Controlling Purpose: This paper is to examine the works of Stephen 
King from a literary, biographical, and historical point of view.

I. Biographical

     A. Environment

          1. Author's Life
               a. Grew up in a rural environment (SKS, pg 21)
               b. Lives in Bangor Maine (SKS, pg 93)
               c. Vermont Billboards (CoT, pg 132)
               d. You write about places you know (CoT, pg 137)

          2. The billboards used in The Shining

          3. `Salem's Lot set in a rural environment like Bangor

          4. Environment has a great affect on his life and his  
             works. 

     B. Childhood Experience

          1. Cracks his head on the ice

          2. Johnny in Dead Zone cracks his head on the ice (CoT pg 
             90)

     C. Family Experience

          1. Naomi's Cat gets run over (SKS, pg 84)

          2. Got idea for Pet Semetary from cat incident

          3. Draws idea's for books from both childhood and adult
             life.

     D. Phobia of Rats
          1. Dream about rats on airplane (CoT, pg 1)

          2. Edited rat scene from `Salem's Lot

          3. By using real life phobia's his works seem more
             realistic and believable to the reader.

     E. Fire

          1. Fascination with fire (CoT, pg 30)

          2. The Trashcan Man in The Stand blowing many things up

     F. Children

          1. One of his reasons for writing horror (CoT, pg 3)

          2. Gunslinger
               a. Jake dies.
               b. Jake gets run over by car.

II. Historical

     A. Atomic Bomb

          1. First generation to grow up in the shadow of the 
             atomic bomb. (CoT, pg 183)

          2. Shows prominently in two works.
               a. The Stand
               b. The Gunslinger

     B. Ecological Hazards
          1. Chemical Spill. (CoT, pg 23)
          2. The Stand

     C. Generation
          1. 1970's
          2. No over use of 70's in Dead Zone (CoT, pg 99)

III. Critical - The Gunslinger

     A. Van Hise

          1. The Slow Mutants is drawn out.
               a. Roland is doing inexplicable things.
               b. King is still not telling us what is going on 
               c. Everything that happens seems to be senseless and
                  murky.

          2. Disagree
               a. As seen previously in the book everything that
                  Roland does has a purpose.  
               b. It does not fit Roland's personality to do
                  something "senseless".
               c. King is doing a good job of keeping the reader
                  informed. It is obvious Roland and Jake are
                  chasing the Man in Black.

     B. Van Hise

          1. Strong implication that Jake is a trap

          2. Agree
               a. King has the reader feeling paranoid that
                  everyone and everything is out to get Roland and
                  do him harm.
               b. So far the only human's that Roland has met he
                  ended up killing because they were a trap left by 
                  the Man in Black.

     C. Van Hise

          1. The final stage is just a set-up for the next book. 

          2. Disagree
               a. King leaves the reader feeling that they finally 
                  have some sense as to what is going on with the
                  Man in Black and the Dark Tower.
               b. Lets Roland know how powerful the thing is that
                  he is up against really is.

     D. Winter

          1. New Order
               a. Roland is a knight-errant like person whose job
                  it is to help establish a new order
               b. Because of his talent with the guns Roland can 
                  establish this new order

          2. Disagree
               a. Once the Gunslingers may have been powerful but
                  that was long ago
               b. Roland is too worried about survival and reaching
                  the Dark Tower to worry about establishing a new 
                  order 

     E. Winter

          1. Sacrifice of Jake

          2. Agree
               a. Shows that Roland is going to need to make
                  sacrifices on his quest
               b. Shows that Roland is not going to let anything
                  get in the way of his goals

IV. Conclusion

     A. King is a great author who makes his works more real      
        (therefore increasing the terror) with personal experiences
          1. Biographical
          2. Historical