Joyce Carol Oates Outline

How Joyce Carol Oates Life Affected her Work I. The novels "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" and "Life After High School" relayed Joyce Carol Oates belief that straying from a sheltered life leads to a ruined one. A. Her works delayed this theme through connotation. B. Although it was only hinted at, her belief in obedience was rooted deep in her stories. II. Oates farm-life, small town upbringing taught her not to stray from the strict discipline she lived by. C. Being raised in Lockport, New York, Oates wasn’t around many different influences. 1. Her first schooling experience came from a one room schoolhouse with a woman teacher she spoke very highly of, saying, “my first teacher who was… a somewhat heroic and Amazonian woman”. a. Her reverence of her teacher showed her belief in acquiescence, because her teacher kept her classmates in order. D. She stated in an interview, “I thrived, like a plant that could only be nurtured in a very small area but would have been destroyed outside this sheltered area.” talking about her schooling experience. 2. This habit probably became key to her because of her success following this routine. III. In the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have Been?”, Connie’s obsession with the fast life represented her descent to an unfortunate turn of events. E. Connie’s disregard for her family pushed her to look for a home away from home, she obviously had a promiscuous sex life. 3. Oates wrote, “their faces pleased….as if…they were entering what haven and blessing they yearned for.”talking about the girls adventure into the night life(Oates). 4. Her promiscuous sex life and bad habits attracted more people with bad habits and maneuvered her further away from a safe and sheltered lifestyle. F. Her time spent with Eddie, an older boy in high school, represented the false haven that she thought that she had found;