Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been Essay

Hurst 1 Allison Hurst Professor Ben Mayo English Comp II 30 April 2011 Analysis of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates In 1966, Joyce Carol Oates published her short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”. Oates was inspired to write this story after reading about a serial killer that was referred to as “The Pied Piper of Tucson”. Oates was disturbed by the number of teenagers that this killer was able to persuade to help him and keep his secrets

Steinbeck, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, and “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin, each author provides insight into the complexity of human nature through the internal struggles faced by a main character within each story. In “The Chrysanthemums” Steinbeck paints Elisa in a way that displays her lack of feminine identity, highlighting her personal sexual views of herself and ¬¬the internal struggle it creates, then in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, Oates

The story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” could be a great book to read as a lesson for teens. In my opinion Connie learns a lesson, on how your personal appearances and attitude can be perceived differently to outsiders. She realizes that with acting older can mean being perceived as an experienced adult or as a child of youth who is craving the sexual attention from others. Even, if it’s unwanted, as in this story. Connie created this allusion of a guy trying to get her out the house

Innocence In the short story “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?” and the two poems “We Are Cool” and “When I Was One and Twenty” innocence was taken and naivetés, evilness, disobedience, and rule breaking play a role in these three works of literature. When breaking down the short story and poems, it is clear that each author included the influences that evil had on innocence and naiveté. It is also clear that these different works of literature all have the same naïve atmosphere. “Be

A Reflection from Joyce Carol Oates and Jason Derulo An eventful story by the name of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”, written by Joyce Carol Oats, was published in 1970. The story portrays a young fifteen year old girl, who may come across as egocentric and a bit careless. Her thoughtless mistake of always dressing too provocatively one day leads her into some trouble with older men. When the story ends, it makes me assume that she eventually gets violated and raped by these older men

Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?: The Realities of Imagination There are a lot of times in life when things turn out not to be what one originally thought it was. Tons of people come up with ideas in their head of how something is supposed to be or appears to be. They do this without sitting and taking the time to think about how something truly is which can create problems in the future. Sometimes people do come to realize the true side, but it may be too late. In Where Are You Going

Cure and Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? In the short story An Ounce of Cure the unnamed female protagonist, who is going to be referred to as “the girl”, struggles with her emotions as she gets the first taste of what having a significant other is like. After a devastating breakup with her two month old boyfriend, the girl becomes lost and numb in her own little world becoming severely depressed and not wanting to seek any outside help. She is from a small southern town where it is looked

“ Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is a short story by Joyce Carol Oates. In this short story, the setting took place in the 1960’s with a 15 year old girl named Connie. Connie is a teenager who is playing around with her friends and guys. Connie’s mother is rude to Connie, so Connie starts to acts up. When Connie starts to play around with guys, she meets a man named Arnold Friend. This story is important because it shows not to talk to strangers, listen to your parents, and call for help

In her short story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been, Joyce Carol Oates presents us with a well known maxim: children cannot wait to get older. Tired of her boring and powerless childhood, Connie, the main character, searches for cheap thrills she likens to adulthood. Thus, Connie’s surreal experience (Arnold Friend’s sudden and unwanted appearance in his car) represents a suppressed fear of the inevitable and unknown - growing up. Connie, a stereotypical fifteen year old girl, views her

thousands of years there have been many different writers, while being unique and talented in their own way. Joyce Carol Oates, the author of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”, is no exception. However, while writers may be talented and unique in their own way, the readers will have their own opinions about the stories. It is rare for a reader to read a story without having a critical outlook on a few of the stories elements. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” is a story that lacks