Truth be Told “Mom will you look under my bed for a monster?” the little girl asked. The mom replied with “yes honey, but there are no monsters.” However, the stories that we read may prove otherwise. The monsters in the stories conjure up a very different image than the little girl was imagining. As a result of the authors placing the monsters in real-life settings, and linking the stories to fact-based events, the work draws a greater impact on the reader. When the reader believes the story…
Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been? By Joyce Carol Oates is the story of Connie, a 15 year old Texan girl, and one fateful summer day. Through characterization and symbolism the author shows that often teenagers rush into the fantasy of adulthood, never expecting how real it can get. By using the summer to represent her fall from innocence, music to show how Connie feels, and her habit of checking her reflection to prove she’s still young and insecure- despite how she may act, Oates…
At what point does a girl become a woman? In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, author Joyce Carol Oates tells the story of a relatable girl, named Connie, and her initiation into womanhood. While maturity, independence, and handsome boys attract Connie to the adult world, her perfect dream of adulthood is interrupted by antagonist male forces and an internal conflict between protection and self-reliance. Throughout the short story, Connie attempts to prove that she is a grown woman by…
In the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” American writer, Joyce Carol Oates, introduces the readers to naïve Connie, a self-absorbed teenage girl, who refuses to comply to her mother’s wishes and live up to her responsible older sister, June. Oates skillfully implements the fictional element of symbolism, connecting an object to an underlying meaning in a way to represent ideas or qualities, in order to stress her message to the readers of her work. Joyce Carol Oates…
Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” has been discussed, at length, throughout the literary and academic community since it was first published in 1966. Literary critics have discussed a variety of analogies between fairytale, or mythological, characters, and the characters in Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Oates uses subtle, and sometimes obvious, references to a variety of childhood fairytales and…
“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” written by Joyce Carol Oates is an unsettling and incredibly formidable story of a young woman’s loss of innocence during a time of social change, unrest and turbulence.…
Often when a film is adapted from any works of literature, the details of the works can be portrayed differently and/or similarly. The short story by Joyce Carol Oates, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been," and the Sundance Award-winning film directed by Joyce Chopra, "Smooth Talk," show that both works have similarities and differences with each other when it comes to characters, themes, and plots. Throughout both the short story and the film, Connie faces personal struggles in both works…
supervision, without it, some bad things could happen. The guidance of your parents is what makes you to be a good person. Both Donny In “Teenage Wasteland” by Anne Taylor and Connie in “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?”, by Joyce Carol Oates are somewhat troubled with the absence of their parents. These two characters have little contact with their parents and their parents have no idea what is going on with them in their social lives. Informing and talking to your parents is one of…
With Fate Comes Choice In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”, a short story by Joyce Carol Oates, the combination of the circumstances and the choices that Connie makes all indicate that she is responsible for her own fate. Connie’s family life plays a large role in making her a very independent and self-reliant person. She wants to present herself as a mature attractive individual, and her family structure sets her up with the opportunity to do as she sees fit. In making the choice to…
Arnold Friend is the main character in the story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” who shares fairly the same amount of common characteristics as the main character in the story “The Pied Piper of Tucson” known as Smitty. Arnold tries to trick Connie to go for a ride in his car by sweet-talking to her and impressing her by his charm. Once Connie refuses Arnold results to harassing her and threatening her family if she doesn’t go with him. Smitty uses the same tactics when it came to…