Short Story 1: "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"

This week we will be reading Joyce Carol Oates' 1966 short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"

Brain Drop

Answer this question: What is Bob Dylan's classic 1965 tune "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" about? In your response, please note at least ONE example of figurative language: metaphor, simile, analogy, allusion, imagery, etc. How does this example of figurative language contribute to the overall meaning of the piece?

You must leave now, take what you need, you think will last
But whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fast
Yonder stands your orphan with his gun
Crying like a fire in the sun
Look out the saints are comin’ through
And it’s all over now, Baby Blue

The highway is for gamblers, better use your sense
Take what you have gathered from coincidence
The empty-handed painter from your streets
Is drawing crazy patterns on your sheets
This sky, too, is folding under you
And it’s all over now, Baby Blue

All your seasick sailors, they are rowing home
All your reindeer armies, are all going home
The lover who just walked out your door
Has taken all his blankets from the floor
The carpet, too, is moving under you
And it’s all over now, Baby Blue

Leave your stepping stones behind, something calls for you
Forget the dead you’ve left, they will not follow you
The vagabond who’s rapping at your door
Is standing in the clothes that you once wore
Strike another match, go start anew
And it’s all over now, Baby Blue

Group Work:

Create small groups of two or three students. Complete these three tasks.

1. Come to a consensus about what the song means. Why? 
2. Draw a particularly evocative couplet, image, or scene from the song.
3. Attempt to solve the mystery: Who is Baby Blue?




Other thoughts on Dylan and "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"

-Dylan and youth culture of the 60's
-Dylan and Arnold Friend
- "The vagabond who’s rapping at your door/ Is standing in the clothes that you once wore"