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Joyce Carol Oates by Ashley Coffey Joyce Carol Oates, born on June 16, 1938 in Lockport New York, is widely considered one of the most imaginative and multitalented contemporary American writers; from gothic fiction to melodrama novellas- Oates has wrote it all. She is the author of nearly thirty novels, countless volumes of short stories, poems, children’s stories, plays, and novellas, reviews of contemporary writing and ideas and essays. She defeats those readers who insist artists must remain in certain categories. She attended Syracuse University on a scholarship and received valedictorian. She then went on to the University of Wisconsin to obtain a M.A. in English, before finally becoming a successful creative writing professor at Princeton University in 1978. Critics have varied opinions on Oates’s work, especially on her repeated use of graphic violence. She writes in an elliptic style that ranges from realistic and naturalistic to idealistic. Her writing tends to be labeled as gothic because of its association with the dark aspects of human nature and the recurring elements of seduction, incest, brutality, and rape. Her defense against this sadistic status is that life is violent and therefore as a writer she has an obligation to write about it. Oates sees our culture as being enthralled by the extremes of success. Many of her characters are anonymous hero’s that don’t receive proper honor by society. There are so many people today who work in extremely dangerous circumstances, such as firefighters or underwater welders, and they are just taking a chance. They are helping out our world without recognition. With her writing she is trying to give them a small amount of what they deserve. The concept of coming home is also a recurring theme in her fiction works. Her characters start as voyagers on a quest and return home either as conquerors or whitewashed in defeat. One way to describe her fiction work would be: The chronicles of life and death and everything in-between for the working class. Many of her stories take place in Eden County, an imaginary area of upstate New York near where Oates grew up. “Its name evokes not an innocent world, but a reminder of what we have lost and the resulting spiritual poverty of our lives.” (Tolomeo Pg.515__American Writers Supplement 2 Part 2__) Eden County is a troubled place with troubled characters in unsettling situations.  Numerous works of Oates is laden with strong female overtones. She does consider herself a feminist and much of her writing deals with relationships, the nature of love, and sexual power. Aside from feminism, Oates works has also dealt with politics, migrant workers, medical and legal ethics, urban riots, and even boxing. However versatile she may be, her later fiction work seems to bring very few memorable characters that resonate with readers. However, Oates can afford to be less that perfect sometimes, a luxurious result of her early success in writing. Joyce Carol Oates is prolific, complex, and outright American. She entangles all the essential components for true contemporary life and weaves them together in compelling and remarkable works.  Bamarito, Jessica. “Joyce Carol Oates.” __Gothic Literature, A gale Critical Companion Volume 3: Authors L-Z__. Ed. Jessica Bamarito. New York: Thomson Gale, 2006. pg 163-186 Bamarito gives biographical information, major works, and critical reviews about Oates in an easy to understand format. It also shows a picture of Oates that I used for my trading card. I would recommend this book to other students because it is so easy to find what you need with the books simple format. I used this to answer question on Oates life, her writing style, and to understand what Oates is attempting to accomplish through her writing. I found this to be the most helpful book I used on this project. Bardi, Jennifer. “Joyce Carol Oates: 2007 Humanist of the Year, (cover story).” The Humanist. 67.6 (Nov-Dec 2007): 13(2). Student Resource Center – Gold, Gale. Fuquay Varina High School/wcps/.21 may.2008 An essay investigating Bardi’s understanding of Oates work and a competent list of Oates’s awards and achievements. This essay listed all the awards and achievements I needed for my trading card and also game me another’s insight to Oates’s works. I would recommend this essay to students because of its identifying language and helpful lists and reviews. Bloom, Harold. __Joyce Carol Oates__. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. pg 143-145 It contains an essay with Blooms own insight to Oates work, a bibliography, and a handy chronology on Oates. I used the information from this source for most of the data I needed for my trading card. This book was easy to use and helped further my understanding of Oates’s writing style and past life.  Rollyson, Carl. “Joyce Carol Oates.” __Beacham Group LLC__ 18 05, 2005.ebscoe. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx An impressive research guide to the life and works of Joyce Carol Oates. This essay had an extensive review of Oates’s life history that I found extremely helpful and an in depth analysis to Oates’s work. I used it to gain literary criticism from another for my wiki entry. Tolomeo, Diane. “Joyce Carol Oates.” __American Writers Supplement 2 Part 2__. Ed. A. Walton Litz. New York: Charles Scribner’s Suns, 1981. pg 503-527 This reference book provided a thuro article discussing Oates in depth meanings to several of her books, short insights to her life, and a selected list of her work. I used this reference book to find three of Oates more famous works for my trading card and to find a quote from one of her novels. This book was useful in the since of cited works and a few in depth meanings to some of her books, however it was not as comprehendible as the other books I used and I would recommend that they add photographs of the authors.