Transitioning out of childhood is something every individual must face. However, not everyone faces this transition at the same time or in the same way. In the Young Adult genre, the main characters have something in common: they are all going through the rite of passage from being children to young adults. In The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, a boy trying to figure out his identity while being bullied from a rival group, in Forever, by Judy Blume, a girl is coming to terms with her sexual identity, and in The Absolute Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, a boy is facing the consequences of his adult decision. All of these characters are coming to terms with identity in some way.…
Coming of age is a momentous time in life. Atime in life where you can either prevail or fail at being successful. Both Johnson’s” To Sir John Lade, on His Coming of Age” and Housman’s “ When I Was One -and - Twenty “ attend to the obstinate yet delicate stage in a young man’s life although they have conflicting arguments. Through the use of imagery, irony, and repetition both sets of literary work emphasizes on advice for life changing approaches.…
The story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates shows the reader the self-created illusion that the main character Connie has created in order to better understand herself. Connie’s reality is altered as she has this dream that has manifested due to her desire for attention from others. Throughout the story there are many occurrences that support the idea that the entire story is a dream that was made up by Connie’s subconscious. Throughout the story, Arnold mentions many things that there is no way he could have known. Arnold knows what her family is doing.…
Charles Howard Schmid, Jr. also known as "The Pied Piper of Tucson," was an American…
The two short stories “Where are you Going, Where Have You Been?” by Oates and “Castle Nowhere” by Woolson offer a strong basis for comparison and contrast in terms of canonical and non-canonical texts through characterization, genre/tone, setting, themes, and symbolism. While many of the obvious differences reside in concrete categories like setting, genre/tone, and characterization, there are alluring similarities in theme and symbolism that can allow the reader to conclude the canonization of “Where are you Going, Where Have You Been?” is due, in majority, purely to structural literary components.…
O 'Neil, J. M., & Egan, J. (1992). Men 's and women 's gender role journeys: Metaphor for healing, transition, and transformation. In B. R. Wainrib (Ed.), Gender issues across the life cycle (pp. 107-123). New York: Springer.…
On a bright weekend morning a Girl was relaxing in her house listening to music when an unfamiliar car pulls into the driveway, the girl doesn't seem to think of any danger that might arise from the car. Any aware person would lock the door and have the phone ready to call the police but not this girl. This girl is easily lured into a trap and taken away from everything she loved. This girl is the protagonist, Connie, from Joyce Carol Oates short story “Where are you going, Where have you been.” Rather than heed the gut feeling most readers have at this moment in the story, Connie ignorantly emerges from her house and engages the stranger, Arnold Friend.…
The term, “Coming of Age” has a variety of connotations ranging from a realization of one’s personal duty in life to a more harrowing observation about the harsh reality one has been hidden from while in the depths of his/her youth. While perhaps there are as many different conclusions reached about growing up as there are pieces of literature revolving around the subject, two works in particular offer transitional tales that depict vastly different narratives. Judith Ortiz Cofer in her poem, Quinceanera, presents a dark and literal use of language to portray a raw and reluctant journey to womanhood, while in “My Back Pages” Bob Dylan more frequently utilizes figurative language to relay a sense that the anger and resentment of his youth was…
This story exemplifies a young boy’s growth in moral education, as well as, his realization that there are consequences for his actions. Wright uses the title to foreshadow the bildungsroman theme in the story. Although the story strongly exemplifies a coming-of-age narrative, it also portrays a sort of coming-of-(r)age. Dave, the main character, is exhausted with society treating him like a child. “One of these day he was going to get a gun and practice shooting, then they couldn’t talk to him as though he were a little boy.”(1062) He believes that by purchasing a gun than he will be respected as a man. “Could kill a man with a gun like this. Kill anybody, black or white. And if I were holding his gun in his hand nobody could run over him; they would have to respect him.” (1065) After purchasing the gun, he hides it from his mother and lies to her about the gun’s whereabouts. This exemplifies only a fraction of his childish behavior. Dave then carries the gun with him as he goes to work for Mr. Hawkins in the field. While playing with the dangerous weapon, he fires the gun and it wounds one of Mr. Hawkins’s mules. When Mr. Hawkins learns about what Dave has done, he approaches Dave with an agreement on how Dave may repay him for killing his mule. However, Dave continues to feels that he is not considered as an equal to the adults. Later at night, Dave decides to carry his gun to…
