From the opening lines of, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” By Joyce Carol Oates, readers are immediately introduced to the character, as well as indicating the story is being told by a third person narrator. The use of a third person narrator lets readers know what connie is thinking allowing them to identify with her on a more personal level. The beginning of the story is also introduced in past tense. This could foreshadow the fact that something bad might have happened to connie, also suggesting the theme of violence. One could also argue the authors reason behind the opening line “ Her name was Connie ”(Oates 452), is because it reflects Connie's own desires to be at the center of the story due to the fact that she is constantly
2. The Connie’s character, in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” is a fifteen year old, naïve girl. She has two sides to her personality, “everything about her had two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home” (1). At home she would act childlike and away from home she would act older, making her sexual appeal stand out. Like most teenagers, Connie didn’t get along with her family and is in constant battle with her family.
Finally, Oates uses irony when Connie tells Arnold that he is "crazy"(72) and he responds by saying that she is the one who is "crazy"(72). This is ironic because it is clear to the reader that Arnold is the one who is truly unstable. Overall, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" is a work of fiction that employs several different rhetorical devices to create a haunting
Both Judy and Connie are described as beautiful, sweet and charming. In both the stories they are drooled upon by many men. In the beginning of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Connie is approached by a boy that goes to her high school and being the rude person that she is, she ignores him. She even states that she feels good about ignoring him.
In the story “Where are you Going, Where Have you Been,” symbolism is one of the main literary elements used to reveal the ugly in the word. As Connie is an innocent child, she does not recognize all of the dangers that are in the world. There are points in the story where Connie does not comprehend the threats that are all around her. “Connie said she would meet her at eleven, across the way.
People desires can vary from person to person. Some want power, other want to find the love of their lives. However getting what want is difficult some never fully receive their deepest longings to meet themselves fell complete. Some desires have consequences, they can be small, however, others have terrible ramifications. In the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” written by Joyce Carol Oates is about the main character Connie and her life.
If you are old enough to remember, you can think back to the memories of when you are a kid and understand the memories as a child are the best memories that you have in your life; yet eventually you mature into ann adult. Like the book, Catcher in the Rye, the short story Where Are You Going Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oats is about Connie, an adolescent girl, wanting to stay in her child-like life and not mature into a adult. Fortunately, Connie has some help coming into the adult world with the manifestation of a person named Arnold Friend and Ellie.
The short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” was written by the author Joyce Carol Oates in 1966. Oates describes her idea for the story after briefly reading an article about the real-life murderer, Charles Schmid, who lured and murdered three teenage girls (Kirszner & Mandell 523). She uses this idea to create the character, Arnold Friend, and his victim, Connie. Connie is a typical teenage girl portrayed as naïve and self-centered. The short story appears realistic, given that the conflict in the story is based off of real events.
In her short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?", Joyce Carol Oates utilizes a variety of literary devices to strengthen the story in its entirety. This short story is essentially about a 16-year-old girl named Connie and the conflict between her desire to be mature and her desire to remain an adolescent. Throughout the story, the audience sees this conflict through her words in addition to through her behavior. The audience is also introduced to Arnold Friend, a rather peculiar man, who essentially kidnaps her. This short story by Joyce Carol Oates functions and is additionally meaningful because of her usage of literary devices.
The short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates is about a teenage girl named Connie who is in the mist of her adolescent rebellion. She wants to prove her maturity to others and herself. In the story, Oates describes that Connie always lets her mind flow freely in between her daydream. She even creates and keeps dreaming about her ideal male figure in her mind to make her happy and satisfied. Oates allows the reader to step into Connie’s “dream world” through the appearance of Arnold Friend.
In Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, Connie is a fifteen-year-old girl, who does not necessarily get along with her family. During the week, she often times goes to a shopping plaza with some of her friends. However, they sneak across the highway to go to a popular diner where the older crowd hangs out at. At home, Connie is often times arguing with her family. One day her family is invited to her aunt's barbecue but Connie refuses to go.
“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” is about a teenager named Connie who is trying to come to terms with her transformation from childhood to adulthood. Through this process, Connie attempts to act older than she is an tries to gain the attention of boys. In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” Joyce Oates portrays Connie as obsessed with men to symbolize how one’s obsession and narcissistic attitude can cause danger to seem surreal. In the short story, Carol Oates describes Connie as having two different personalities, one being a narcissistic attitude.
Smooth Talk is slightly based on Joyce Carol Oates’ story titled “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” but isn’t as straightforward and frankly gruesome. The story focuses on the 1960’s suburbia from a teenagers perspective. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” focuses on topics relevant in the 1960’s including the Sexual Revolution. Oates’ focuses on major issues and topics such as feminism, sexual freedom, and adolescent sexuality.
Connie: The Victim To A Demon The “heroine” of the short story Where Are You Going Where Have You Been written by Joyce Carol Oates has been interpreted in many different ways by many different authors across the globe. They all have their own opinions on why Connie had left her home and walked into the arms of Arnold Friend. Larry Rain makes the argument that Connie was a noble heroine that “chooses the side with the devil [to save her family]” (Rain Gale).
The exposition of a story marks its beginning and introduces the reader to the narrative (Norton 89). Baldwin begins his story by introducing us to the narrator, who is learning of Sonny's arrest after being caught up in a heroin bust. On the other hand, the exposition of "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" introduces us to Connie, the main character. She is a self-absorbed fifteen-year-old girl that is obsessed with her beauty.
Where Are You Going Rudyard Kipling once said that “[if] history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” Many authors leave an impressive impact on the world through their works of fiction, but when an author can craft a fiction story that contains truth, it is a work of genius. This method allows people to retain the knowledge easier, and allows the impact to be lasting. This is just what Joyce Carol Oates did in her short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by using parallelism, allegories, and symbolism. Joyce lived a modest life with her parents and two siblings in Lockport New York.