 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
[ explore :: WebQuest ]
[ the perks of being a wallflower :: stephen chbosky ] |
|
|
|
TASK THREE: Setting
The Perks of Being a Wallflower takes place in the suburbs outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Although we know the real-life geography of the setting, Chbosky's suburbs could be any of the middle-class suburbs throughout the United States. |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
The march towards the suburbs, beginning after World War II, was influenced by the promises of "the good life." White picket fences. Crime-free streets. Back yards and green grass. The stay-at-home mom baking cookies for the neighborhood kids while they played "Cowboys and Indians" (or something as equally ethnocentric). However, over time, writers and artists began to produce work that exposed the dark physical and psychological underbelly hidden underneath a well-manicured lawn and tidy tract housing. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Before you begin this task, follow THIS LINK to National Public Radio and start playing the 45-minute conversation between writers A.M. Homes and David Shiflett. This particular segment deals with the transformation of the suburbs over time, whether or not one can find culture in the suburbs, and contemporary artists and writers who use the figurative suburban landscape as their canvas. Let this audio clip play while you complete the rest of this task and WebQuest. If you hear anything of interest, jot it down. |
|
|
|
John Cheever started capturing observations of suburban life in the Northeast starting in the 1940s. His short stories are revered as a quintessential literary study of not only the suburbs, but the quirky and sometimes obscene characters who inhabit this idealized landscape.
Later, authors like Rick Moody began began to capture the essence of the suburbs they knew. Teenage substance abuse, sexuality, familial strife, divorce, and conflicting behavior of parents are captured in the 1970s suburbs of Moody's The Ice Storm (1994).
Other authors like Jeffrey Eugenides went even further, writing about the grotesque and tragic in The Virgin Suicides (1994).
(Cheever's Collected Short Stories and Moody's and Eugenides' books are very good reads and I cannot recommend them enough! If your're looking for some wonderful writing and captivating stories, read these books! And then watch the acclaimed movie adaptations of The Ice Storm and The Virgin Suicides.) |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Click on Ricahrd Avedon's photo-portrait of Cheever (above) to access an academic study of Cheever's work. Just browse these selections.
Then, click on the cover of The Ice Storm (below, left) to access an audio interview with Rick Moody on writing and the suburbs.
Then, click on The Virgin Suicides (below, right) to access an interview with Jeffrey Eugenides. Be sure to jot anything interesting down! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Visual artists also began to try to capture the stories that writers like Cheever, Moody and Eugenides have been writing about. Look at these photographs by Gregory Crewdson.
How do you feel after seeing these familiar images through Crewdson's lens? Do you think that Crewdson may have been a wallflower as a child? Do you think that being a wallflower might have something to do with his art? What about the suburbs' impact on Crewdson? Think about this, then post your reactions in our on-line forum.
(Click on the link below to access the forum.) |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
[ next task ]
[ back ] [ home ] |
|