Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been Essay Example for Free

Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been Essay â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? † is a short story written by Joyce Carol Oates. On the surface the narrative is fairly generic. The plot follows a 15 year old girl named Connie who is a typical teen shallow, and self consumed. She spends her days at the mall, listening to the radio, and boy watching. However, it soon becomes clear that this story has a very dark undertone. Joyce Carol Oates has commented that this short story is a â€Å"realistic allegory† and that she uses characters in the narrative to represent abstract ideas. A common theme in much of Oates’ work is her belief that the 20th century is spiritually empty. That people have no â€Å"spirit† of their own and therefore are easily influenced and harmed. In â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? † Oates’ creates the character of Arnold Friend to be the antagonist (Davis). He is intense and powerful, and as the story continues he is like a dark persistent cloud that weighs heavy on Connie and the reader. Arnold Friend is the physical embodiment of the devil and his omnipotence allows him to know and abuse Connie’s insecurities for his own uses. It is through Arnold that Connie goes from innocence to experienced. Connie is a young girl just beginning to experience adult things. Her interest in boys is limited until she â€Å"sees† Arnold. Arnold Friend does not exist. He appears only to Connie, and Connie is the only person who sees him. At no point in the story is he acknowledged by any character in the story. Even his â€Å"Friend† Ellie makes no response to Arnold comment’s which Arnold excuses away by saying â€Å"he’s shy. † Any conversation they have with each other seems disjointed and incoherent. Connie first sees Arnold one night when Connie and her friend cross the highway to go to the burger joint (Davis). The burger joint is a trendy hangout for a much older crowd. It is only Connie who sees Arnold Connie couldnt help but let her eyes wander over the windshields and faces all around her, her face gleaming with a joy that had nothing to do with Eddie or even this place; it might have been the music†¦, and just at that moment she happened to glance at a face a few feet from hers (2). Oates also describes Arnold’s car as â€Å"a convertible jalopy painted gold (2),† and later in the story Connie easily recognizes the car as it pulls into her driveway. The car is smashed up, and written on. Surely if the car (and Arnold) was real it would have fetched a comment from someone at the hangout. Arnold speaks only to Connie, and foreshadows his intentions in a single comment â€Å" Gonna get you, baby† (2). Many critics believe that Arnold Friend is a daydream, or a fantasy lover conjured up by Connie. However, it is interesting to note that when Arnold comes to Connie’s house he remains in and speaks with her only in the doorway. He promises and states that he has no intention of going in without an invitation. He is unable to cross over the threshold without being invited. This is a characteristic of an evil being. He tries hard for an invitation, romantically wooing at her Yes, Im your lover. You dont know what that is but you will. I know that too. I know all about you. But look: its real nice and you couldnt ask for nobody better than me, or more polite. Ill hold you so tight you wont think you have to try to get away or pretend anything because youll know you cant. And Ill come inside you where its all secret and youll give in to me and youll love me (8). Connie remains unconvinced and contemplates calling the police which she eventually decides not to do. Oates’ also when describing Arnold Friend actions, writes â€Å"he looked out to see Arnold Friend pause and then take a step toward the porch, lurching. He almost fell. But, like a clever drunken man, he managed to catch his balance. He wobbled in his high boots and grabbed hold of one of the porch postsâ€Å" (8). The word lurching is usually used to describe the movement of an animal, and he wobbles because he has hooves instead of feet. Arnold Friend uses Connie’s insecurities to make her come to him. First of all Arnold uses the word â€Å"Dontcha† when asking Connie questions (Hurley). If Connie answers no she seems stupid, so it forces her to constantly agree with what Arnold is saying or asking. Connie is a normal teenage girl and is concerned about her looks. When Arnold first pulls up Connie is described as â€Å"Her heart began to pound and her fingers snatched at her hair, checking it, and she whispered, Christ. Christ, wondering how bad she lookedâ€Å" (X). Soon after Arnold tells her Youre cute† (3), and even later â€Å"I dont like them fat. I like them the way you are, honey† (8). He is trying to boost her ego. He looks and dresses like boys she is attracted too. Connie â€Å"liked the way he was dressed, which was the way all of them dressed: tight faded jeans stuffed into black, scuffed boots, a belt that pulled his waist in and showed how lean he was, and a white pull-over shirt that was a little soiled and showed the hard small muscles of his arms and shoulders. He looked as if he probably did hard work, lifting and carrying things. Even his neck looked muscular† (5). Arnold has all the characteristics and qualities that her parents want for her