How I Contemplated the World from the Detroit House of Correction and Began My Life over Again (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Joyce Carol Oates
- First Published: 1969
- Type of Plot: Psychological
- Time of Work: 1968
- Setting: Detroit suburbs
- Principal Characters: “the Girl”, Her father, Her mother, Clarita, Simon
- Genres: Psychological fiction
- Subjects: Self-discovery
- Locales: Detroit, MI
The Story
“How I Contemplated the World from the Detroit House of Correction and Began My Life over Again” probes the case of a young girl from a “good” family who turns to crime. The opening lines of the story perfectly identify its content: “Notes for an essay for an English class at Baldwin County Day School; poking around in debris; disgust and curiosity; a revelation of the meaning of life; a happy ending.” The narrator uses the occasion of a school essay to examine the psychological “debris” of her recent life—the emotional turbulence and confusion that...
[The entire page is 1620 words long]
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