (1990); and Blonde (2000). She won the PEN/Faulkner Award for What I Lived For and a National Book Critics Circle Award for Black Water, among many other achievements. Many of her short stories have won the O. Henry Award, the Pushcart Prize, and inclusion in annual anthology The Best American Short Stories.

Aside from the merits of her fiction, Oates is perhaps equally famous for her almost unbelievably large output. After publishing her first novel, With Shuddering Fall, in 1964, Oates has gone on to publish close to fifty novels and novellas, close to thirty collections of short stories, eight books of poetry, eight books of plays, and many volumes of essays and criticism. In 1996, she received the PEN/Malamud Award for a lifetime of literary achievement.

Inspiration for “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”, as told by Robert Davidson

In the fall of 1966 Joyce Carol Oates published a short story entitled Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? The story is dedicated To Bob Dylan. After hearing Oates read a couple of years ago, I asked her why that story was dedicated to Dylan. Was it because the story's title, a ref to A Hard Rain...?
Oates said the real reason she dedicated the story to Dylan was because she'd been inspired to write the story after listening to "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue." As soon as she said that, it made a lot of sense to me. The short story (which is an excellent short story in its own right) has some, perhaps, explicit ties to Dylan's song.

Lines from Dylan's song like:

"The vagabond who's rapping at your door
Is standing in the clothes that you once wore"

are obvious in the short story. But there are other, more intuitive connections as well. More to do with the mood and tone of the story and some of the subtle observations Oates makes about popular music and its effects on kids (she is not preaching). And, I think it should be said, Oates probably views the quality of Dylan's songwriting as an antidote, rather than a poison.

Joyce Carol Oates - Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? (9/21/16)

The Profile Assignment (9/20/16)

(The Hero: Indiana Jones, Story Type: The Quest)

Character Profiles

(THIS ASSIGNMENT IS DUE ON THURSDAY, 9/29/16)

Next to back-stories, this is one of the most important things you will do for your characters. Some begin with profiles and then, like a puzzle, fit the back-story to it. In the end, it is like any other process. You must have a logical starting point. Everyone works differently. I have heard people tell me that crucial elements of their stories were not worth their attention. Students have told me that certain aspects (setting, clothing, distinguishing characteristics) are unimportant and could be filled in as the writing process took its course.

I beg to differ.

Every element of your story is crucial. Allowing something to be decided without care will make your stories suffer. Since we are talking about archetypes, you are working with very specific character types. At this point, you have been doing research involving the creation of the characters you chose. You have written several short pieces which outline your characters living arrangements, their dreams/nightmares, etc.

The Hero: Edward Scissorhands, The Story Type: The Quest, Coming Of Age

Now, you are going to be doing a profile outline of your character. This is important because the goal of working with these archetypes is your ability to take characters and pull them "inside-out". To do this, you must first know everything about them.



The cast of "The Outsiders" (clockwise from the left, Emilio Estevez, Patrick Swayze, Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe, Tom Cruise, C. Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio (Story Type: Coming Of Age, The Quest)

Overall, a profile is a good summary and can be customized to fit your needs quite easily. They can range from the simplistic to the extremely complex. Once you compose a character profile, you will find it keeps evolving as you use it. Many books line the bookshelves of libraries and bookstores with all sorts of information on creating profiles, I've listed below the main info you might be interested in using as you develop the file you are creating on your characters.

Hero: William Miller, Story Type: Coming of Age, Love Story

I recommend writing a little scene or at least short description on each point you intend to use or find useful. And, what I mean by this is that some writers simply answer these questions with a single word. Trust me, single words will not help you when it comes time to write. If your character fears spiders write a complete sentence explaining why. It's the little details you know that makes characters come alive; even if your character does not encounter a spider in the story its good for you to know because in the process of writing this knowledge will be infused into the text like magic.

The Villain: Lord Voldemort, The Story Type: Coming Of Age/Rite Of Passage, Quest

Think of one character (you can use the one you have been using since we started this exercise) and begin composing a profile comprised of what you know about this character. If there are things you don't know, begin researching them. If you think something is not applicable, you do not need to include that information. But, be warned - often the things we choose to overlook are the most integral to our character. Don't be fooled into thinking that minutiae is irrelevant.

Remember: There are no accidental details in the creation of lasting characters/archetypes. Everything is created by the author for some reason.

For this assignment, I would like you to complete this list using the characters that you have been working with from the beginning of this writing exercise. Eventually, you are going to be forced to take these characters into places they have not traditionally been used. So, do your research completely. This should be submitted in Googledocs. This assignment is worth 100 points and it is due Thursday, September 29, 2016.