to resist (Hurley). When Connie questions who Arnold is, he claims they know each other and have the same friends by listing their names â€Å"Listen: Betty Schultz and Tony Fitch and Jimmy Pettinger and Nancy Pettinger, he said in a chant. Raymond Stanley and Bob Hutter— (5). He speaks as if he is singing, â€Å"He spoke in a simple lilting voice, exactly as if he were reciting the words to a song† (5) much like dangerous sirens of Greek mythology. Arnold also makes sure to have music playing that Connie likes, â€Å"Bobby King† (x) and comments â€Å"I listen to him all the time. I think hes great (4). He uses slang that was popular with Connie’s school friends last year on his car â€Å"man the flying saucers. It was an expression kids had used the year before but didnt use this year. She looked at it for a while as if the words meant something to her that she did not yet know† (6). All these things are meant to make Connie feel comfortable and at ease with Arnold. If she is comfortable she will trust him, go for a ride with him, and he can do whatever he wants with her (Slimp). Arnold Friend tries hard to lure Connie away. He romances her like a young lover complimenting how she looks, sharing her taste in music and friends. But she still refuses and he play his last card. He states â€Å"Im the boy for you, and like I said, you come out here nice like a lady and give me your hand, and nobody else gets hurt, I mean, your nice old bald-headed daddy and your mummy and your sister in her high heels. Because listen: why bring them in this? (10). It is at this point that she realizes she has no choice but to go with him. For all the annoyance, resentment, and bitterness she displays toward her family, in the end, she is willing to give up herself for them. She must go with Arnold to save her family and maybe herself. She chooses to go with Arnold because she sees that as her only alternative. Oddly enough if she, at 15, had been as worldly as she would have liked she would have been strong enough and smart enough to realize she did not have to go with Arnold. That she was in control and could easily send him away. Arnold Friend is the embodiment of evil intent and he uses Connies inexperience to manipulate her. He shows himself to Connie in a way that she would feel comfortable with as a young smooth talking boy who wants to court her (Slimp). He represents the internal and external conflict that Connie has inside. She resists his various temptations but surrenders herself in hopes of saving her family from harm. At the end of the story the reader does not know what really happens to Connie. The open ended conclusion let’s the reader reflect on their own conflicts, their own insecurities and weakness. And we, the audience have to wonder, if the evil in the world is going to get us too.

Essay --

What makes you an adult? Many people believe that age determined adulthood but they are wrong because age is a number and everyone grows up in different rates. You can’t always expect everyone to become mature at the same age, because everyone is different. Many teens become adults faster for certain reason and some of them were not give the option they just had to too. Becoming an adult is not an option for everyone but sooner or later you have to grow up because you can’t stay a kid forever. Being 18 years old makes you legally an adult in united states, but in reality we know that 18 years old are very different from maturity as well responsibilities and life experience. Age do not determined the actual matureness of a person neither the circumstance to handle situations. Adulthood is not based on age; it’s based on emotional maturity. The ability to listen to and evaluate the viewpoint on circumstance they find themselves on and been able to analyze how to find the solution to the problem that makes them mature. Age is just a number; therefore you could be twenty-six, twenty-eight and still act immature. Many teens think that as soon they 18 their parents are going to continue to help them but the true is that they already did their part raising them up. One part of growing up and becoming an adult is that parents are not always going to be there so you got to grow up on your own. Sooner or later he or she are going to face obstacles on their own and that would make them stronger which will help them mature. There are several attributes to make an adult an adult and number one is responsibilities because that ones part that help you grow up in life. Part of being an adult is important to maintain pa... ... not a bad thing because you get to make your own decisions without someone telling you what to do. I know that been a kid life is simple you go to school come back home and do homework and that all you worried about but you never get to explore and have more adventures like adults. A part of being an adult is that you make mistakes but you always learn from the mistakes and that prevent you from doing the same mistakes all over again. What I am trying to say is good to be a kid but you have to grow up to become an adult because that’s how you decide what kind of life style you want instead of your parent making it for you. I know some were not given a chance to enjoy childhood but what you got is more importance meaning that you who didn’t enjoy you childhood you had a head start to become a adult and maybe do better than other who didn’t went trough your situation

