Preview

Summary Of Where Are You Going Where Have You Been

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
540 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Summary Of Where Are You Going Where Have You Been
Lurvin Magana-Calles
Heidi Kozlowski
English 1B
September 28, 2014
Where Are you Going, Where HaveYou Been? Analysis “Where Are you Going, Where Have You Been? Is a short story by Joyce Carol Oates about a fifteen year old girl’s that lives a dual life for self-importance, an unforgiving desire for irresponsibility, yet doubtfulness to leave the security of family and the comfort ‘of sleeping on her bed again’ ( Oates 77) . Connie is a young girl that likes listening to music ‘that made everything so good” (Oates 66) and watching movies and also she spends a lot of time going out with friends and meeting boys, until she experiences been harassed and threatened by an older guy, leading her to go with him.
From the beginning of the story,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    In Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You been?” readers are introduced to a young female, Connie, who wants to do be herself. She wants to experience a lot of things and her experiencing got her in a stage where she cannot get out. Oates portray in the story that you should not want to be an adult before your time. Connie had not realize that she is not ready to be an adult because there is a lot of things that she do not understand yet. In Oates’ story she has several themes in which she uses them to get her point. Themes such as Connie’s search for independence, Connie’s fantasy, Connie’s freedom, Connie’s identity disclose that she wants to have her own way and not let others tell her what to…

    • 137 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    When I finished reading the story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? I couldn't believe the ending. The main character Connie is your average teenage girl, however, she is a little more conceited than others. In the story, the author describes that the setting is in the summer and that's why she is going out with her friends almost every other day. The author also gives a hint by foreshadowing the line "Gonna get you, baby," which shows what's going to happen in the near future. I think the theme of this story is that when Connie goes out with her friends, she is going through adulthood. For example, at the end of the story when she opens the door to go outside with Arnold, she is leaving her childhood and making a jump straight into…

    • 139 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    As I read the story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, I noticed that there are two stories taking place that would lead me to anticipate different future events. From the beginning of the story, the main character, Connie, shows to be a lazy, stylish girl who is trying, unlike her sister June, to be independent of family life in favor of breaking through sexual maturity and independence. Knowing about Connie’s desire to act as an adult made me believe that Connie will not refuse if Arnold asks her out because she flirted with boys many times and tried to explore her sexuality. When Arnold started seducing and threatening…

    • 269 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" is a short story written by Joyce Carol Oates. In this story, the main character Chonnie is a fifteen year old permiscuous young girl. Connie is also a very beautiful girl and grabs the attention of many boys. She especially grabs the attention of a boy she sees riding in a gold car that seems to be stalking her. Then one day her family leaves her alone and she notices the boy in the car comes to her house and she finds out that he seems to know everything about her. He demands that Connie come to him and in then th story ends as Connie walks out the house toward the mysterious boy. Connie is sexually active, scared, and deceitful.…

    • 578 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The two short stories “Where are you Going, Where Have You Been?” by Oates and “Castle Nowhere” by Woolson offer a strong basis for comparison and contrast in terms of canonical and non-canonical texts through characterization, genre/tone, setting, themes, and symbolism. While many of the obvious differences reside in concrete categories like setting, genre/tone, and characterization, there are alluring similarities in theme and symbolism that can allow the reader to conclude the canonization of “Where are you Going, Where Have You Been?” is due, in majority, purely to structural literary components.…

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is a short story written by Joyce Carol Oates. This popular short story made its debut in 1966. Dependent upon the interpreter, this short story may seem to be based upon many different themes, although my goal is to focus on analyzing the author’s use of stylistic devices such as a recognizable setting, and symbolism that Oates has effectively implemented in this story to convey the most important theme, which is maturity and coming of age. Oates uses many symbolic devices such as; words/thoughts, relationships amongst characters, and even objects to effectively symbolize Connie’s coming of age adventure.…

