Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Interpretation of Where Are You Going, Where Have You...

Joyce Carol Oatess â€Å"Where are you going, Where have you been?† tells the story of a young girls journey to find her own identity. Along the way she uses her beauty and sexuality to create, in her mind, a feeling of maturity which ultimately becomes her downfall. She believes that by spending her summer days in the mall, dressing in a way that is different than what she would wear at home, and flirting with older boys, while finding pleasure in ignoring boys she knows, she is being her own person and is creating her own identity—one that is different from that of her mothers or sisters. It is not until the end of the story, when Arnold Friend comes into her house, that she begins to realize what is truly important. The title of the†¦show more content†¦As someone who was very pretty in her own youth, but then had to grow up, she knew that beauty fades and it is not what is truly important in life. It seems as though the mother wants Connie to understand that as well, but does not know how to convey her message and so it comes out in other ways. â€Å" Stop gawking at yourself. Who are you? You think youre so pretty?[...] Why dont you keep your room clean like your sister? Howve you got your hair fixed—what the hell stinks? Hair spray? You dont see your sister using that junk.† (Oates) She always compared Connie to her sister, June. June is described as â€Å" twenty-four and still lived at home[...] she was so plain and chunky and steady that Connie had to hear her praised all the time by her mother and her mothers sisters. June did this, June did that, she saved money and helped clean the house and cooked and Connie couldnt do a thing, her mind was all filled with trashy daydreams.†(Oates) The two sisters got along with each other on some days, but mostly they seemed to resent each other. Even when her mother compared the two of them, Connie believed that â€Å" her mother preferred her to June just bec ause she was prettier† (Oates) While there was not any indication that his was true, the way that Connies motherShow MoreRelated Joyce Carol Oates Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?1539 Words   |  7 PagesJoyce Carol Oates Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Joyce Carol Oates was born in 1938 in Lockport, New York. She started writing very young and that the age of fifteen she submitted her first novel, but it was rejected for being too dark;. This style of writing is common on many of her works including Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?; Oates graduated from Syracuse University and then went on to get her masters degree from the University of Wisconsin. Oates turnedRead MoreWho Is Arnold Friend?1591 Words   |  7 PagesWho is Arnold Friend? Joyce Carol Oates was born June 16, 1938 in Lockport New York. At a young age Oates started writing. Scenes from her early environment are frequently used as settings in her stories. In her elementary years she wrote stories and â€Å"constructed 200 page books, which she designed and bound herself† (Helterman and Layman 371). The lack of information provided about her early years and her making large books at a young age is a good indication that she was an outcast and had a troubledRead More An Analysis of Joyce Carol Oates’ Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been1902 Words   |  8 PagesAn Analysis of Joyce Carol Oates’ Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been Joyce Carol Oates is one of the most productive writers of our time. Between 1971-95, Oates published twenty-five novels, eighteen short story compilations, three collections of novellas, five volumes of poetry, six editions of plays, eight books of essays, and countless more umcollected works (Kellman 487). As the format for her writing varies, so does her subject matter. Her creations cover a wide range of genresRead MoreSmooth Talk Essay1096 Words   |  5 PagesGiving Justice to the Original: Smooth Talk and Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Ideas for the story lines of many motion pictures get their inspiration from other works of writing often. Books are usually a main source of inspiration for movies, for instance, the movie Smooth Talk was based off of Joyce Carol Oates’ short story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?. Most of the time however, you hear that the movie did not give justice to the book. Smooth Talk is an exceptionRead MoreWhere are you Going? Where Have you Been? by Joyce Carol Oates1100 Words   |  5 PagesWhere Are You Going, Where have you been? is a short story written by Joyce Carol Oates. The 75 year old American author and professor at Princeton University, introduce the story of 15 year old Connie who is rebelling against her mother’s whishes. A very arrogant and selfish girl that in her world the only thing that matters is how many heads she can turn when walking into a room. Through the story life gives her a test, to confront Arnold Friend, the antagonist of the sto ry; who possesses a nefariousRead MoreWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been By Joyce Carol Oates990 Words   |  4 PagesSocial Reality: An Analysis of â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been† by Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates has kept her true inspiration behind â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been† in order to create a willing suspension of disbelief between realism and fantasy. The short story by Oates was released soon after the newspaper published the murders committed by Charles Schmid Jr. in 1966. The story displays numerous resembling details that match the real-life murder case involving â€Å"TheRead MoreWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been?723 Words   |  3 PagesPsycho, Demon, Dreams, Oh My! â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?† by Joyce Carol Oates is a short story about a 15-year old girl named Connie that falls in the trap of Arnold Friend. There are many interpretations to this short story, and many arguments have fought back and forth to find out the true inside meaning to find out what the reason was for Joyce Carol Oates to write this story. There are hundreds of analyses for this story out there, but I am going to just be talking about three;Read MoreComparison of Smooth Talk to â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?†1028 Words   |  5 PagesComparison of Smooth Talk to â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?† Joyce Carol Oakes’s short story, â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?† was written in 1966 and twenty years later was made into a movie entitled Smooth Talk, winner of the 1985 U.S. Film Festival for best dramatic picture. The writing by Oates is loosely based on a true story described as â€Å"the tale of Charles Schmid, a twenty-three-year-old who cruises teenage hangouts, picking up girls for rides in his gold convertible†Read MoreVerbal Irony In Harry Potter1711 Words   |  7 Pagesaudience’s interpretations of events and dialogue, enticing the audience with its consequential suspense and humor. Authors create situations where the audience know more about events and what caused them, creating a different significance to the reader than it has to other characters and the story. Lastly, verbal irony is when speaker says something contradictory to their underlying emotions and actions. All of these are evident in Joyce Carol Oates’ wri ting. In the famous â€Å"Where Are You Going, WhereRead MoreArnold as the Devil in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?513 Words   |  3 PagesInterpretation of Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? The story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates is about a fifteen year old girl named Connie who has a strange encounter with a man named Arnold Friend. I agree with Joyce M. Wegs interpretation of the story, that Arnold is symbolic of Satan. Connie first encounters Arnold in a parking lot while she is out with her friends, but she does not yet know who he is. She notices him standing near his car, a gold

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