NOTE: FOR SOME OF THESE, YOU MIGHT NOT FIND AN ANSWER VERY READILY. MAKE SURE YOU DIG DEEPLY. YOU WOULD BE SURPRISED AT WHAT YOU FIND.

Title of book/story
Name of character
Age
Height, weight, and body type
Eye color
Hair color & style
Skin tone
Physical condition
Distinguishing features
Physical imperfections most likely to change (if applicable)
Gestures
Ethnic group
Family Background
Religion
Parents
Siblings
Neighborhoods
Income
Growing up
Education
Skills, talents
Short & long term goals
Short & long term wants & needs
Introvert or extrovert
Eccentricities
Type of temperament
How he/she handles anger or rage
Admirable traits
Negative traits
Habits
Prejudices-Good & Bad
Things that irritate
Things that make him/her uncomfortable or bring shame
Most painful things in life/traumas from the past
Political leanings
Sense of humor
Fears & Phobias
Friends & Enemies
Major problems to be solved (at least 3)
Solutions to problems (at least 6)
Lessons learned

Can you think of any reason why this character is so enduring?
If the character is not well known, can you speculate what the reason is for this character being an "underground" phenomenon? What would it take to make them a mainstream character?

Semantic Mapping (Journal #6, Marking Period 1)

Jack Nicholson - One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (Archetype: THE HERO. You could also argue that he is THE ANTI-HERO)

Semantic Mapping

The weather is changing and everything is oddly new, once more.

That almost sounds too hard to believe. It seems like only yesterday, we were looking squarely at the beginning of summer.

Time stops for no one..

When we talk about archetypes and dig around for their origins and backgrounds, it is only natural to start making connections between them and the characters who surround them - giving them meaning and "gravity" in the real world.

On top of their profiles, semantic mapping is another means to get your creative juices flowing. You can use this exercise whenever you have problems making connections and the ideas seem to stop flowing. It's also great for those "visual writers" out there. Unlike the "list-like" features of a profile, semantic mapping allows you to visualize the relations between various characteristics, how they interlock, cross or overlap.



Geena Davis, Susan Surandon - Thelma and Louise (Archetype: The Journey)

(Lord Of The Rings - Archetype: The Quest, Coming Of Age)

(Gandalf - Archetype: The Sage)

(Mickey and Rocky - Archetype: The Sage and The Hero)

Here's what you do. Draw a circle in the center of the page. In the circle write the name of the character that you have been using for the purpose of your research. Draw a line from the center circle outward. At the end of the line draw another circle. Inside that circle write the name or idea or whatever pops into your head regarding that character. Continue in this fashion until the ideas do not come easily anymore. You may find you need more than one sheet of paper for one map.

Bryan Cranston - Breaking Bad (Archetype: The Anti-Hero)

Where Does Your Character Draw His/Her Inspiration? (Journal #5, Marking Period 1)

This week, we discussed one kind of archetype as it is applied to "The Dark Knight". We only used this particular kind of archetype because it is one of the most popular.

Batman is, in many ways, the same kind of character played by Ryan Gosling in "Drive."

It should be noted that the western and the gangster archetypes are American storyteller creations. These two types of stories originated in our country. Now, that does not mean that we created these characters. It simply means we threw those characters into a genre we created.

For instance, the idea of the lone gunman is not a uniquely American creation.

In fact, Akira Kurosawa was the one of the first film directors to film characters like these.



In fact, "Yojimbo" was made in 1961. It is a story about a lone samurai who is hired to clean up a town. In the process, he deceives both gangs and gets them to destroy each other. This character is seen as the template for Clint Eastwood's "Man With No Name".



Further still, that character morphed into a westernized version of the same story in the film "Last Man Standing".



Its also how "The Seven Samurai" became "The Magnificent Seven".

How about the Jedi in "The Star Wars Saga?"

In many ways, their names and their code is taken from the Japanese Samurai.

What about the great heroines?

Sigourney Weaver, Uma Thurman, Pam Grier, and Carrie Fisher play ferocious, fearless, independent women who are every bit as capable as their male counterparts. In fact, they usually have to overcome much steeper odds to win the day.





In your journals: "Where does the archetype you chose to research draw its inspiration?"

Your Characters and Their Clothes (Journal #4, Marking Period 1)

You may be thinking, "Why is this entire post devoted to clothes?"

