...Richard McQuitery Analyzing “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” English 221 Westwood College “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates is a story with connections to Bob Dylan, has themes of control and family, and has an antagonist that is believed to have been based on a serial killer. It is one of many stories of the ages that will be discussed for years to come. Joyce Carol Oates dedicated this short story to Bob Dylan. Oates admitted in an interview that after hearing Bob Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” she was inspired to write the story. (Davidson, 1997) Leave your stepping stones behind, something calls for you Forget the dead you’ve left, they will not follow you The vagabond who’s rapping at your door Is standing in the clothes that you once wore Strike another match, go start anew And it’s all over now, Baby Blue (Dylan, 1965) After hearing these lyrics in Dylan’s song, it is very easy to identify the scene with Connie speaking to Arnold Friend through the screen door. The song’s eerie tone adds a greater depth to Arnold and Connie’s conversation. In an interview on Youtube, Oates was asked why she dedicated the story to Bob Dylan, and her response was: “…Dylan was in a phase where he was writing music like “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” and that song, and some others on the same album were rather like fairy tales and nursery rhymes that had gone wrong. He had taken a kind of simplicity of imagery...
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...Reaction Paper Nonfiction readings take some imagination to fully grasp the concept that the author is portraying. The short stories, “Salvation”, by Langston Hughes (Literature for Composition pp 343-344) and “Who Will Light Incense When Mothers Gone?” by Andrew Lam, (Literature for Composition pp 1115-1116), are no different where imagination is concerned. These two readings differ tremendously, having few similarities, although, they are both personal nonfiction readings. In, “Salvation”, the author uses two different strategies to convey his idea. In opinion, he uses Reader’s Response and Formalist strategies. The opening line reads: “I was saved from sin when I was going on thirteen. But not really saved,” (Literature for Composition pg. 343). This line brings about the rest of the story. He is looking for a readers response by telling the story of how he was “saved from sin”, when he was going on thirteen. He does not detail his entire life up to this point or much thereafter. This leads it to be believed that the other strategy is formalist. Meaning that it can stand independently. One can personally relate to the story of, “Salvation”, because they have been through this type of situation. They have been attending church during their youth, feeling as if the spot light was aimed at them. Also knowing that something is expected of them, wondering if they should follow the crowd or go on their own. The author wants to help other young ladies and gentlemen to know they...
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...What changes have you experienced? Introduction Imagine a person that had to experience a major change during his/her life that concluded in short or long term effects on the individual. For example, death of a person that was close to his/her heart, moving to a different city and/or state, and coping with the changes that one may experience during middle to high school. Previously listed are events that may occur during one’s life, which could develop into an Initiation/Rite of passage story. In the two given short stories, “Reunion” by John Cheever and “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Oates, the genre Initiation/Rite of passage is expressed. In Cheever’s story a boy and fathers had been separated for a given amount of time, while in Oates’s story a teenaged girl experienced changes regarding emotions. As both stories experienced different examples of the genre, I feel as if they both offer good and bad examples throughout the stories. Summary Beginning the story, “Reunion”, the boy had taken a train from his grandmother’s home to a cottage that his mother had rented. While traveling, the boy, Charlie, had encountered a layover time in New York where his father worked. He had not seen his father during the past three years of his life because he had moved when they encountered the divorce. Therefore, Charlie had asked to meet his father for lunch during his layover time so that he could see him again. As they had gone from place to place to try to find...
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...saving, and spending. In a perfect world, this would also be the ideal way to prioritize where our money goes. But with revenue coming in and expenses going out all the time, especially in the fast-paced, technological world in which we live, things become significantly more complex. Fortunately for us, the Bible contains many passages concerning God’s expectations for managing our finances. Imagine trying to run a successful business and never keeping a record of any of your transactions. It would be absolute chaos. If you don’t know how much money was spent on office supplies last month, how would you know what to budget for next month? You also wouldn’t know how much revenue you’re bringing in or how much you’re paying your employees. According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of accounting is “the systematic recording and summarizing of business and financial transactions and analyzing, verifying, and reporting the results”. This seems like a fairly straightforward task: write down the money coming in and the money going out. However, there is a problem with that simplicity. It doesn’t take into account that we as humans are prone to error and that we have developed an affinity for wealth. The former can happen to anyone, regardless of character, given enough time. The later is a problem tied directly to an individual’s moral compass. We have all heard the stories of accountants of large international corporations that falsified financial statements in...
