Connie’s Fate in the Hands of the Reader
(INTRO): The most crucial and pivotal part of a storyline is the ending. Oftentimes, a movie and a book based on the same storyline will differ in a multitude of ways. Consequently, the entire interpretation of a story is based on the ending. This concept is expressed in the intricate and intriguing plots of the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates and the movie Smooth Talk. (THESIS): The ending of the short story is more effective than the ending of the movie because it leaves more to the imagination with its graphic scenes that emphasize Connie’s complex relationship with her mother and show a transformation in Connie’s personality.
(Imagination)Sometimes a
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For she becomes disoriented and watches herself venture outside, as if she were not in her own body. Everything around her, including her home and her land, seems remarkably unfamiliar, but Oates writes that “she was going to it” (Oates 204). This quotation is ambiguous in itself; what might going to the land symbolize? Connie may very well just be taken from her home, as what happens in the movie. It may, furthermore, be plausible that she is going to be killed. She may become one with the land, buried down underneath the dirt. Arnold does not truly care about Connie, as shown when he calls brown-eyed Connie his “sweet little blue-eyed girl” (Oates 204). Considering his lack of genuine interest in Connie, there may be no limit what he is willing to do to Connie to get what he wants. The story ends abruptly and on a cliffhanger with its significance up for debate in the air.
( Detailed Scene)The more descriptive an author is in his or her writing the better. The more a reader knows about the characters and what is going on in the story can help him or her interpret the storyline better. In the short story, Oates goes into great detail when describing Connie’s final encounter with Arnold Friend. Connie’s thoughts and feelings are expressed much more vividly than are portrayed in the film. Connie’s thought process of perceiving Arnold as a friend to a foe is shown. Oates is very clear about Connie’s two-sided personality, for Connie has always loved attention.
In “Sarah Cole: A Type of Love Story”, Russell Banks uses story elements that are important to remember when writing a short story. He creates a unique character whose actions and comments are different from what he thinks. This create an internal conflict for the main character that is written in a seamless way that allows the reader to interpret Banks’s writing. This author is also capable of having one character with two distinct voices and only allowing those to bleed together when it mirrors the confusion that his characters feel within the story. Banks creates an ending that provides an explanation and answers any questions the reader may have, which is what a good ending should do. For a writer seeking new techniques to incorporate into their own writing, Banks provides many experienced examples.
During the conversation between Connie and Arnold Friend, she experiences a dramatic moment so intense that it cannot be avoided or ignored. Her attempt was creating a sexy appearance and fascinating the boys in the local diner delivers as her experiment to analyze new fields as well as a new side of herself. However, until Arnold comes into the story, her expeditions have always been closed into security. She may go into an dark alley with a boy for a short period, but no matter what happens there,
the end of the film fixates the audience emotions from the film’s genre are manifested within
As the story progresses, it is Sunday morning and her family is getting ready to attend a family bar-b-queue. However, Connie insists on not attending and is left alone at home. As she is washing her hair, she hears an unfamiliar car driving up to her house and her heart begins to pound for she does not want the visitor to see her undone. When Arnold Friend, a man she has seen at the restaurant before, but has never spoken to, shows up on her doorstep, she is someone curious as to why he is visiting her. Throughout the scene, he is attempting to persuade Connie into taking a ride with him and his friend Ellie. The more he speaks to her, he reveals to her that he knows many things about her such as her friends, her name, and family and where they are currently at. As the scene develops, Connie no longer has interest in Arnold for she now is scared and is fearful of what his intentions are.
"Happy Endings" is a short story written by Margaret Atwood. The story is different than what readers may be used to because it doesn't follow a traditional plot line. Instead, Margaret's story follows an experimental "narrative progression". This type of story progression is a way that an author can manipulate, contort, or obscure the "5 Stages of Plot" structure (Hillard, "Point of View in Fiction"). In this essay, I will explore how experimental "narrative progression" is used in "Happy Endings", how it works in the story, how it relates to the story, and my opinion on experimental "narrative progression" in Margaret Atwood's "Happy Endings".
