Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been Essay

Judges 19:17 Joyce Carol Oates’s 1970 story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? introduces fifteen year old Connie, a narcissistic girl who prefers flirting with boys, and listening to Rock and Roll. Like most girls her age, Connie is very keen on being mature. Connie puts on her act the minute she exits her house by portraying herself as an adult. However, behind closed doors Connie reverts to her childish nature. Unbeknownst to her parents, Connie visits a restaurant intended for older…

a book based on the same storyline will differ in a multitude of ways. Consequently, the entire interpretation of a story is based on the ending. This concept is expressed in the intricate and intriguing plots of the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates and the movie Smooth Talk. (THESIS): The ending of the short story is more effective than the ending of the movie because it leaves more to the imagination with its graphic scenes that emphasize Connie’s…

Elements of Fiction in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is an exemplary model of literary fiction. To be considered literary fiction, a work must possess specific elements and “[give] us a keener awareness if our humanity within a universe that is sometimes friendly, sometimes hostile” (Arp 63). Literary stories, long or short, can contain any or all of the following: symbols, three-dimensional characters facing…

The text I composed my questions and theories from is “Where are you Going, Where Have you Been?” Initially, this short story captured my interest through its strikingly, realistic scenarios stemming from the protagonist Connie’s attitude towards her mother and sister along with the secret dates with boys at the diner. This text struck me as an ideal choice because of the ambiguous antagonist, Arnold Friend, this character presents several theories of different meanings explaining what the…

Many of these tales have been adapted into mainstream media for children by companies such as Disney. Unsurprisingly, Disney leaves out a lot of the original stories. The fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen are meant to express topics involving the loss of innocence that young ones are not expected to know. Amidst modern literature, Joyce Carol Oates’s inserts similar connotations in her 1966 short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been.” Surely, Connie is…

In Joyce Carol Oates’ Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been, the understanding or initial misunderstanding of characters, are pivotal to the reader’s roller coaster experience of the plot. The story revolves around the character of Connie, a fairly typical 15-year-old teenage girl, who comes to be confronted with a dangerous situation. This story and the character of Connie were particularly interesting and engrossing to me. As Oates illustrates Connie’s character and her motivations, I was…

Fantasies are like landscapes with no real ending and a place where desires can run freely but at the cost of one´s own mind. The Fantasies inside ¨Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been¨ show Connie´s freedom to an extent, in which her own knowledge and persona become her crutch in the aftermath of her conflict. But, however, In ¨Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” Joyce Oates uses Connie struggle against Arnold to portray her fear of adulthood as well as symbolize her innocence being…

The American Heritage dictionary defines rebel as, “to resist or defy an authority or a generaly accepted convention.” In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Connie is the rebel. Now, she is not a hardcore rebel: meaning, she does not get in trouble with the law. Connie sneaks around behind her parents backs to be around older boys. Connie is a fifteen year old girl. She fits the basic criteria as the rebellious teenage daughter. The only physical aspects that actually tells details of…

girls,friends,music and much more. Some young teenagers try to act grown while they are still a child deep down inside. They do this because they think adults might view them as a person who is mature and responsible. The short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates, main character Connie is a young female teenager., who is trying to find herself. Connie actions tends to be disapproving by her mother and the only thing her mother allows her to do is go out. The…

Joyce Carol Oates is an acclaimed writer has written many works that can relate to the everyday person. She writes in a way that causes people to think about their own lives. Her stories tend to connect. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is a story of a promiscuous girl who is stuck between a rock and a hard place. “ Pumpkin Head” is a story of a seasoned woman who befriends a man who is mentally unstable when he drinks. Her works shows forth reality and the way some humans suffer in…