Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been Essay

looking through the keyhole. Yielding is opening the door and inviting him in,” evangelist Billy Sunday described. For a teenager who doesn’t know who he is yet, or where he wants to go, it is easier to choose the wrong path if nobody is there to teach him to avoid temptation. The story “Where are you going, Where have you been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, depicts Connie’s susceptibility to temptation as a teenager who does not receive enough attention from her parents, and who gets to experience…

In the story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” there is a girl named Connie that is always being compared to her sister by her mom. She is always being nagged by her mom to be more like her sister because she is a child that doesn’t really listen to her mom. Connie is also a girl who wants to grow up fast but without all the responsibilities. Connie does things like say she’s going to the mall but goes over to the local diner to hand out with boys and do things with them. There is one…

Obvious Success "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" is a short story written by Joyce Carol Oates. The story was about a 15-year-old girl named Connie who "knew that she was pretty and that was everything" Oates pg. 308. The story mostly focused on Connie's regular teenage life, but the story took a turn when Arnold Friend, a boy that Connie saw on a parking lot of a restaurant, appeared in front of Connie's house when she was alone. Arnold Friend was inviting Connie out for a ride,…

In the short story social and cultural values decline during the 1960s can be seen through, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates, which is narrating the fatal destiny of a fifteen-year-old girl. The story is unsettling and an incredibly formidable story of a young girl’s loss of innocence during a time of social change, unrest and turbulence. The story’s protagonist is Connie, a self-absorbed, yet beautiful fifteen-year-old girl, who is at odds with not only her…

uses characterization to convey that Connie had a terrible relationship with her family. Connie's mother always puts her down ("Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?). The author seems to be suggesting that Connie's mother likes her sister more. "Why don't you keep your room clean like your sister? How've you got your hair fixed-What the hell stinks? Hairspray? You don't see your sister using this junk" (Oates) Connie's mother loved comparing her to her sister. Connie's mother thought Connie…

Where are you going where have you been? Could they be any more different? I thought mothers and daughters were supposed to like each other, or at least pretend that they do. Connie, a fifteen year old going through her rebellious adolescent years. She is a girl full of fantasies that will never happen and has a different mindset than her mother and sister. She believes that she is smarter, older and wiser than what she really is. Everything about her has two sides to it, the way she dressed…

fantasy that incorporates themselves and what they believe of what they want. However, sometimes what they believe they want is much more complicated and darker. The same concept is exhibit as the main theme in, Joyce Carol Oates 's “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” The main character is a fifteen-year-old girl name, Connie. Who is trying to identify herself as an adult with her newfound sex appeal and attitude? However, she confuses her reality over her daydream of boys. Once she…

individuals and actions that were considered either moral or immoral. The theme has since become famous in writing. In such writings, authors juxtapose two characters in the story to represent the two sides, good and evil. In the piece “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Oates the characters Connie and Arnold Friend are constructed to show the theme of good versus evil. Additionally, the characters develop with the story to show whether good or evil would win in the conflict. The…

"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates is a story about a teenage girl in the 1960's, named Connie, and her struggle to escape reality while simultaneously resisting authority and playing the role of beauty queen. Connie wants nothing less than to be like her mother or sister. She thinks that because she is prettier than them that she is above them. Connie's fascination with her beauty and her inability to distinguish reality from fantasy ultimately lead to her own…

Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Connie a fifteen-year-old girl, is preoccupied with her appearance. Her mother desires her beauty, as one day she was young and beautiful too. Connie’s mother urges her to be neat and responsible like her older sister, June. June who is twenty-four works as a secretary at Connie’s high school. She saves money, helps their parents with cleaning, not to mention her maturity, whereas Connie spends her time daydreaming. June was good for one particular…