Joyce Carol Oates

eerie short story written by Joyce Carol Oates. The story, published in the fall 1966 edition of Epoch Magazine generated a big buzz (Ptalzgraf 221). Oates dedicated the story to Bob Dylan because she was inspired to write it after listening to his song “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”(“Where”Shmoop). She was also inspired by the gruesome serial killer Charles Schmid. Joyce Carol Oates most famous short story is “Where Are you Going, Where Have You Been.” Joyce Carol Oates was born on June, 16…

The short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” written by Joyce Carol Oates takes place in America during the 1960’s. The story is about a young feeble minded girl named Connie and her encounter with Arnold Friend someone who exploits women. Connie is a very flamboyant person and it gets her in a heap of trouble. Arnold Friend drives to Connie’s house while her parents aren’t there and the reader is led to believe that he rapes her. The story is an important book to read because it…

the story is the effect of the internal conflict. Connie does not know who she is, therefore, is left to make a difficult decision that will affect both Connie and her family's life. Joyce Carol Oates displays how the internal struggle of self-discovery and family dysfunction leads to great dangers. Joyce Carol Oates demonstrates this through the plot and characters of the story. To begin, Connie's internal conflict starts with members of her own family. The largest conflict she faces in her…

In Joyce Carol Oates’ story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, and Flannery O’Connor’s story “A Good Man Is Hard To Find,” there is a common theme of manipulation. Because of this Connie and The Misfit have some profound discoveries and have their own traumatic experiences. Connie suffers from sexual, mental, and emotional abuse from Arnold Friend because of his lack of a mediator on his desires and his manipulation. Comparatively, The Misfit’s beliefs change completely because of the…

When i was twelve years old, me and my friends went to knots for a field trip. When i got to knots i was so scared to get on rides that i walked around the park for about 2 hours looking for a ride that would not scare me, but instead of me finding a ride which was not scary i went on a ride my friends told me to go on. When i was in the line i got so scared that i ran out the line and i got a stomach ache and i called my brother to pick me up. It started as a fun and interesting day with my…

“A Good Man Is Hard To Find” by Flannery O’Connor and “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates are two short stories with tragic endings. These stories can be considered murder mysteries. However, they are not the average “who killed this person?” stories, they are more mysterious due to the killers themselves. The killer in “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” is named The Misfit and the creepier abductor and assumed murderer in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Arnold…

The Symbolism of Music in Joyce Carol Oates’s "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates introduces a fifteen-year-old rebellious teenage girl fixated on getting male attention. Unfortunately, this all leads up to a man in disguise, named Arnold Friend, exploiting Connie. However, as the story progresses, the reader begins to notice evidence of the influence music has on Connie’s ideas of romance and love. It is evident that the…

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…

Every horror story has the same basic outline, the antagonist pursues a certain goal or target while the protagonist turns into the damsel in distress. In the short story “Where Are You Going,Where Have You Been,” Joyce Carol Oates expertly executes the aspects of the horror genre by adding fairy-tale aspects like Cinderella and Red Riding Hood to characters and atmosphere; giving the tale an eerie feeling. Throughout the story, the actions that Connie takes against Arnold portrays the damsel…

Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” begins as a benign and familiar tale of a misunderstood teenager: the protagonist, fifteen year old Connie, rebelliously expresses her sexuality, as she painstakingly feints the hindrance devised by mother. Connie as perceived by mother suffers from an overindulgence of one’s appearance – “excessive gawking at one’s self, excessive hair spray, excessive day dreaming”. Though, in all honesty, Connie exhibits the traits of most, if…