Ron Joyce

The story of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han takes place in a small town in the East Coast, and is told by the protagonist, Lara Jean. Lara Jean is a 16-year-old Korean-American who lives with her dad and two sisters, Margot and Kitty. She is a hopeless romantic who writes letters to all the boys she has fallen for--five in total--as a goodbye and as an act of forgetting her feelings for them, but she never sends the them out. One of the boys she has written a letter for is Peter…

William Faulkner experienced firsthand how the South desperately tries to hold onto the past. And that kind of refusal for change is seen in “A Rose for Emily”. According to the biography of Faulkner from the Nobel Peace Prize website most of Faulkner’s works have the central “theme [of] the decay of the old South”. And most of his works are all connected through being set in the made-up county of Yoknapatawpha. Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” is also set in this county and it similarly deals with…

There are many instances of symbolism in William Faulkner's short story A Rose for Emily. Though there are many to choose from, I have selected what I found to be the most insightful to write about. These include Emily's father's corpse, Emily's house and Homer Barron's horse drawn buggy. In my opinion, these things symbolize Emily's reluctance to adapt to a new and quickly “modernising” south, one that is radically different from the home of her childhood. After her father's death, Miss…

Obvious Success "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" is a short story written by Joyce Carol Oates. The story was about a 15-year-old girl named Connie who "knew that she was pretty and that was everything" Oates pg. 308. The story mostly focused on Connie's regular teenage life, but the story took a turn when Arnold Friend, a boy that Connie saw on a parking lot of a restaurant, appeared in front of Connie's house when she was alone. Arnold Friend was inviting Connie out for a ride,…

Death has a remarkably powerful sway in the tale and its onset is at the very beginning. The narrator mentions the death of Emily and the description given is of the life that she is compelled to lead but with the possibility of dying tormenting her all the time. Notably, this theme is one of the most prevalent in the story besides change versus tradition. Thus, the essence of this essay is to give a critical analysis of the theme of death in A Rose for Emily. Miss Emily Grierson is an…

“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” was a story I did not expect to be as fascinated by as I truly was. By combining an authoritarian yet familiar tone with a realistic setting, Joyce Oates short story angles itself into an unexpected horrifying tale, fit for ones with a distinctly strong heart. “Her name was Connie.” Don’t be fooled by this simple setup. This is not a story about a girl and her jealousy for her perfect sister. This is not a story about Connie finding a warm, comfortable…

1 out of 6 of American women has been a victim of rape or attempted rape in their lifetime and 27% of children at the age of 12 to 17 have been a victim of sexual assault and rape (Rainn.org). Connie in Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” is a 15 year old teenager in rebellious phase who likes to hangout. On the other hand, the unidentified Grandmother in Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is an old fashion southern conservative who judges a person based…

In the story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” there is a girl named Connie that is always being compared to her sister by her mom. She is always being nagged by her mom to be more like her sister because she is a child that doesn’t really listen to her mom. Connie is also a girl who wants to grow up fast but without all the responsibilities. Connie does things like say she’s going to the mall but goes over to the local diner to hand out with boys and do things with them. There is one…

The song “Every Rose has its Thorn” by Poison talks about a man who managed to let the one he loved get away and while trying to figure out what he did wrong, he finds out that “[he] never meant that much to [her]” (Poison), which completely destroys him. According to Poisons lead singer, Bret Michaels, this song was written in response to a failed love affair with his girlfriend, Tracy Lewis. The mid-1980s rock band, Poison, uses literary tools, such as natural imagery, metaphor, simile, and…

Not all good overcomes evil is one of the many themes in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates. This strange story revolves around Connie, a teenager who disobeys her family at home and makes questionable choices with her friends away from home. One night, Connie walked by a creepy man in a gold jalopy who scared her. As the story progresses, the same man drove to Connie’s house in an attempt to entice her to go for a ride with him and his grunt, Ellie. Connie…