Joyce Carol Oates Essay

have two stories of girls just doing their best to fit in, Susie from the movie, “The Lovely Bones” directed by Peter Jackson written by Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens (All three screenplay), and Alice Sebold(Novel) and Connie from Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where are you going, where have you been?”. These girls are lured to the clutches of dangerous men that seemed harmless enough. They trusted them because they were “a man from our neighborhood” (The Lovely Bones) she knew or because…

John Updike’s “A&P” and Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” suggests that coming of age in the 60s is markedly different for young men and women. Updike’s Sammy is essentially on a quest for independence from an authoritative figure. The authority figure in question here is Lengel, Sammy’s boss at the A&P, who is portrayed as a “dreary . . . Sunday school” teacher, hides behind the “door marked MANAGER (288). Seeing that Lengel believes in the power of his position…

Everybody goes through a stage in their life where they want to be independent. In Joyce Carol Oates “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” the main character Connie shows many signs of wanting to just grow up and move on to the next stage in her life. I relate to the story through the character Connie, as she represents and gives off different themes that contribute to the bigger picture of the story that I find myself relating to, such as a desire to grow up and having two different…

Billy Sunday described. For a teenager who doesn’t know who he is yet, or where he wants to go, it is easier to choose the wrong path if nobody is there to teach him to avoid temptation. The story “Where are you going, Where have you been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, depicts Connie’s susceptibility to temptation as a teenager who does not receive enough attention from her parents, and who gets to experience life without their guidance. Arnold Friend is like “the devil looking through the keyhole”…

It is amusing that a story being outside of sequence such as "A Rose for Emily" comes to an end with the finding of the forty-year-old corpse of Homer Barron. Audience as well as critics frequently assume that in the event that the story was written linearly, in series, it would not be much of a storyline. Some individuals believe that all of the strength can be found in the breakthrough of the rotting corpse belonging to the fellow. There are other facts in the story that would disagree with…

Joyce Carol Oates wrote This I Believe: Five Motives of Writing explaining the five different motives of writing commemoration, bearing witness, self-expression, propaganda, and aesthetic object. “Commemoration” (Oates 1) is the remembrance method, where it can be ancestory, legends, myths, or family. "Where a story or a novel is set is at least as significant as what the story—the plot—“is.”" (Oates 1). “Bearing witness” (Oates 1) structure is what is going on in the world, what happens in…

theme in the story it can be the from unloved teens. The attitude can expressed in the story towards violent to women. The symbols of the story and images can descriptive details in the text that suggest the theme.”But I promise it wont last long” (Oates 140).This words express the enslavement within a conventional male-dominated sexual relationship.…

An example of this precision is the sentence from "A Rose for Emily" discussed in Alice Hall Petry's article: "Thus she passed from generation to generation - dear, inescapable, impervious, tranquil, and perverse"(280). In this sentence Faulkner summarizes Emily Grierson's character and her relationship with her community in five adjectives. While probably overlooked by the casual reader, Petry explores how closer examination reveals Faulkner's organization and manipulation of language. Placed…

A Rose for Emily: An Analysis of Theme, Imagery and Symbolism A Rose for Emily is a prime example of the many themes of southern gothic literature. The story demonstrates not only the elements of southern gothic but the similarities of southern gothic and basic gothic literature such as Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. The author’s story is thus made interesting and catches a reader attention with its non-chronological telling and dialogue. Through the use of imagery and symbolism the author gets his…

“A Rose for Emily” is a short story written by William Faulkner about a psychotic woman by the name of Emily Grierson. Emily appears to be greatly separated from the reality of life and proves to be depressed and lonely due to past life circumstances. After the death of her father and the series of unfortunate events she experiences throughout her life, Emily deals with her pain by residing in a world filled with sorrow and depression. Unfortunately, not being able to overcome her life…