Bletchley Park Coursework Essay

1.) What can you learn from Source A about the work of Bletchley Park? From reading through source A, the reader can analyse that the work done in Bletchley Park was kept extremely confidential, due to the fact that when it came to infiltrating enemy intelligence, organisations had a tendency to keep the knowledge within the vicinity. In addition, the cryptologists and mathematicians that worked there had no idea as to what was happening in the consecutive huts because it was so departmentalized. In times when countries were at war, there was an almost obligatory need for secrecy, because one wrong move could determine the fate of either side. Any decoded messages were passed onto the other huts through narrow wooden tunnels that connected them. However, we only have the opinion of one worker within one hut, making it hard to decide whether or not this evidence is unsubstantiated. We do not know whether the government became lenient with the strict rules they implemented, whether it was towards the end of the war or at the middle. 2.) Does the evidence of Source C support the evidence of Sources A and B about the work of Bletchley Park? Explain your answer. In comparison with source C, A and B often convey a sense of perplexion, due to the fact that a significant amount of people weren’t aware of whether war was declared or not. Moreover, you have the continuous notion that people did not know the outcome of their work, or the purpose of the work done within the other huts. In some aspects, what the code breaker in source C has wrote is often similar to what the previous workers also wrote. For example, the source continues to mention the secrecy kept within the huts. Because there was such a crucial need for it, the workers did not know whether their breakthroughs were futile or not, for if the code they cracked had no significant meaning, then it would clearly be a waste of time if they received simultaneous discoveries which were of no value. If they did come across something of importance, it would be for the benefit of the war that they would not be informed, due to the fact that a minority of people would carry out certain acts of espionage. Since they were all written by workers that worked closely within Bletchley Park, I can only say that the sources inevitably have certain similarities, regarding the fact that their work was very covert, and that the groups were all departmentalised. However, the origin of the sources can cause differences between them. Source A was written in Hut 3, where as Source C was written in Hut 6, meaning that Source C may not support Source A after all because of the different locations that they were written in. This evidently causes problems, as the sources are of different origins. Again it is slightly biased, as they may have been recorded at different dates. Who knows whether they implemented a certain level of secrecy within each of the huts, depending on the necessity of the work they would have done. 3.) How useful are Sources D and E in helping you to understand how Bletchley Park was able to crack the Enigma codes? Source E is not exceptionally useful in helping you to understand how the British cracked the enigma code, as it is just a visual source. Nevertheless, you can see that this Machine helped them to interpret the incessant gibberish that they received from the Germans, via wireless stations that they had situated all across Britain. This machine or the â€Å"Enigma Machine† as it became known was where their mainstream of information was translated from the German ciphers into our dialect. It was a military cipher device, which helped the British purge the seas of enemies that lurked beneath the waters. All it consisted of were 3 reels which had the whole alphabet imprinted on them, and the whole of the alphabet on buttons that you pressed. Yet the German’s soon found out that their machine wasn’t as secure as they would have hoped, so they added another reel into it. In order for the cryptologists to translate the German codes, the Enigma machine had to be calibrated with exactly the same settings as the Enigma Machine that had sent the message. Source D simply sheds a negative light on the outcome of their work. Although logically categorising information seems to condense the ciphers that they received, it only made things more laborious as thousands of messages had to be decoded everyday. Pressure would mount as the codes to be cracked accumulated, making the cryptologists and other workers very anxious indeed. As always, there is always a â€Å"but†. Source D does not give any relevant information in some sense, because that is not where the main work took place. The codes were translated in Hut 3. On translating the ciphers, they would then be sent to Hut 6 to be deciphered. What’s more, is that being a visual source, source C does not offer any other information, other than the fact that they used this machine to decipher codes. This was not the only military machine that was used, as a newer version â€Å"Ultra† succeeded the Enigma Machine. 