I believe the theme of the short story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" is focused on the imagination versus the reality of the main character, Connie. Connie perceives herself as a functioning mature woman by the way she dresses, styles her hair, and her overall demeanor. Connie convinces herself that she is this mature person who has it all figured out but when she is approached by this character, Arnold, her insecurities begin to emerge. Once Arnold begins to harass Connie, she resorts to childlike behavior and her anxiety increases. The author represents Arnold as a boy but he is quite possibly a figment of Connie's imagination, he represented her actual fear of becoming an adult. "She watched herself push the door slowly open…
Coming of age is a young person’s transition from adolescence to adulthood. For most this can be a very difficult time and can cause a lot of pressure, especially for teenagers. In Richard Wright’s The Man Who Was Almost a Man, the main character, Dave, thinks he is ready to show everyone that he is a man. Dave wants people to give him more respect and treat him like a man; however, his actions seem to backfire leaving him with less respect than he had before.…
Throughout the essay, Saunders uses vivid contrast, and personal reflections to reveal the relationship between gender roles of men and women, and the social class they fall into. With his early use of contrast, reflection, and narration, Sanders uses memories of his personal up bringing in order to expose his initial perspective of the duties men and women are subject to. On one hand, he proclaims that the men he views throughout his childhood are ones that are “killing themselves or preparing to kill others” (295). This conveys how they vigorously strain their bodies to bring money into the family, and prepare to go to war. However, on the other hand he also emphasizes that in his mind women live freer and less confining lives than men since they work in “handsomer places than any factory” (295). Growing up within a mid century lower class, Sanders is exposed to the “toiling” (293) and strenuous lives of the many male figures surrounding him. This initially shapes his “early vision of manhood”(293) and enables him to obtain a personal perspective and prejudice of what role men should play in a typical society. Nevertheless, Sanders also details how his fathers ability to obtain an important office job within his company, allows Sanders and his family to move upwards into a higher social class. This movement permits him to attend college where he meets the daughters of high status jobholders. These women accuse Sanders that because of his male sex, he is destined to “become like their…
The search for becoming a man begins the moment young Johnny realizes he is different from his counterpart Jane. At this epiphany the search begins to find out his true identity. As Johnny’s eyes are open to his manhood he departs on a lifelong journey into his masculinity. What the young boy doesn’t know is that along the way he will be faced with many false ideologies of manhood. The biggest culprit lies in the portrayal of men in the media. The media is saturated with male role models. However the underlining message preached from the media is that of a hyper masculinity and not a proper view of what a man is to become. The media promotes an unhealthy representation of true manhood.…
In this essay there will be a discussion about whether or gender effects the transition to adulthood. There will be a brief definition of gender and transition. There has been great debate over gender but there has been little about masculinity and femininity and the transition to adulthood. It will look at the transitions that gender goes through in relation to that of the past and present day. Then which will be compared if they have changed or continuously stayed the same. There will be theoretical discussion of the psychoanalytic and biosocial theory and how this helps us to understand if gender effects the transitions to adulthood. Being in school and going into the workforce will be examples of how these theories can be applied and explain again if the transitions to adulthood are effect by gender. Then to finished there will be a conclusion.…
This chapter is about becoming gendered in the early years. It mainly discusses to themes that are growing up masculine and growing up feminine. I believe these themes were well chosen and I don’t think there is an addition to it considering that although today, we have more than masculine and feminine characteristics, they remain the most general ones, the standards to society, and the categories where most people are raised to classify themselves in during their early years. This part of the book discusses these themes more deeply showing us how college students view becoming gendered.…