on careers‚ friends‚ school and family. "How do I know I made the right decision?" "What career do I wish to pursue?" "Why is this change so difficult?" Some‚ at times‚ even wish that they had an influence or guide to help them. For many‚ this is where the parents step in. Parents are meant to support and help an adolescent when needed‚ especially during this difficult transition. However‚ this is not always the case. Some parents allow the adolescent to make the move alone and endure the hard times
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What will happen to you? Every person comes face to face at some point in life with vital decisions. Some of the decisions are minor ones‚ while others can bring turning points in life. In Joyce Carol Oates’ "Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?" she displays a particular instant in the main character’s life. This character‚ Connie was caught in the difficult transition from her youth and innocence to a doubtful future. Throughout the story Connie alternates between two very different sides
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In Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been‚” Arnold Friend‚ a conniving antagonist‚ charms a naive teenager named Connie into believing he will rescue her from her inattentive family. However‚ at the story’s climax‚ Connie fears for her life yet cannot resist Arnold’s temptations. Although details of Friend’s appearance‚ speech‚ and actions should warn Connie of his evil intentions‚ through Oates’s portrayal of Friend as a devil-figure‚ Connie is easily “conned” foreshadowing
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Joyce Carol Oates’ short story “Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?” is the haunting saga of a fifteen year old girl’s moral struggles that has resonated with readers since the story’s initial publication. Arnold Friend is a mystery of a character; his origins and nature have been debated time and time again. The real answer is that there is no real answer‚ and Arnold Friend is a character with a nature entirely up to the individual interpretation of any one reader. It can certainly be agreed
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that causes the reader to question events in the story‚ “Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?” She develops this story featuring a girl named Connie‚ who has an encounter with a boy at a restaurant that she doesn’t know. “He wagged a finger and laughed and said‚ “Gonna get you‚ baby‚” and Connie turned away…” (Oates 210). Startled Connie only saw this boy once that night‚ but the story goes on‚ and a few days later he comes to her house where she learns that the boy’s name is “Arnold Friend.” She
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The Two Sides of Connie ‘Narrative details in ’ Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?’ The story ’ Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?’ is about the fifteen year old Connie who is a girl struggling with her sexuality. The girl tries to be an adult and attractive‚ but at the same time‚ she hides her sexual side from her family. These two sides cannot remain separate from each other at all times and collide with each other‚ which this short story depicts. The main idea in this short story
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The story‚ "Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been" by Joyce Carol Oates is truly littered with conventions of Psychoanalysis. Freud developed a list of defense mechanisms used by the human subconscious in order to deal with issues too intense for the conscious mind. These strategies of the psyche are translated into symbols scattered throughout this work. These symbols are expressed through the characters of Connie‚ and Arnold Friend. The first convention is denial. Denial is when the subconscious
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Teenagers have always had it harder than the rest of the age groups. Whether it is the frustration of having old-fashioned parents or the annoyance of being too young to experience nearly everything‚ the minds of those under eighteen become a never-ending fantasy of being an adult. The seemingly carefree lifestyle of older kids seems to be impossible to wait on. 15-year-old Connie is no exception to this way of thinking. In a hurry to grow up‚ Connie‚ in Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going‚ Where
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Where Are You Smooth Talking? The saying goes the only difference between a tragedy and a comedy is the ending. Meaning no matter how tragic or comedic a story begins‚ the ending is what determines what type of story was told (thus what genre it falls in). This concept of endings is greatly exemplified through the comparison of the short story Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates and the film the story was based on called Smooth Talk. Both works contain an abundance of similarities
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There are many similarities between the short stories "Good Country People" and "Where are you going‚ Where have you been?"‚ most notably their characters. Both stories contain a female protagonist‚ and a male antagonist‚ whose confrontations start out relatively normal‚ and progress to more and more surreal and twisted endings. Their main characters‚ Hulga and Connie‚ are shockingly similar‚ and yet strangely different‚ one a 15 year old wishing to be older and beautiful‚ the other a bitter 32 year
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