1. Vocabulary: gawking, (paragraph 1); languid, (paragraph 5): squatter (try
squat) (paragraph 6); maze (paragraph 6); pretense (paragraph 9); exasperation
(paragraph 19); lilting (paragraph 55); dope, this is the slang definition,
and doesn't mean drugs, either (paragraph 130); incantation, (paragraph 155).
2. Oates is noted for her ability to create stories with terror. How is she
able to convey terror in this story? What methods does she use to allow us to
feel Connie's growing fear?
1. How is Connie characterized at the beginning of the story? In what ways
does this characterization foreshadow the events that follow?
2. Who is Arnold Friend? What is the significance of his appearance? His language?
His car?
3. What happens at the conclusion of the story? Why?
4. What are the implications of the story's title?
5. What is Ellie's structure in the story?
Celestial Timepiece, a JCO homepage: http://www.usfca.edu/fac-staff/southerr/jco.html
New York Times page on Oates: http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/07/05/specials/oates.html
Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" http://orad.dent.kyushu-u.ac.jp/dylan/itsalovr.html
JCO on the film adaptation: http://www.usfca.edu/fac-staff/southerr/smoothtalk.html
About the Pied Piper of Tuscon: http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial2/schmid/
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