...teenagers convey a point to make men put their eyes upon them. In the short story “Where are you going, Where have you been?” Oates uses religious symbolism to show the end of innocence. “Where are you going, Where have you been?” opens with the physical description of fifteen-year old Connie. She is very beautiful and often checks herself in the mirror to reassure her beauty. Her mother disapproves of this habit and often scolds her about it. This habit of hers indicates that she is insecure and depends solely on her beauty for people...
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...troublesome girl, Connie. Connie is a fifteen year old girl who learns that being presumptuous may affect her life negatively quickly after encountering a mysterious man who will not take no for an answer. Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been includes a variety of symbols; Connie, music, and Arnold’s car. There are also a few themes within this story; beauty can be a curse, and the desire for independence. Oates begins the story by giving us a glimpse of Connie admiring herself, fixing herself up with hairspray, and being fulfilled of daydreams. Connie’s mother criticizes and scolds her for the way she looks and the cockiness she withholds. Connie is always being compared to her older sister, June, who is very simple and helpful around the house. Connie is a sex symbol, she craves attention and receives it quite easily. She is very flirtatious and begins to explore her sexuality, Eddie. Her sexual persona is her blessing but is used as a curse against her. There are a a few mentions of music throughout the story and that’s simply...
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..."You may not always end up where you thought you were going, But you will always end up where you were meant to be." This is a story of a boy that was expected to die but instead, is born with disabilities. Over the course of the story, he learns to do things like how to walk and play because of his older brother’s help. One day his older brother pushed him too far and caused the boy to die. James Hurst uses symbolism to make “The Scarlet Ibis” more interesting. In the short story “The Scarlet Ibis”, the author makes the bird symbolize Doodle. The bird and Doodle have similar deaths because they are both pushed beyond what they are capable of doing. You can tell from when the family watches the scarlet ibis on the tree, “At that moment, the bird began to flutter but the wings were uncoordinated” (Hurst 602). This shows...
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...SYMBOLISM OF THE JOURNEY The Journey of Symbolism September 2012 SYMBOLISM OF THE JOURNEY A poem and short story, no matter how different are two literary pieces where a story is told. Authors of these works use a blend of different literary elements to take simple script and turn it into something captivating. This lets the story come alive to the reader and seem like so much more than a simple story. For this paper I chose to write about “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost as it has always been a favorite poem of mine, and the short story “I Used to Live Here Once” by Jean Rhys as it was the story that spoke to me the most from our text. These two literary works both share a similar story dealing with symbolism of their journey, which have several similarities as well as some differences. I the three literary works I have chosen to discuss are; the poem “The Road Not Taken” the short story “Used to Live Here Once” and the short story “A Worn Path” all share a common theme, even though they were all differently written. The theme for all three writings shows that no matter how long or how tough life’s journey is the end of the road still depends on the choices and decisions made by the journey person. The person on life’s journey essentially finished their own story. In the poem “The Road Not Taken” there is a traveler who comes to a split in a path in the woods. The traveler is trying...
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...Symbolism of “Screen Door” “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, is packed with symbols that are very important to the meaning of the short story. There are several important symbols in the story that eventually leads up to Connie’s decision to give herself to Arnold. One of the crucial symbols in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is the screen door of Connie’s house. The screen door symbolizes Connie's transition from a teenager to a mature woman that is accepting her fate. Throughout the story Connie is scared to open the door and go outside, the closest she gets is when the boys first pull up and she “hung[s] out the screen door, [with] her toes curling down off the step” (Oates 508). Connie knows that Arnold won’t come in the house because he tells her several times, “I’m not coming in that house after you” (Oates 513). So in a way she feels comforted by the screen door that is separating them. The screen door is a boundary between Connie and Arnold, Connie stands inside the house as Arnold stands on the front porch with his arms open. If Connie opens the screen door to go out with Arnold she is excepting her fate but if she keeps the screen door shut and stays inside, she remains the fearful young teenager who is not ready to leave. By the end of the story Connie has made up her mind, “She put her hand against the screen door. She watched herself push the door slowly open as if she were safe back somewhere in the other doorway,...
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...In the book The Awakening, the author Kate Chopin uses symbolism to show the significance of the world and how the world looks at women. What is symbolism? Symbolism means that the author uses a person, place, or thing to represent a bigger, more abstract idea. Quotes from Kate Chopin’s book show that the sea represents freedom and an open space, and that it acts as a barrier. It also shows that it is a place where Mrs.Pontellier loses herself and just lets everything and herself go. Kate Chopin uses the sea as a symbol to, “symbolize freedom, escape, independence” (Liz Breazeale). When the author says this about the main character Mrs. Edna Pontellier, “A feeling of exultation overtook her, as if some power of significant import had been given...
