Joyce Carol Oates' short narrative entitled, "Life After High School" depicted an uncomfortable friendship between two people finding their way and themselves through high school in the 1950's. The relationship seemed doomed from the start with an awkwardly chubby loner named...

"The Lady with the Pet Dog" A story of lost and born again love: both Anton Chekhov's 1899 original as well as Joyce Carol Oates' version of "The Lady with the Pet Dog" deal with the love lives and the unhappiness of two individuals. Anton Chekhov tells the story of Gurov – a well-to- do m...

Similar Meanings When looking at two stories, "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor and "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates, many similarities are seen. A possible reason for many of the similarities between the two stories is du...

The Transition to Adulthood Most people in society hold a stereotypical conception of most teenagers. Many individuals have the notion that all teenagers act before they really think of the consequences of what they are exactly getting themselves into. They think teenagers are self-centered and...

Early Emily Bronte Wuthering Heights opens as a diary; according to Steinitz (2000), this serves as a means to establish a frame through which the story can be told. Steinitz also suggests that Bronte uses a personal diary to "articulate her preoccupation with space by locating all of her famil...

Joyce Carol Oates' short story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have you Been?", is about entering new uncertain future. Within only a short time Connie, the protagonist of the story, has to grow up, learn to take responsibility and face the cruel and hard reality of life. "My sweet little blue-...

"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" has been interpreted in many different ways since it was written in 1970. The story is based on a beautiful fifteen year old girl that spends her summer vacation listening to music, hanging out with friends, and daydreaming about boys. Joyce Carol Oates po...

In the short story "Life after High School" by Joyce Carol Oates, Zachary, one of the main characters, struggles with his love for Barbara Burhman. This struggle ultimately leads to his death. Throughout the story the three characters, Barbara, Zachary, and Tobias mask themselves by hidin...

Mirror Mirror On The Wall Do you recall the wicked step mother in Snow White? She was constantly looking into the mirror, not to see her own reflection, but rather to see what others thought of that reflection. "Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of th...

Connie and the grandmother: a striking resemblance Two characters, one an adolescent and beautiful, the other aged and outdated, are distinguishably parallel and dissimilar in many ways. Connie is a naive, pubescent girl who is portrayed in Joyce Carol Oates' "Where are you going? Wher...

Human beings are naturally burdened with character imperfections that, to a great extent, define who they are as people. The idiosyncrasies, character flaws, actions, and turns of phrase characteristic of every individual are personifications of the "not so perfect" world. In literature,...

Reasons for Arnold Friend being the Devil In "Where are you going, Where have you been?" the devil is masquerading as Arnold Friend, or that he is at least one of the devil's messengers. All the evidence during the corse of the story helps to support this fact. One cou...