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An Analysis Of Joyce Carol Oates 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been'

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Why do individuals do certain things; one may not understand the consequences of an action, or realize that it has a positive or negative effect on the present and future of their lives. The cause of an action can tell why it has a specific effect. For instance, a short story by Joyce Carol Oates titled, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” is very interesting and allows you to make inferences based on the information given. One can evaluate from the material given the causes and effects of certain situations. This story is about a teenage girl named Connie, who replaces the traditional family values with her own because of how the music of that time period influenced her. This change weakens the relationship between her, her parents, …show more content…

Connie is affected by the music of her time period and this causes her decisions to be effected.
To have a strong relationship with family members or anyone in general one must spend time with the person. Allowing oneself to have time with another person helps one learn about the person and understand a person to a higher level. Connie sees her family as being boring, helpless, and annoying. She values her friends more than her family because she believes she can relate to her friends more than her parents or sister. For example, “She and that girl and occasionally another girl went out several times a week, and the rest of the time Connie spent around the house”, (Paragraph ,10). This line from the text tells how Connie spends more time with her friends instead of her family. The effect of Connie not spending time with her family makes her lose family values and the chance of connection that could be made with a family relationship. To continue, with her spending more time outside of the home, than in the home, she picks up values from her social life with her friends. Also, this makes her not want to follow her home values and follow the ones her friends have and the one she created for herself; she begins to

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