Dylan on YouTube

Hey, students in my English 1080 classes. It's been a tremendously busy weekend, and week, and I've been hoping to blog before this. But this is my first one for the semester. I hope you'll bookmark this site, check back now and then (without me having to announced there's a new entry) and see what's here for you related, directly or indirectly, to our course.

For now, though, as promised, here's some Bob Dylan for you, especially for those of you who've never heard him before and have no idea what he's about. Note that the featured song, "Mr. Tambourine Man" makes reference to the "magic swirling ship" that a lot of people have associated with Arnold Friend's gold jalopy in "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been"--in part because of Friend's insistence on taking Connie for "a ride".

This should give you some idea about who and what Dylan was all about, in only a couple of minutes. Have a look:

The point to remember, regarding "Where Are You Going, Where Have you Been?" is that the story is dedicated to Bob Dylan, who very represents certain ideas about the civil unrest of the Sixties, as we discussed in class, as well as the concept of messianic devotion which sometimes can cause people to do things one might well regret later. Also, Oates describes her protagonist, Arnold Friend, in a way that makes him look and sound similar to Bob Dylan. I won't get specific here - if you've been in class, and go to class Monday, you'll know what I mean.

Plus, well, Dylan is cool, and all that.