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...Analyzing ”From one mind into another” The short story is about a man. In the beginning we don’t know his name and neither does he. He is sitting in the passenger’s side of a wrecked car that’s been tipped to the side. The man is bleeding from the head and as been unconscious. He doesn’t remember anything, which may be because of the knockout. The driver has been pulled out of his seat and is nowhere in sight. He gets attacked by what looks like two humans but soon finds out that they are more than that attacks him. After several shots on the body, the “thing” is still able to crawl against him. By a coincidence he shoots one in the head and it falls to the ground – dead as a stone. The man is wearing a camouflage jacket, and in the radio of the car a voice is occasionally heard calling for units to come back. On the vehicle a big weapon is attached and is sprayed into the circular turret that provides an access from the rear of the vehicle to the gun. The man doesn’t now who or where he is but by the facts about the car and his jacket he’s probably a soldier in the middle of a war. Although his memory is lacking he is able to prepare the gun he finds in the car to shoot. In the short story he finds a gun in the car and without even thinking about it – almost by instinct he makes the gun ready for shooting. It is possible that he has forgotten his name and what he did before the accident but everything is not gone, he still have the instinct of a soldier. Not only that he...
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...English Essay made of several essays cobbled together from plagiarized sources When analyzing different novels, you must learn to read between the lines and look for the deeper meaning. For instance, the famous saying “The grass is always greener on the other side” can be taken many different ways. If you read the statement literally, it tells you about the color of the grass and that it is on the other side. If you review the statement closely and think about the meaning behind it, you can see that it is relating to the feeling of when people get jealous of other people’s lives. The greener grass symbolizes the other person’s better, richer life. August Wilson’s play Fences provides numerous opportunities for the reader to read between the lines and find the deeper meaning of the themes in the play. I am going to discuss how the themes of the fence and the “sins of the father” carry meaning and are related to the characters Rose, Cory, Lyons and Troy. In Incidents of the Life of a Slave Girl Linda Brent is born into slavery. As a slave, then a fugitive slave and a mother, she has many fears. Linda lives each day worrying about her safety and the safety of her family. Starting from a young child, Linda was a slave she dealt with the hardship that comes with having an owner, a mistress, and having to watch her kids go through the same things. As Harriet Jacobs describes in depth in this book, slavery is hard and horrible for both men and woman, but in most cases is a lot...
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...Essay and e-mail - Reunion A. An essay analyzing the short story This essay is going to be an analysis and interpretation of the short story ‘’Reunion’’ by John Cheever. It will begin with a summary of the short story. Afterwards the plot, the conflict and the setting will be analyzed. Then I’ll move on to the characterization, the possible surprise ending and the theme and message. Finally I will draw parallels between the short story ‘’Reunion’’ and the essay ‘’Living With Strangers’’ by Siri Hustvedt. ‘’Reunion’’ is a short story about a boy called Charlie and his last interaction with his father. Charlie was travelling by train from his grandmother’s to a cottage his mother had rented. He would be in New York for about an hour and thirty minutes while waiting for the new train and therefore he wanted to meet his father. He hadn’t seen his father for three years and Charlie was exited to see the man he looked up to again. Because of the lack of time, they couldn’t go and see the father’s club, so they had to find a restaurant in the area. They went to four restaurants and they get more or less thrown out of all four. The father in this short story was either really drunk or/and very arrogant. In all occasions he talked down to waiters or behaved bad in one way or the other. In spite of his bad behavior they managed to get a ‘’Beefeater Gibson’’ at one place. It all ended with the father going up to a newsstand, again with a bad attitude, which was the final straw for Charlie...
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...Literary Analysis of “Sweat” and “Sonny’s Blues” Amelia Williams ENG125: Introduction to Literature Instructor: Deborah Zeringue December 22, 2014 As living and breathing human beings people are bound to experience some type of conflict. Conflict can be present within a person, between two people, between a person and forces of nature, and even between a person and their society. Conflict is defined as the struggle that shapes the plot in a story (Clugston, 2014, ch.4sect.1 para.4). When reading a piece of literature, especially a short story, one should pay special attention to the central conflict because it is the key element of the story (Clugston, 2014). This essay will analyze “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin and “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston in terms of individual versus individual, nature, society, and self, symbolism, figurative language, similarities and differences. In the short stories “Sonny’s Blues” and “Sweat” both of the main characters deal with an internal conflict of some sort. Sonny in Sonny’s Blues has to refrain from turning back to drugs after his release from prison; he is also facing the piano again after not playing for a year. Delia, on the other hand has to live with an abusive, cheating husband that “done beat huh ‘nough tuh kill three women” (Hurston, 1926, para. 24). In both texts the main characters are described as humble people, for example in “Sweat,” the author writes “Delia’s habitual meekness seemed to slip from her shoulders...
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...7 ANALYZING THE AUTHOR’S PURPOSE AND TECHNIQUE he writer’s overall purpose determines the techniques he or she uses. The writer’s reason for writing a particular article or book may be manipulative, as in propaganda or advertising, or may be more straightforward, as in informative writing. In either case, understanding the writer’s underlying purpose will help you interpret the context of the writing. It will also help you see why writers make the decisions they do—from the largest decisions about what information to present to the smallest details of what words to use. The chapter concludes with instructions on how to write an analysis of purpose and technique. This kind of rhetorical analysis will provide the perspective required to keep you from being pushed by words in directions you don’t want to go. T 103 104 Part 1 Writing About Reading The Writer's Purpose Insofar as people know what they are doing, they plan their actions to achieve their purposes. Someone who selects the purpose of being rich will design and carry out a set of actions, legal or illegal, to gain the desired wealth. A person who wants to gain great wisdom will design an entirely different life course. Writers, whether they want most to be wealthy or wise, have specific purposes they hope to achieve by any piece of work. If they are skilled writers—that is, in control of what they write—they design each aspect of what they are writing to achieve their purpose. Being aware of the writer's...
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...become part of society. The short story “In Service” was written by Louisa May Alcott. Miss Alcott grew up in a time when poverty was very common and work was hard to find. She had a lot of jobs in her teens. Miss Alcott also was left to take care of her family. She worked as a seamstress and also was a companion a few times. Her passion was writing but not until 1855 did she have her first work published. (Alcott, 1996) In the 1800’s work was a lot different, there were still slaves and whites and colors were not used to working with each other. The story “In Service” tells about a white women who even thought she has been schooled, she is still not able to find work. She ends up going to an intelligence office and having them find her work. The intelligence office is probably like going to a temp agency of the 20th century. While Christie is working for her new mistress she runs into lots of problems she has to resolve to tasks she thinks is degrading and she also has to reassess what she really wants in the future. The job in this story is a lot like the jobs of today. So is the way she went about getting it. After reading the story a few times you start to sympathize with Christie as you follow her thru her journey. She starts out with analyzing what kind of job she would like to try and what she is good at and after making a plan she carries it out. You begin to realize how hard it was for women; even with extra schooling to find a job. If you think about how much money...
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...environments such as; work, school, home and more. No two people are exact or have the same views. We have set standards in most aspects of our lives. The ability to learn and eventually know right from wrong is what I believe ethics to be. Good judgments and safe decisions is what I’ve taken from this class and tried to apply to all areas in my career and lifestyle. Ethical models include: ethical decision-making, ethical leadership, business ethics, ethical dilemmas and values. 2. Personal Perspective Making a business ethical decision is also following a process which means the first thing you do is identify a problem and decision criteria and allocating weights to the criteria. The second step is developing, analyzing and selecting an alternative that can solve the problem, (basically finding a solution that works best for you and surrounding parties.) The third step is implanting the selected alternative. The final step needed to make an ethical decision is evaluating your decisions’ effectiveness. Knowing the difference between right and wrong is something I believe should be learned at a young age. Family, friends, environment and religion are all influences I believe make character and help build values. Values are needed to make responsible decision making and showing responsibility for your actions is incredibly significant to society. When making an ethical decision, you must take in to consideration the following: What has taken place? Who is being...
