The story “Where are you going‚ where have you been?”‚ written by Joyce Carol Oates‚ is a psychological thriller. It contains many elements throughout the story that the reader can only attempt to understand. This story can affect one on many different levels. It can cause one to be lost in thought‚ stuck on the complexity of the 15-year-old main character. It can forever creep one out by the unforgettable traits of the main antagonist. All the while employing many hidden meanings into the story
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The story “Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates shows the reader the self-created illusion that the main character Connie has created in order to better understand herself. Connie’s reality is altered as she has this dream that has manifested due to her desire for attention from others. Throughout the story there are many occurrences that support the idea that the entire story is a dream that was made up by Connie’s subconscious. Throughout the story‚ Arnold mentions many
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Teenagers in general are often stereotyped into one general category: unruly‚ uncaring‚ and self-absorbed. In the short story “Where are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?” Joyce Carol Oates plays on this stereotype. She uses imagery and point of view to direct the reader’s attention to the teenage girl psyche‚ selfish‚ whimsical‚ and longing for attention and affection‚ and how this stereotypical psyche can be distorted and controlled. The protagonist of the story‚ Connie‚ is a vain‚ “typical”
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Maria Bustos Instructor: Ms. Cowart English 102 February‚ 4‚ 2015 Short Story Essay #1 “Where are you going‚ Where have you been” The short story about Connie deals with the experience of a young girl that is haunted by her good looks and cryptic behaviors. Inspired by a Life article of a serial killer‚ Oates created the story to: “It was not the number of murders that intrigued me‚ but the disturbing fact that a number of teenagers –from “good” families—aided and abetted his crimes” (Oates
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In “Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?”‚ by Joyce Carol Oates‚ the setting creates division between innocence and adulthood. In the story‚ the protagonist is a complicated and confrontational young woman named Connie. The narrator explains that “Everything about her had to sides to it” (Oates 1). Connie has two personas‚ the person she is at home and the rebellious and carefree young woman she is away from her home. Throughout the plot‚ the doorway symbolizes a threshold that Connie has to
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The short story ”Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been” explores feminist ideals about oppressive men who take advantage of women. The story tells about a young girl named Connie who acts and dresses as though she is a mature young woman‚ but she shows her true age of fifteen when an older man‚ Arthur Friend‚ takes advantage of her using fear and threats of violence against her family. The story calls into question whether or not Connie is truly and independent woman‚ but one can clearly see
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short story name “Where are you going. Where have you been?” by Joyce Carol Oates. The similarities between the song and the story is that they both share a common theme of being forced or getting into something mysterious. Through the short story Arnold Friend tried to influence Connie into escaping her father’s house and going away with him. It was almost as if Connie was forced by Arnold because of his words. One thing Arnold said was “be nice to me‚ be sweet like you can because what else is
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The decline of the societal and cultural values during 1960s can be seen through Joyce Carol Oates’‚ “Where are you going‚ Where have you been?” The story‚ which narrates the fatal destiny of fifteen year old Connie‚ shows the rise of a pop-culture/music guided society‚ it also shows the rise of the sexual revolution and the disregard for women‚ and the negligence of parents at the time. In the story the devil is represented by ARNOLD FRIEND‚ who at the end of the story seduces Connie into her own
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In “Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?” the author uses clothes as a symbol to reveal our protagonist and antagonist individualities. Connie who is our protagonist is a fifteen-year-old girl who has the habit of craning her neck to glance into mirrors. Connie wears a pullover jersey blouse that looked one way when she is home and another way when she is away‚ in where she wears shorts. In the text‚ it states that “They must have been familiar sights walking around the shopping plaza in their
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Parent-Child relationship in Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been‚ written by Joyce Carol Oates and in In the Gloaming‚ written by Alice Elliott Dark are two different demonstrations of relationships that parents and children have with one another. In Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been the Parent-Child Relationship was strained and distant in In the Gloaming‚ the Parent-Child Relationship was close and open. In Where Have You Been‚ Where Are You Going? Connie and her mother were always
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