Early in the story on a Sunday morning, Connie's family leaves to go to a family barbeque down the street. Connie is left by herself and chooses to wash her hair instead of going to church. When she hears a car driving up to her house, her heart starts pounding, she pulls at her hair and says, "Christ. Christ.," not in reference to the Lord or religion in general but because she is worried

"I... found out all about you like I know your parents and sister are gone somewheres and I know where and how long they're going to be gone, and I know who you were with last night..."

Connie's fear of the situation sends waves of dizziness through her body, makes her hands shake, and causes "Her heart [to be] too big now for her chest and its pumping made sweat break out all over her." The extreme knowledge and intense tone of the dialogue make Connie scared and nervous, which is also projected in the language she uses. When Arnold says, "We ain't leaving until you come with us" Connie replies with a firm answer, "Like hell I am." She curses again, to make her point clear when she says, "Get the hell out of here."

about how bad she looks. This gives and indication of how the author interprets religion in the story, not important and not se

Some common words found in the essay are:
Soon Arnold, Arnold Friend, Where Connie, Christ Christ, Language Terror, Connie Arnold, arnold friend, Carol Oates's, typical teenager, connie replies, religion story, connie's language, throughout story,
Approximate Word count = 573
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)