4.) Use Sources F and G and your own knowledge, to explain the importance of Bletchley Park to the war effort. During World War 2, many people weren’t aware of the audacity of Bletchley Park’s work towards the war effort, although vague details were described to them which weren’t enough to convince them of the magnitude of their work. However, the Prime Minister of Britain considered it as a great asset to the war. Winston Churchill was unlike his predecessor Neville Chamberlain, for he took a keen interest of the activities and the purpose of Bletchley Park. He considered it as an extremely significant help to the World War 2 effort, as can be seen from Source F, â€Å"Make sure that they have all that they want extreme priority.† He then follows on to say that they must take action this day, which signifies how much he admired their efforts to help facilitate with the English army. One of the beneficial uses of Bletchley Park was that they were able to get direct information of the German’s intentions. For example, whether they were planning pre-emptive strikes, or whether they were planning to ambush the British in areas known to them. Because the German’s assumed that the Enigma was safe to use, they passed noteworthy information on to people with high rank, even Hitler himself. They were also able to determine whether tips that they had received were bogus or not. Nonetheless, although they were able to get hold of information of some sort, it was sometimes ignored. The reader needs to keep in mind that it was not Bletchley Park that dealt with the physicality’s of war. In addition to what they knew, they could also form battle plans, and obtain information about reserves, which evidently put the British at some sort of an advantage, because they knew of their enemies attributes. One of the many successes of Bletchley Park was â€Å"Ultra†, for it provided an immense amount of information for the naval intelligence. It allowed the British to prevent German U-Boat’s from attacking their convoys. This was an extremely major triumph because: Britain was dependant on the convoys from America and Canada; they would often supply raw materials and food and send them through convoys. But with so many German U-Boats hidden within the endless depths of the Atlantic, the possibility of a convoy being sunk was almost inevitable. When the German’s introduced the four wheeled enigma â€Å"Shark†, the British intelligence lost almost all contact with their enemies U-Boats. The number of convoys sunk in the Atlantic rose rapidly, only until they were able to crack Shark in December 1942. The Germans once again had the advantage in the treacherous Atlantic. With the unravelling of Shark, the British were once again able to locate the positions of German U-Boats, which then led onto the success of the Battle of the Atlantic. 5.) Study all the Sources. The writer of Source I believed that Bletchley Park had a very great impact on the outcome of the Second World War. Use the sources and your own knowledge to explain whether you agree with this view. Bletchley Park, which was otherwise known as Station X had indeed a great impact perhaps not on the outcome of the war, but certainly on the progress of World War II itself. Although some historians would argue that Bletchley Park did not help Britain emerge victorious at the end of the war, they cannot deny that it was beneficial to the progress of the war, other than the outcome. From looking at Sources A to D, one can analyse that the work the cryptologists did wasn’t just a mere triviality of every day life. Its significance is perhaps not expressed as it should have been in the sources, but the workers obligation to maintain secrecy within their huts says enough. If their superiors did not uphold the need for secrecy, then perhaps the war would not have turned out as it has today, for espionage in such a reckless place would certainly be expected. In addition, the Prime Minister Winston Churchill took such a keen interest in Bletchley Park, that it was hard for individuals not to consider its work extremely valuable towards the war effort. The role of Prime Minister is considered very influential in Britain, and a position which grants its occupant a great deal of power. Hence this shows that because Churchill was importuned with such a grievous burden (leading Britain through World War II), the thing that he perceived to be a solution for the ominous U-Boats was Bletchley Park. In fact, it was partly because of them, that the number of German U-Boats diminished, during the battles fought at sea. The writer of Source I believed that Bletchley Park had a huge impact on the outcome of World War II, but to what extent? The many codes that Bletchley Park used to crack German codes, is supposedly the very reason why they were renowned for shortening the war. Due to the fact that they were able to crack German codes that they had intercepted by using codes such as â€Å"Ultra† or â€Å"Shark†, it allowed them to pin-point the location of German U-Boats, which were dealing severe blows to the convoys that were to export goods to Britain. Once they were able to translate German naval codes with â€Å"Dolphin†, destroying U-Boats during the Battle of the Atlantic became uncomplicated. And tonnes of shipping were saved from being sunk. However, once the U-Boats were withdrawn from the Atlantic, they began to pose a new threat in the Mediterranean. The British enjoyed a considerable amount of ease during the battles that they fought in North Africa, until the German U-Boats arrived. But once again, the British intelligence was able to crack the code permanently, which enabled them to fight back the German and Italian forces. Yet