Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Literary Devices

Joyce Carol Oates created a short story called, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been to portray the power of logical, emotional, and ethical appeals over people. She helps illustrate these appeals by using the character Arnold's friend to try to lure a girl named Connie. Arnold’s friend helps portray the power of logical appeals by showing that he is someone to be trusted because he creates statements that promise that she will be safe with him. Connie is a very vain and self-centered girl searching for social acceptance. She uses her attractiveness to get the attention of all the boys which makes her feel mature and wanted, but in Arnold’s eyes, she makes for an easy target of manipulation. This meeting makes her realize that she is not

It shows her curiosity about the different sexual awakenings faced by women in the 1960s, and the influence she got from Bob Dylan's music. Foreshadowing is a literary device in which an author provides an advance hint of what may happen later in the story. This literary device can occur at the beginning of a tale allowing the reader to formulate their own expectations of future events. Carol Oates brings out the fantasy versus reality theme, where Connie is shown to try being a mature woman that has a range of experiences with men. However, her encounter with Arnold shows how she presents herself with clothing, general behaviors, and hairstyle is a poor performance (Oates 1). She listens to love songs and follows modern pop culture believing that she can command the attention of the boys with her style. She only draws herself closer to sexuality and becoming an adult. Characterization is brought out in Connie and Arnold. Connie is a naïve teenage girl who is conscious about her looks, making her an easy target for antagonists such as Arnold. Arnold is over twenty and is attracted to the weakness of Connie, which brings out the reality about him against Connie’s Fantasy (Oates 3) the literal device of symbolism is used in the short story wherein the walkaway to Eddie’s

In particular, Oates uses religious symbolism in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” to distinctly present the friction between illusion and reality. The protagonist views shopping malls and drive-in restaurants as religious places; thus, the author implies their church-like appearance. For example, Connie and her friends refer to the location as a “sacred building” (Oates 1). The fact that popular places are portrayed as religious symbols emphasizes the false display of their greatness. Girls find being there valuable, as a weekly church service that cannot be skipped, while, in reality, shopping malls are not designed to be as important to people. Therefore, the fake narrative that enforces the idea that popular culture is the most significant aspect of teenage life is represented through its grotesque religiosity. Additionally, the symbolism of youth revealed through the antagonist’s actions represents false assumptions about adolescence. For instance, Arnold’s wig and his fake tan create a false narrative of what being young is; on the contrary, Connie’s inexperience is a more accurate depiction. Overall, Oates’s symbols reinforce the message presented in the story that some life elements are not what they