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...In the scene where Kent and Hogarth are having milkshakes, Kent says: I'm talking about your goldarned security, Hogarth! While you're snoozing in your widdle jammies, back in Washington we're wide awake and worried! Why? Because everyone wants what we have, Hogarth! Everyone! You think this metal man is fun, but who built it? The Russians? The Chinese? Martians? Canadians? I don't care! All I know is we didn't build it, and that's reason enough to assume the worst and blow it to kingdom come! Now, you are going to tell me about this thing, you are going to lead me to it, and we are going to destroy it before it destroys...
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...4 (Fall EOC) Identify topics and evaluate questions and develop ideas leading to inquiry, investigation, and research. AN, ARG WS 1.7 (On Demand, Fall EOC) Revise writing to improve organization and word choice after checking the logic of ideas and the precision of vocabulary. ALANG WOC 1.4 (On Demand) Demonstrate the mechanics of writing (e.g. quotation marks, commas at the end of dependent clauses) and appropriate English usage (e.g. pronoun reference). ALANG Big Ideas & Understanding(s): Students will understand that: ‐ ‐ Narratives are organized by a series of events and important events move a story forward. Essential Question(s): What is the author’s perspective and how do you know? (RC 2.4) What do you know about this text, and what additional information do you need? (WS 1.3) Themes are life lessons that can be shared between stories...
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...Literature Compare and Contrast Introduction to Literature Instructor: Corey King March 9, 2013 Short stories and poems are constructed differently but always each having their own meaning behind them. A number of the short stories of writers we know as novelists--in this country say Cheever, Paul Bowles, Helprin, Oates--are works of art finer than any of their novels. Sometimes a born short story writer tries to write novels and finally succeeds, as Katherine Anne Porter and Eudora Welty did. Every author puts their own underlying message behind them which they attempt to transport to the reader using their own style, characterization and rhythm which is essentially used for the purposes of the narrative. Every poem and short story is created to form ones imagination or personal experience. It is through their imagination that we are able to apply our own, in a way that all it takes is a few words from the poem or the story to allow us to see what the author was seeing at the moment of writing his/her work and even feel his/her emotion, creating a personal connection with the literature. We use our imagination to visualize what the author is portraying in his writing, but at the same time we apply our own imagination to look deeper into the symbolization and the descriptive language that is being used. “A Worn Path,” by Eudora Welty and “The Road Not Taken,” by Robert Frost, are two literary pieces that share the same theme, in which each...
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...The Journey of Life David Hathaway English 125 Anna C. Morrison June 10, 2012 The Journey of Life The journey of “life” that we all take is the most amazing experience that any one of us could have. Every one of us humans has a story to tell about our journey of “life.” Whether it is a story of an experience we once had, a relationship, a decision we had to make, or countless other topics these experiences make up the most amazing journey of “life” that we all make from birth to death. And many of the journeys in life can be a struggle. Eudora Welty’s short story “A Worn Path” is the story of an old woman experiencing a journey in her life with countless struggles along the way. Eudora Welty’s short story “A Warn Path” gives us the journey that an old woman makes out of love for her family and the strong will and determination she has to complete the journey. Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” is a poem about having to make a hard decision during his journey of life. Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” gives us the journey on a man who has to make a decision and choose what path he wants to spend the rest of his life down. Both “A Warn Path” and “The Road Not Taken” have one particular theme which is “Journey,” but both pieces of literature have different content, form and style. While the journey is the theme of each of these pieces of literature, each author gives a different perspective of the journey through different meaning. In the poem “The Road Not Taken...
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