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...the help of symbolism, tone, and diction. Symbolism shows up a lot in literature. It is hidden behind words, to give off hidden meanings that the author implies but doesn’t come out and tell you. On page 76 in A Thousand Acres, a game of monopoly is played. The tokens that the characters choose, represent who they are. The monopoly game shows what is happening at the time, two daughters, Ginny and Rose have property, while Caroline was disowned and did not get any of the 1000 acres. In monopoly, when you land on someone else’s property you owe them money, while they aren’t owing each other money, they are both trying to take all of their father’s property. As a whole, the board game is referencing the farm in Zebulon County. While in King Lear, they don’t play a game that shows who they are. The most notable symbol in King Lear is the storm. After getting in a huge fight with his daughters, and disowning one, Lear is rushing to get away from them in a huge storm that starts with lightning and thunder. During that time Lear had lost his mind, not having enough sleep and then became delusional. After he got back into the right state of mind, the storm went away. The storm symbolizes what is happening in Lear’s head, while inside he is raging, so is the outside world. Tone is the attitude of the writing that is described through the author’s choice of words and the way characters feel in a particular literary work. While each section can have a different...
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...NO THANKSGET THE APP Where are you going, Where have you Been? Holzinger 1 Anna Holzinger Mr. Zameroski Honors English 9 7 February 2016 Word Count: 1002 “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” A savior figure is kind and can be heroic, while a satanic figure is viewed mostly as an evil, hateful character. Throughout the story the reader will find hints or clues regarding which figure Arnold is displayed as. Joyce Carol Oates's short story presents him in two different ways, either a savior or satan. Arnold Friend is represented as a savior figure...
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...Everyone in life needs to work hard towards something, and you need to get through obstacles. Although some people might see that there is nothing to work for and they might not have any goals, you must always keep working hard and have that perseverance to get you through tough times. You have to work hard to be successful and get what you want. The main character, Kira, understands this in the book “Gathering Blue” by Lois Lowry. As she has no choice but to keep working harder to complete a robe for the government. She has a crippled leg, which causes her to work ten times harder to reach her goals. The author focused on dialogue, symbolism, and tone to show with determination you can accomplish anything. Throughout the book, the author uses dialogue to show the idea of determination. The characters correspond with each other...
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...and symbolism. I. Introduction II. Themes A. Choice B. Dreams, Hopes and Plans C. Man and the Natural World D. Exploration III. Settings A. Forest B. On a gravel or dirt road IV. Symbolism A. Roads B. Nature V. Conclusion The Other Road Not Taken Speaking on roads that are not taken can literally be analyzed on a personal stance. Before I get into the poem I would just like to take the time to make this a reality. We all know the singer Whitney Houston passed away a few weeks ago. Her life can be analyzed as being two roads and which one she should have taken. Whitney grew up in a church in New Jersey where she began singing in the church choir. Her career took off in 1987 officially. Fast forward a few years and the good girl we knew seemed to crumble up before our eyes. Whitney married Bobby Brown and had a daughter Bobbi Kristina. Whitney and Bobby’s relationship soon became a downhill ride over powered by drugs and alcohol. We thought by looking at her, that her career was over. She proved us wrong by coming back more faith driven than ever before and with a new attitude. You see in “The Road Not Taken”, you have a decision to make as to which road you will pave for your life. Whitney chose her road and is at peace with it. Let us analyze the poem to see which road we will take. In the following paper, Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”, will be broken up to show the theme, settings, and symbolism. We have choices...
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...Comparing and contrasting can be difficult when factoring two different types of literature. Sometimes different works of literature have the same theme yet are communicated in unique ways. I have chosen to do Robert Frosts "The Road Not Take," and the Jean Ryes "I Used to Live Here Once". Symbolism of the journey is in both of these literary works and it makes them both stronger and appealing to the readers. Being able to touch a reader and feel like the author is making it come alive is great because he know they are able to get their point across. There is always something to look for in a story that is so much more deep. It is our imagination that allows us, the readers, to use the descriptive words or symbols that are provided and create a mental vision. I will be comparing and contracting the style, form, and content. In this paper I will be accessing the area where both stories theme expressed the "The Journey." There is a similar theme in both "The Road Not Taken" and "I Used to Live Here Once." It was that no matter where we are in life or where we are going everyone has a choice to make. Everyone will make their very own destiny. But we cannot be fooled with the comparing themes as these two stories are very different when it comes to the way they were written and the symbolism used. They both describe an actual road or path which symbolizes the journey. A journey does not mean it is physical as it can be mental, spiritual, or even emotional. As a person will...
