In-Class Notes

5/30/07

Vocabulary:
-Foil: to prevent the success of; frustrate; balk

What makes a story interesting?
-We discussed how the theory of happily ever after only works in some cases. When reading the story Happy Endings, by Margarete Atwood, the possibility of multiple endings was brought to our attention.
Read the endings at this site: http://users.ipfw.edu/ruflethe/endings.htm
-The theme of these stories seems to be...
Middle-Class ValuesThe ‘‘happy’’ couple in ‘‘Happy Endings,’’ whether comprised of John and Mary, John and Madge, or Madge and Fred, enjoys the trappings of middle-class values and represents this element of society. The husband and wife hold professional jobs, earn good money, and make sound investments that afford them some of life’s luxuries, such as nice vacations and a relaxing retirement. Even in the more troublesome aspects of these stories, the couples manifest their middle-class values.
-This makes us ask ourselves...If everything goes right, is it boring?
-"The moral of the story is the story."

*Movie, "Smooth Talk"
-To see more about the movie and the actors, check out this site:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090037/
-Different endings in the movie vs. the short story
*The book leaves us with an open ending, making us draw our own conclusion, the movie does the same, but goes further into what the producers want you to assume.
*In the movie Connie found some answers to her questions at the end. She makes one think that everything is going to be okay, and that all her problems, which seem so trivial at this time, will work themselves out.
*Connie reconciles with her mom and says "maybe I didn't go with him." She has to know what happened, but she is choosing to put it behind her and move on with her life.
-What is with the old woman who Connie says is dead?
*Did Connie do something that she doesn't want people to know about?
*Did A.Friend kill her, or if he is death, does he still know her has a person?
-As was pointed out in class, in the picture in the book on pg. 210, the demon is holding and hour glass. A.Friend's car has an hour glass with wings on it...what's the connection?
-In the book Connie said that A.Friend's screams made her weak, while in the movie, his presence is what does it...