While certain films and short stories can be different, most authors implement elements into their work that will catch the audience’s attention. These elements help the audience make a connection between both the film and the short stories to their own personal life by relating to the event happening or even the characters’ life. Through the use of characters, plot, and irony, the authors of the three short stories, “Tortillas,” “The Storm,” and “The Myth of a Latin Women...” develop a literary connection with the film The Bridges of Madison Count” by demonstrating life lessons.
While watching the movie Being There, the viewer begins to notice just how different the book and the movie are. While the book appeals more to the reader's emotions, the movie gives a comical outlook on the problems faced in both the book and the movie. The contrast between the two places them into separate categories--a touching story about a man trapped in a world of which he knows nothing about and a satirical comedy about the very same man. The book interests its audience, making them hungry to know more; the movie involves its audience, feeding that hunger for more details.
It’s a Tuesday night at the Showcase Cinemas in Revere, MA. To our right, a family sits impatiently, waiting to quickly rush out of the theater just as soon as the film ends. To our left, teenagers anxiously whisper, “I hope Dexter and Em end up together!” and other similar sentiments. After witnessing an hour of strife, miscommunication and regret, the audience hopes to see the trite, fairy-tale ending that frequents many romantic movies. However, my mother and I know that One Day, a movie based on the novel written by David Nicholls, will not end in the way that the rest of the audience had imagined.
The main approach in this essay is a theme reflection of “Happy Endings” and “Videotape” short story and how they are linked but, I would like to take a small approach in the plot as well to contextualize what I intend to approach showing how they differ. Starting from the plot. As we know: “Plot is a literary term used to describe the events that make up a story or the main part of a story. These events relate to each other in a pattern or a sequence.”
When Arnold foreshadowed getting Connie the night before saying “Gonna get you, baby” shows premeditation. But the threats the Arnold made to Connie were genuine, and I agree with your statement that threats can manifest in psychological torment. This story and Connie’s reaction towards Arnold can also be related to the movie “The Gift”. Like you said “attributed to her own fear from the threats she is given” describes the main character of that movie. That character is consume with fear that it makes his action irrational.
Lastly, Jordan’s own vision to Flannery O’Connor’s story had added some elements that made the story stand out more. The characterization made the viewer feel for Mrs. McIntyre and her problems. The pacing of the film made the story seem shorter then it is. The tone of the film was more positive then reading the book. Each element that was added give the text more
The plot contributes to independence throughout the short-story. The story introduces the reader to Connie, the main character. Connie is a typical fifteen-year-old, living in an American suburb. She doesn’t get along with her mom, she likes listening to music, and she spends most of her time going out with her friends and meeting boys (Sanchez). She has begun to distance herself from her parents’ protection and control, and she lies about going to the movies in order to see boys (Teran). When Connie first meets this boy named Arnold, she doesn’t know exactly who he is. He seems to be a mysterious stranger in a parking lot who threatens Connie, but for some reason, she cannot get her eyes off of him. She is thinking Arnold will make her desire for independence and her yearning to leave her childhood behind (Teran). Since her childhood wasn’t always the best, she thought Arnold would get her mind off of things and help her through her family problems.
Stories can be told in many different ways through different forms of media ultimately trying to explain the same idea. The short story “The Bear Came Over the Mountain” and the movie “Away from her” are examples of two different ways of telling the same story trying to grasp the same ideas through different forms of media. In this essay evaluations will be made between two different forms of media using the short story “The Bear Came Over the Mountain” and the movie “Away from Her”. The evaluation will explain whether or not the film lives up to the short story based on the detail, plot and imagery.
Connie cried out to her mother, she felt as if something was stabbing her continuously with no tenderness. Additionally, the author says that a noisy sorrow came up around Connie and she became locked inside it. This shows that there was a ghostly intimate and spiritual contact with the inner worlds of Connie, which can be referred to as conflict between her intimate depths and the invisible absorbing dark forces of Arnold.
The ending of the story is the last thing to consider in this evaluation. The end is as important as the beginning, it catches the reader's attention and satisfies their needs. The perfect ending sums up the story and transports the reader from point a (beginning) to point b (end), it informs the reader of the