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...In Shirley Jacksons, ‘’The Lottery’’ creates a story that’s filled with symbolism, dramatic irony. Born in 1919 Shirley Jackson was an American author who wrote countless stories one better than the next but her most famous story is ‘’The Lottery’’ written in 1948 for new Yorker magazine the story offended readers because of how it suggested that evil could be carried out so easily and that stoning was a pointless and a violent sacrifice many of them cancelled their subscriptions because of how offensive the story was. Jackson’s use of irony and symbolism is brilliant and it is seen in all her stories. The use of symbolism is very present throughout the whole story. Which has different types of symbols with different types of meanings. Like For example, the representation of the stool that they use to put the black box on or even the black box itself. in “The Lottery’’Shirley Jackson wrote, "...
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...The Truth Behind Arnold Friend In Joyce Carol Oates short story, “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?”, it is argued that the antagonist in the story is the incarnation of evil; Arnold Friend. Connie, the protagonist in the story, was a naïve fifteen year old who was fascinated by boys and was constantly out of the house with her friends. She always talked about the positive effects of her looks, but never realized the negative attention that could draw from how she dressed and acted outside of her house. Arnold Friend was drawn to Connie from the first time he saw her. One day Arnold visited Connie's house harassing her to come take a ride with him and he would not take no for an answer. That was the negative attention that Connie did not want. It is concluded at the end of the story that Connie gave in and went with Arnold knowing her fate would probably be death. Joyce Carol Oates never actually let her audience know who or what Arnold Friend represented, but it is argued that he may or may not be the devil. Throughout the story, Oates used many different ways to show that Arnold could be the incarnation of evil including lust, symbolism, and various religious references. At 15, most young girls in the 1960s were not as adventurous with boys as Connie. It was looked down upon by just about any adult for girls to be alone with any boy at her age. Connie was never really interested in the individual boys she had met, but more of the feeling she got from being in that...
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...1. The Gift of the Magi "The Gift of the Magi" is a short story written by O. Henry (a pen name for William Sydney Porter), about a young married couple and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little money. As a sentimental story with a moral lesson about gift-giving, it has been a popular one for adaptation, especially for presentation during the Christmas season. The plot and its "twist ending" are well-known, and the ending is generally considered an example of situational irony. It was allegedly written at Pete's Tavern[2][3] on Irving Place in New York City. Plot Mr. James Dillingham Young ("Jim") and his wife, Della, are a couple living in a modest flat. They each have one possession in which they take pride: Della's beautiful long, flowing hair and Jim's gold watch, which had belonged to his father and grandfather. On Christmas Eve, with only $1.87 in hand, and desperate to find a gift for Jim, Della sells her hair for $20, and eventually finds a platinum fob chain for Jim's watch for $21. Happy to have found the perfect gift at last, she runs home and begins to prepare dinner. When Jim comes home, he looks at Della with an expression “that she could not read, and it terrified her.” Della then admits to Jim that she sold her hair to buy him his present. Jim gives Della her present — an array of expensive combs for her hair (referred to as “The Combs”). Della then shows Jim the chain she bought for him, to...
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...Daniel Bragg Symbolism of a Journey Eng125: Introduction to Literature (ABG1222A) Professor Olabisi Adenekan 7-1-12 When it comes to reading poems and short stories, it seems that you can always find something more, the deeper you dive in to the respective works. The authors I am about to discuss were able to bring in readers with the use of imagery, tone, symbolism, and everyday understanding, among other things throughout their works. Without imagination however, I don’t believe it would be possible to truly get what each writer has intended their work to mean. You have to look close and pay attention to be able to visualize the symbolism in each of these literary pieces. In Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken”, and Jean Rhys’ short story “I Used to Live Here Once”, the consistent theme between the two would be; no matter who you are, you are the only one who chooses the road you take for your life’s journey. In other words, you choose your own destiny. And although they took different ways to say it, both Rhys and Frost use imagery, tone, and symbolism frequently to enhance the telling of their literary works. There are many people who travel a distance in life to find the path they should take or to remember the path they once took. In the poem “The Road Not Taken”, and the short story "I Used to Live Here Once", there are many similarities and differences. The authors’ use of describing a path helps them personify life’s journeys and self-reflection. Robert...
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