<p>English 122 Short Stories</p><p>Text: “Dressing Up for the Carnival” p. 92-97 Read the short story. 1. Comment on the title, what is the “carnival”?</p><p>“Like A Rolling Stone” By Bob Dylan </p><p>“Like a Rolling Stone" is a song by American songwriter Bob Dylan. One of his best-known and most influential works, the song had its origin as a short story Dylan had written before developing it as a song and recording it in 1965. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it the greatest song of all time.</p><p>Lyrics: </p><p>Once upon a time you dressed so fine You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn’t you? People’d call, say, beware doll, you’re bound to fall You thought they were all kidding you You used to laugh about Everybody that was hanging out Now you don’t talk so loud Now you don’t seem so proud About having to be scrounging for your next meal.</p><p>How does it feel? How does it feel? To be without a home Like a complete unknown Like a rolling stone?</p><p>You’ve gone to the finest school all right, Miss Lonely But you know you only used to get juiced in it And nobody has ever taught you how to live on the street And now you find out you’re gonna have to get used to it You said you’d never compromise With the mystery tramp, but now you realize He’s not selling any alibis As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes And ask him do you want to make a deal?</p><p>How does it feel? How does it feel? To be on your own With no direction home Like a complete unknown Like a rolling stone?</p><p>You never turned around to see the frowns on the jugglers and the clowns When they all come down and did tricks for you You never understood that it ain’t no good You shouldn’t let other people get your kicks for you You used to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat? Ain’t it hard when you discover that He really wasn’t where it’s at After he took from you everything he could steal.</p><p>How does it feel? How does it feel? To be on your own With no direction home Like a complete unknown Like a rolling stone?</p><p>Princess on the steeple and all the pretty people They’re drinking, thinking that they got it made Exchanging all kinds of precious gifts and things But you’d better lift your diamond ring, you’d better pawn it babe You used to be so amused At Napoleon in rags and the language that he used Go to him now, he calls you, you can’t refuse When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose You’re invisible now; you got no secrets to conceal.</p><p>How does it feel? How does it feel? To be on your own With no direction home Like a complete unknown Like a rolling stone?</p><p> What parallels can you find in Dylan’s song to Carol Shield’s “Dressing up for the Carnival”?  Identify the major theme of the song.  What underlying message is implicit in the lyrics?</p><p>“The River” By Bruce Springsteen </p><p>I come from down in the valley where mister when you’re young They bring you up to do like your daddy done. Me and Mary we met in high school when she was just seventeen We’d ride out of that valley down to where the fields were green</p><p>We’d go down to the river And into the river we’d dive Oh down to the river we’d ride</p><p>Then I got Mary pregnant and man that was all she wrote And for my nineteen birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat We went down to the courthouse and the judge put it all to rest No wedding day smiles no walk down the aisle No flowers no wedding dress That night we went down to the river And into the river we’d dive On down to the river we did ride.</p><p>I got a job working construction for the Johnstown Company But lately there ain’t been much work on account of the economy Now all them things that seemed so important Well mister they vanished right into the air Now I just act like I don’t remember, Mary acts like she don’t care But I remember us riding in my brother’s car Her body tan and wet down at the reservoir At night on them banks I’d lie awake And pull her close just to feel each breath she’d take Now those memories come back to haunt me, they haunt me like a curse Is a dream a lie if it don’t come true? Or is it something worse that sends me Down to the river though I know the river is dry Down to the river, my baby and I Oh down to the river we ride.</p><p> Writer, Robert Hilburn, deemed Springsteen’s song "a classic outline of someone who has to re-adjust his dreams quickly, facing life as it is, not a world of his imagination." Write a short piece about facing the ‘reality of a situation.’  Throughout the song the river is viewed as a symbol for the dreams of the future. Explain how symbolism works in the song. Remember a symbol is a concrete element which stands for an abstract idea.</p><p>“Real Woman” By Roseanne Cash </p><p>Rosanne Cash (born May 24, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of country music singer Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian Liberto Cash Distin.</p><p>I don't want to be a star I don't want to talk through glass I don't want to check my appearance in your eyes I don't need a million bucks baby it don't take much I don't need to play the princess all the time I want to be a real woman changing every day I want to be a real woman real in every way I want to be a real woman</p><p>I don't want to be admired I don't want to take my smile I don't want to use my charm to disarm you You don't have to spin your wheels oh baby I know how that feels You don't have to pass some test just to impress me I want to be a real woman...</p><p>Real is how I deal with what I deal with Real is how I feel when I know how I'm feelin' I don't want to be a man I just want to be what I am I don't want to hide my light so yours keeps shining If you don't want to face the truth then you're not gonna like what I do You're not gonna make or break me so don't start trying I want to be a real woman… Identity Essay</p><p>In Carol Shields’ short story, “Dressing Up for the Carnival” the author sketches a series of characters that interact with clothing or objects in a way that creates an illusion and changes perceptions. For example, one character, an elderly man, is invited to dinner by his daughter-in-law, an invitation borne out of obligation rather than love. En route to dinner, the man buys a couple dozen daffodils, and as he carries them around during the day, he perceives that others regard him differently, and he imagines himself as “a man who is expected somewhere, anticipated. A charming gent, elegant and dapper, propounding serious questions, bearing gifts, flowers” (p. 96).</p><p>Write a personal literary essay that explores the idea of identity and identity formation as it is explored by Shields in “Dressing Up For the Carnival”, Dylan in “A Rolling Stone”, Springsteen in “The River” and Cash in “Real Woman.” Connect (or contrast) your personal views on identity with one of the authors in your piece as well.</p>