it was not always to their advantage for at times, they weren’t able to crack the codes fast enough. Perchance when they did, the translation would have no significance because of efforts made to crack it. By the time machines such as Bombe or Colossus were made, they would already have suffered from needless losses, which would have been prevented, if time were in their favour. This is indeed what happened in North Africa, for the messages that the Americans sent to the British were intercepted, and those that the Y Service received would be cracked a week after the Germans had transmitted them. Of course, the British obviously had other advantages over the German other than destroying their U-Boats. Because the Y Service was able to intercept messages of many origins, they were able to acquire information which they could then relate to their army. For instance, they could set up battle plans and formation tactics for the army, consequently helping them to succeed in battle. The messages that they intercepted would often lead into the army being aware of the Germans moves, for the reason that some messages were sent to the German general, or someone with a similar position. Information about their reserves was acquired, which meant that the English army new what they were up against, and therefore they would know when to take coercive actions or not. Nevertheless, no matter how much information Bletchley Park could intercept, it wasn’t them that would have to deal with the battles themselves. It was the soldiers and sailors that were to enforce these plans into actions, and it was them that had to fight the physical battle, the most imperative part of War. There was always a possibility that the British would suffer heavy casualties at the hands of the Germans, despite the fact that they knew of their intended actions. Other than that sometimes the information was ignored, since it wasn’t considered as something worth taking note of. Bletchley Park helped organise D-Day, on the 6th of June 1944. They helped to provide the Germans with bogus information, making them think that the allied army had camped in an area known to them. In reality, they merely used cloth and wood to reconstruct a camp which seemed real from a distance. So while the Germans were planning to ambush a camp that was non-existent, the Allied forces began the liberation of Europe. But again, it wasn’t Bletchley Park that brought final victory, for it was the army that enforced the information in a beneficial way. It was their actions and organisation offence wise, which made everything successful. After D-Day, Bletchley Park lost its influence. They were ignored when they passed on additional information, because the end of the war truly in sight. In conclusion, Bletchley Park was nothing more than a great help towards the War effort. Their labours was not what finalised the fact that the British would emerge victorious from the War, for it was not they that had to enforce plans and actions amongst men, who have different minds to that of computers. When victory was in their grasp, the Army neglected the information sent to them by Bletchley Park, to no consequence. The end of the war was in sight, as was Bletchley Park.

The Sermon Of The Pilgrim Galilee Christian Church

The Pilgrim Galilee Christian Church Praise Team just finished singing the church happy now it’s time for the announcements. Curtis Bracy, the announcement clerk stepped up to the podium and begins the announcements. I was thinking to myself, I should write the announcements so I will not be clueless when another member what day is a particular event on. Curtis Bracy said the words SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHERS NEEDED FOR ADULT CLASS, I sat up straight it was like music to my ears. I know what I can do to serve in my church I can be a Sunday School Teacher. He announced members who are interested please speak with the Sunday School Superintendent after morning worship service. I was excited I was going to be a Sunday School Teacher, how hard could it be? I was a member of Toastmaster and I spoke at different functions at different occasions. I already study faithfully and come to Sunday School on a regular basis. I love study the word of God so teaching a Sunday School should not be a problem that’s what I thought. After morning worship service I approached the Sunday School Superintendent, my exact words were â€Å"I am ready for God to use me and I want to be a teacher for Sunday School.† She looked at me and said â€Å"Okay, great you will have to start your training soon as possible so come to the church on Saturday at one o’clock in the afternoon.† I said â€Å"perfect†. When I got in the car I told my wife the good news, she said, â€Å"that’s great and if I can be any help let me know.† I toldShow MoreRelatedMaking Moral Decisions in Different Religious Context.8874 Words   |  36 Pagesto be so knowledgeable. It tells how he meditated beneath a pipal tree and did not move until he had a resolved suffering. He was tempted by an evil spirit Mara yet the spirit failed and the Buddha attained enlightenment. Gautama preached his first sermon to five of his companions and taught them about the Four Noble trut hs and the Eight Fold path. The Four Noble Truths 1 Dukkha: To live is to suffer. 2 Tanha: suffering is caused by desire. 3 Nirvana: suffering can be brought to an end. 4 Marga: