Preview

Analysis Of Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
186 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Analysis Of Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?,” by Joyce Carol Oates, Connie, like most teens, needs support as she starts on an internal, precarious journey towards maturity. Traditionally, culture plays a major role in offering guidelines for an adolescent’s journey of solitude and personal identity. An example of these guidelines are fairytales and folklores. Fairytales are read or told to children to provide a moral understanding of good and evil by using symbolic images and happy endings. Oates frequently portrays characters and situations that resemble the themes of different fairytales throughout her short story. She merges into her story the themes of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, Little Red Riding Hood, and Cinderella. Connie is at the
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Themes In Joyce Carol Oates Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
    • 137 Words
    • 1 Page

    Themes In Joyce Carol Oates Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

    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
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Are You Going, Where Have You Been? By Joyce Carol Oates: Summary
    • 1152 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Are You Going, Where Have You Been? By Joyce Carol Oates: Summary

    “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
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Arnold Friend In Joyce Carol Oates 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been'
    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Arnold Friend In Joyce Carol Oates 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been'

    In Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” Arnold Friend, a conniving antagonist, charms a naive teenager named Connie into believing he will rescue her from her inattentive family. However, at the story’s climax, Connie fears for her life yet cannot resist Arnold’s temptations. Although details of Friend’s appearance, speech, and actions should warn Connie of his evil intentions, through Oates’s portrayal of Friend as a devil-figure, Connie is easily “conned” foreshadowing her deadly fall. Many times throughout the story, Arnold reveals supernatural qualities that he possesses, foreshadowing the spell that Connie is put under and cannot break.…

    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analysis Of 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'
    • 220 Words
    • 1 Page

    Analysis Of 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'

    There is a significant importance in using this an ironic tragedy within the story. Many times in youth culture, the youth may be the recipients or perpetrators of naive and ignorant mindsets that lead to grim and probable realities. In A Good Man is Hard to Find, the younger characters of the novels would be the one to downplay the severity of The Misfits and the fact that he was near, generating the most irony out of any of the texts analyzed. In The Virgin Suicides¸ the sisters would be the recipients of punishment by their mother, and their mother had simply not understood how much damage and turmoil she caused. In Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?, the ignorance of Connie and her naive nature would be the source of the tragedy…

    • 220 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Summary Of Where Are You Going Where Have You Been
    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages

    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,…

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Clear Paths To The Past Analysis
    • 232 Words
    • 1 Page

    Clear Paths To The Past Analysis

    Putting your best into what you do, and being proud of it, makes your work much more valuable. In these passages, being proud of your work is demonstrated.…

    • 232 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Character Analysis Essay
    • 913 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Character Analysis Essay

    This is a horrifying and haunting story that shows a girl who resulted in an awful situation. She rejects the role of being a daughter, sister, and a nice girl to refine her sexual personality. She has an obsession with her looks, loves to hang out with her friends and flirts with boys older than her. This award directly goes to Connie which is the main character of the book called, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol. Connie is a very attractive, inconsistent, and disobedient person.…

    • 913 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Rhetorical Analysis
    • 507 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Rhetorical Analysis

    “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
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Short Story Analysis
    • 675 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Short Story Analysis

    Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? (WAYG, WHYB)” shows readers that romantic and superficial ideas can lead to tragic consequences. In the short story, Oates uses the plot and symbolism to demonstrate the story’s perspective on fantasy love.…

    • 675 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Analysis
    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Analysis

    Time passes by in seconds, minutes, and hours. Calendar tears by days months, and years, but something that will stay with us forever is a good parenting responsibilities that we encounter in every family whether they are rich or poor. Good Parenting is the main moral essence of each and every parent’s life because that same essence will pass on through their children as they become parents. This story is about “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is perfect example of a middle class typical family living in small home written in 1970 dedicated To Bob Dylan.…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Walking The Path Between Worlds Analysis
    • 442 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Walking The Path Between Worlds Analysis

    I doubt a life without expectations would be very inspiring, joyful, or satisfying. What if parents never bothered to cultivate character and disposition, never pointed out potential and talent? What if teachers did not care enough to bother critiquing work and giving feedback on ways to improve? What if friends are apathetic and not inclined to step in if one settles in a self-destructive train of thought? Yes, some might be quite overbearing, disillusion, or self-centered with their opinions, but that leads to our part in expectations. Part of living is defining our expectations and aspirations; and part of living in a community is to be objectively considerate of others' thoughts, look at how they fit with our own, and choose to appreciate their advice or respectfully set aside the input. I cherish it when people care enough to will my good – to love, as Pope John-Paul II defines it.…

    • 442 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Life Journey as Gendered Rites of Passage ----the Use of Journey and the Socializing Nature of Children’s Literature
    • 2603 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Life Journey as Gendered Rites of Passage ----the Use of Journey and the Socializing Nature of Children’s Literature

    The plot structure of children’s literature constructed in form of a journey represents the process in which children gain knowledge of the world through exploration, transforms from innocent children to experienced adult. Readers of children’s literature go through rites of passage from childhood to adulthood by identifying themselves with the transformed characters, turning the experience of reading about the journey into a process of socialization. This is manifest in children’s literature’s differentiating approach to depicting male and female protagonists’ journey and its gendered socializing effects on readers. In this essay, by analyzing two of Grimm Brothers’ well-known fairy tales—Little Red Cap and Iron John through compare and contrast, I will demonstrate how life journey gone through by the two protagonists serves as rites of passage for both themselves and the readers, and how the socializing function of children’s literature is illustrated by gendered depiction of their life journey. This essay is divided into two parts. In the first part, I will apply Arnold Van Gennep’s famous theory of rites of passage in analyzing three stages on the journey of growth that the two protagonists go through, and connect it with the nature of children’s literature. In the latter part, I will contrast the journey of the male and female protagonists and show how the gendered journey as rites of passage reinforces gender stereotype and reveal children’s literature as a form of ideological imposition.…

    • 2603 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Comparison Of Little Red Riding Hood
    • 826 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Comparison Of Little Red Riding Hood

    Fairy tales are universal stories and were often told to send messages, especially to children. The purpose of these stories is to instil moral values into children in an entertaining way. The stories “Little Red Riding Hood by Charles Perrault” and “Little Red Cap” by the Brothers Grimm tell the same fairy tale to convey similar messages of young girls listening to their elders and not trusting all strangers. This is done through fairly tale conventions like plot structure, icons, themes of innocence, and gender roles.…

    • 826 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    The Wizard of Oz as a Fairy Tale
    • 1568 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Wizard of Oz as a Fairy Tale

    For hundreds of years, parents have been enthralling children with stories of magic and wishes coming true. Fairy tales are passed from one generation to the next through oral tradition, and, in modern times, books. As various societies develop, fairy tales are changed to fit the needs and morals those societies want to impress upon their children. Thus, the style and content of a fairy tale is directly affected by the social attitudes of a particular society at a particular time. Jack Zipes adopts and assumes the magical folktale is the oral version and the fairytale the literary version of a tale when he describes the rise of “the fairytale in the Western world as the mass-mediated cultural form of the folktale” (Zipes 15). Fairy tales include common themes, motifs, story lines, and characters that aid in the protagonist’s working towards a common goal. In the first chapter of his book, Swiss scholar Max Lüthi identifies fourteen characteristics that are vital to the unique classification of a fairy tales as demarcated from other forms of children’s literture. With the help of these distinctive structural and stylistic features, Frank L. Baum’s novel, “The Wizard of Oz” can be classified within the boundaries of the fairy tale.…

    • 1568 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Cinderella
    • 1540 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Cinderella

    Throughout the history of literature, the tale of Cinderella has always been portrayed as a fairy tale that ends with happily ever after. However, to some writers the tale of Cinderella isn’t so simple and sweet. Roald Dahl, British novelist and poet, tells the tale of Cinderella in a more gory and dark way. He views the story in a light different than what most poets and writers see, and ultimately the fairy tale takes a trip down a path that most people aren’t used to. Anne Sexton, an American poet, also adds her own little twist to the Cinderella story that we all love and know. With her violent and bloody descriptions, Sexton focuses on the common theme of happily ever after but views the fairy tale from a realistic perspective. The Brothers Grimm version of Cinderella also brings the realistic aspect of a happily ever after to light. This story resembles a lot like Sexton’s and both exploit the popular theme. Each version of the famous fairy tale Cinderella all have one thing in common. All three abandon the innocent story of Cinderella, but the focus on the common theme of a happily ever after still remains present. However, in each of these stories the theme of a happily ever after is portrayed realistically, exploiting the thought of a fairy tale relationship being possible in the real world.…

    • 1540 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More

Related Topics