    • 1152 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Teenagers have always had it harder than the rest of the age groups. Whether it is the frustration of having old-fashioned parents or the annoyance of being too young to experience nearly everything, the minds of those under eighteen become a never-ending fantasy of being an adult. The seemingly carefree lifestyle of older kids seems to be impossible to wait on. 15-year-old Connie is no exception to this way of thinking. In a hurry to grow up, Connie, in Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”, naively executes the perfect role as an eager, under aged adolescent who lets her insecurities, dissatisfaction, and curiosities land her in irreversible danger.…

    • 594 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The short story, “Where Are You going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates explains how a young girl was struggling to find herself. Oates writes about a girl named Connie who was 16 years old and was lost in a world of fantasy. Connie had a split personality/image while at home and when she was out with her friends. Living in a world of fantasy, Connie would ignore her family by tuning them out and being distant. Connie would constantly be in front of the mirror admiring herself and seemed self-centered. Her mother always nagged at her and wanted her to be more like her sister June. June was the child that did everything right in her mother’s eyes; Connie was like the black sheep of the family. With these…

    • 1549 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Joyce Carol Oates creates an inquisitive plot that causes the reader to question events in the story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” She develops this story featuring a girl named Connie, who has an encounter with a boy at a restaurant that she doesn’t know. “He wagged a finger and laughed and said, “Gonna get you, baby,” and Connie turned away…” (Oates 210). Startled Connie only saw this boy once that night, but the story goes on, and a few days later he comes to her house where she learns that the boy’s name is “Arnold Friend.” She is unaware how the boy knows anything about her, where she lives, and the fact that he knows all about her family and friends. In the short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Joyce Carol Oates creates significant details that some readers might miss, revealing that Connie is actually having a nightmare where Arnold Friend is an imaginary character.…

    • 989 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Modern society has many standards that people follow and accept: shake hands when meeting someone, do not pick nose in public, and bathe on a regular basis. Norms are just a few of the many different social needs in the world today. Abnormalities throw people through a loophole, cause confusion amongst each other, and contrast uniformity. Psychopaths lead to the death of individuals that conform to the standard and have no remorse for the action. They disrupt the flow of progress and end the life of another with no penalty of law. Psychopaths work to change how society thinks as a norm, such as a psychopath in “Cask of Amontillado,” “The Lottery,” and “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been.”…

    • 744 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In the story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Oates, the audience explores the story of Connie, a normal teenage girl, who meets Arnold Friend, a seemingly harmless character at first, but we later come to find out that he has been stalking her and Arnold…

    • 1739 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates is a short story that brings many girl’s nightmares to life. The story is one about a young, naïve girl named Connie, and her deranged abductor, Arnold Friend. Oates uses the setting in Connie’s life to create a very realistic situation. Oates also uses descriptive language to create vivid images of the setting, charters, and the emotions Connie feels. By analyzing Connie’s home setting and the descriptive language Oates uses, we will be able to further understand how Connie’s thoughts and actions were effected by her setting.…

    • 507 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Music is one of the symbols mentioned in this story. The author mentions the music played in everywhere in the story. The author says that "The Music was always in the background". The music comes from restaurants, homes and cars. Music symbolizes the feeling and the emotions of the characters. For example, music for Connie is a pattern for romantic relationship. When she is happy, she hears music in everywhere. On the other hand, when she is sad, she couldn't hear the music at this distance. The music in this story provides a lot of component such as the effects of popular cultures, the romantic relationships, and the psychological manipulation.…

    • 521 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Everyone experiences transitions in their lives. Sometimes these changes are insignificant, like a change in schools. Sometimes these can be major life changing events, like the passage from childhood to adulthood. In Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, the author uses a borderline crime story to investigate a loss of innocence and the unknown future.…

    • 194 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The short story “Where are you going, Where have you been?,” by Joyce Carol Oates, is a tale about a teenage girl making the journey from her known world into something she has never experienced before. The main character lives the normal teenage life listening to the latest music and going out with her friends to the mall. “They must have been familiar sights, walking around the shopping plaza in their shorts and flat ballerina slippers that always scuffed the sidewalk” (753). One night with her friends changes her life forever. Someone that notices her at the restaurant would eventually become the person that makes her leave everything she knows and enter a world she has never seen before as “she watched herself push the door slowly open as if she were back safe somewhere in the other doorway” (764).…

    • 694 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays