In the 1960s‚ when Oates wrote “Where Are You Going . . . ‚” a social revolution was happening. American women were asserting their rights and independence from men‚ and they were claiming their sexuality in a way they had never done before. One frequently discussed topic was adolescence and the struggles and anxieties that many young girls endured as they lost their sexual innocence and became adult women. Feeling undervalued in their homes and relationships with men‚ women questioned their role
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“You Got To Do What You Got To Do‚ To Get Where You Got to Get” In Ralph Ellison’s story “Battle Royal”‚ Ralph’s dying grandfather gives his son advice on how to advance in life as a black person‚ in the United States. Ralph’s grandfather said‚ “I want you to overcome ‘em with yeses‚ undermine ‘em with grins‚ agree ‘em to death…”(1042). Basically‚ by being really nice to white people‚ he could gain favor and possibly be rewarded for his obedience. Ralph‚ took his grandfathers advice‚ and was eventually
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"Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?" By Joyce Carol Oates A short story titled "Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?" tells a tale of an adolescent girl who suffers consequences of growing up in the unsupportive environment and the society preoccupied by the media. It is considered to be the most famous work of Joyce Carol Oates‚ an American writer‚ the winner of many significant literary awards and a two- time candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. The story was first
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Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been? “Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?”‚ is one of Joyce Carol Oates best short stories. Oates shows the reader what it is like to take things for granted and make mistakes through the main character‚ Connie. Throughout this story‚ Connie finds her identity and grows as a woman. In “Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?”‚ Joyce Carol Oates shows us the struggle of a young woman dealing with her family‚ sexuality‚ and common mistakes that can be made
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“Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?” Paper “Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?” is a short story that poses many questions centered around the protagonist‚ Connie and the antagonist Arnold Friend and his “comrade” Ellie. The fate of Connie at the end of the story is still up for debate after all these years after the story was published in 1966. The main question posed is who actually is Arnold Friend? Is he the devil or something else? The answer may never be fully known but in
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filled with apprehension and anxiety. For the protagonist Connie‚ this distress is expressed in her dreamlike encounter with Arnold Friend. In the short story “Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?‚” Joyce Carol Oates used the interaction between her two main character‚ to reveal the internal fear and conflict of a fifteen year old girl maturing into a young woman. Oates chooses narrate her story in the third person giving us a glimpse in to Connie’s thoughts‚ her lonely isolation form
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Monkey See‚ Monkey Do The brain development of a child is more simplistic than it is complex. Much of how a child’s brain is developed is not only by what he or she may hear‚ but also by what he or she observes. Many studies have been conducted to prove that a child is more than likely going to imitate who he or she sees and implement that particular observation into action and will not but those actions through a conductive reasoning process until he or she develops the skill to reason‚ which
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Connie’s Paradigm In Joyce Carol Oates’ short story‚ “Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?” we follow the main character Connie as she faces an inner transformation. The author introduces Connie as a vain and inexperienced adolescent who seems to daydream about things she doesn’t quite understand as she has more of a naive idea of what adulthood is all about. She takes pleasure in having control over everyone and everything around her. These ideas as well as her security are shaken when the
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were accused were killed. The evidence didn’t have to be reliable; it hardly had to be there! All it took was someone to point a finger at you and you would find yourself in the middle of a trial‚ for something you didn’t do! If I were back in Salem Massachusetts during the time of the infamous Salem Witch Trials and I found myself in the middle‚ I would do whatever it took to save myself as well as the ones I loved even if that meant confessing to a crime I did not commit. The Puritans believed
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Connie is a young fifteen year old who cares about her sexual drive that men have toward her. “The 1960s unleashed the so called sexual revolution. It seemed more a source of comic relief and tragic nostalgic recirculation than political inspiration…” This revolution consisted of women demanding their own rights so they could become more and more independent. There were significant shifts in social attitudes‚ behaviors‚ and institutional regulations at the beginning of the 60’s and also lasted through
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