Well that is simple, just like in real life clothes say a lot about who you are and how you are feeling as well as the setting. For example, when we talk about archetypes, they are usually dressed to appear a certain way. Their clothing is either functional for the kind of work/life they choose to do/live. The clothing your character is dressed in paints an image in the mind of the reader. It is imperative that an archetype be styled a certain way.



Mad scientists always have an overcoat and poorly-kept hair.
Superman always has his cape - and as Clark Kent, he is always dressed as a news-reporter.

Uma Thurman's character, "The Bride aka Beatrix Kiddo," literally mirrors Bruce Lee in Kill Bill, Vol. 1 as she stares down "The Crazy 88."

Come to think of it, why are killers and assassins always dressed in severe colors like black and white? There is never a color that depicts or denotes a shred of light or levity. Take note of The Reservoir Dogs.

Their uniform is meant to keep them anonymous. In doing so, they are inadvertently stripped of their identities, their souls, and their conscience.

In the upcoming film "Killing Them Softly," Brad Pitt plays a contract killer who dresses in black from head to toe. This is meant to convey a certain extreme nature in his character. For him, there is little no middle-ground in his decisions or his morality.

As Tyler Durden, Pitt is a maniac whose clothing shows him to be a representation of The Narrator's id. The Narrator dresses in dull, frumpy clothes. Tyler (his alter-ego) is an explosion of color and mismatched prints...meant to display The Narrator's desire to break free of the mundane.

And what of the alter-ego? It can easily be said that many villains and heroes are linked by virtue of the idea that they are really just opposite sides of the same coin. If The Joker is wild (no pun intended), isn't Batman's costume even more bizarre?

He is designed to be an avenging angel, an extension of Bruce Wayne's ego. He is literally born from the very thing that Bruce Wayne fears the most. His costume represents a cathartic way of dealing with Wayne's pain and inner demons. In order to stop evil, he must become "...a terrible thought in the mind of his enemies." By dressing as a bat, he becomes the thing he fears the most. The irony here is that he becomes the thing HE fears the most. Poetic, isn't it?

Clint Eastwood's lone gunman is always dressed with a hat, a scarf around his neck and a long coat to hide his gun.



By describing your character's attire you also describe the setting or environment. If your character is wearing a black suit, readers will assume that the job interview is of a business like nature where the company's offices might be in a high-rise.

Lara Croft is always dressed for battle, with a gun holstered to her hip. She is ready to flee or fight, on a moment's notice.



Think about the world we live in and how important fashion is, the clothes you wear categorizes you as a certain type of individual. It's the same for your characters no matter what period, whether they are in an alternate universe, a renaissance fantasy period, a middle ages period, a SF romance universe or an era you make up, dress is important.

For instance, Batman would not look good as a cowboy.
But, it's been tried.

What style do you wear: artistic, romantic, eclectic, conservative, gypsy?
What style would be good for your characters according to their personality?
What colors do you like to wear?
What are your character's favorite colors? (use standard color meanings to portray emotions)
How does your favorite book, or movie characters dress, what style and which colors and what does it reveal about them?

Another interesting way to gain insight into your characters is by taking a peek at where and how they keep their clothes. As a result, it will be easier to write about your characters as you progress through your story.

Does he/she wear only one outfit or have a thousand to choose from?
Do they wear a uniform?

The type of houses, apartment and world your characters live in will tell you a lot about them. When filling out profiles for characters one of the basic questions will be about where they live, the type of home and the street in general, the immediate neighbors, and the car he/she drives.

Other questions you could ask yourself:

Also, think about your villains. What do their clothes say about them?
The Joker has always been extremely interesting to look at from a fashion/clothing perspective. On one hand, you have Jack Nicholson's version. It's a bit clownish.

On the other hand, you have Heath Ledger's version. He looks like a piece of rotting fruit. He is maniacal, twisted, and disheveled. He almost looks like a corpse that has been brought back to life.

How would your character decorate their home?
What color would they paint the walls?
Would there be art on the walls: original paintings or reproductions?
Dried or fresh flowers?
Carpet or wood?
What kinds of books are found in their bookshelves?

Just like clothes, people judge who you are by the type of home one upholds. For example, if your character's apartment is messy and filthy, readers will assume that your character is lazy.
When writing you must make sure the clothes as well as the home of your characters suit their personality or run the chance that your reader's sympathies dissipate.

Assignment:

As an exercise write a short piece about where your archetype(s) keep their clothes. You will most likely not be using this scene in your final assignment; however, by writing about the clothes, and where and how they are kept you will produce a deeper look at the character inside your own mind. Include in the piece details about how your archetype lives. What are their surroundings like?

This is your chance to reinvent a legend - piece by piece.