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Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Summary

1426 Words6 Pages

Connie’s fate is the result of Karma The story Tittle is “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates. The story is about Connie she’s 15 years old who cares about her appearance a lot. Her mother always tell her to stop caring so much about her appearance and hanging out with friends. Connie mother always tells her that she should be responsible like her older sister, do well in school and should cares about her family. June the older sister of Connie, she is 24 years old and works at Connie high school she is very responsible and help her parents with money. While Connie is the opposite she only cares about herself and her appearance. One day Connie goes out with a boy named Eddie for dinner. After dinner they walked to the …show more content…

All the sudden a man smile at her and say “Gonna get you, baby” (1409). She looked away and Eddie didn’t even notice the man. Then she went home and totally forgot about it. One Sunday her family went for barbecue and left her alone at home. Connie stayed home and listen to the radio, and all the sudden she hears a car coming toward her house. A man knocked on the door, she looked from the window and realized that it was the man she saw at the parking lot. She opened the door and asked him what he want, he introduce himself as Arnold Friend and start talking to her. As they start talking he mention her name and she asked him how do you know my name he replies and say I know a lot about you. She asks him to leave because she was scared of him, he’s just a stranger that knows so much about her. He asked her to ride the car with him and when she said “NO” he start threatening her and say that he will hurt her family. She tried calling the police but she couldn’t. Then she gave up and had to ride the car with him because she had no

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“She was fifteen and she had a quick nervous giggling habit of craning her neck to glance into mirrors or checking other people’s faces to make sure her own was all right” (Oates, 259). Connie didn’t like being compared to her sister June by her mother and felt as if her mother only thought that she sat around all day daydreaming about boys. The only good thing that June did in Connie’s eyes was go out with her friends, which justified Connie being able to go out with hers. Connie would lie about going to the movie with her friend and they would end up going to hang out with older boys at restaurants and in allies until her friends dad would pick them up. One night Connie spent 3 hours with a boy she had met eating at a restaurant and then down an alley to hang out with

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Character Analysis Of Connie In 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been'

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Connie’s first encounter with Friend was at a diner when he stated to Connie, “Gonna get you, baby”(pg.1142). Because Connie was use to this type of attention, she did not view it as strange that an older man was calling her in such away. However, if Connie had seen Friend as dangerous instead of just another man, her kidnapping might have been prevented. Later in the story when Friend showed up as Connie’s house, she walked outside and talked to him instead of questioning how he knew where she lived or calling the police. Oates described Connie's interaction with Friend by stating,“Connie liked the way he was dressed, which was the way all of them dressed: tight faded jeans stuffed into black, scuffed boots, a belt that pulled his waist in and showed how lean he was, and a white pullover shirt that was a little soiled and showed the hard muscles of his arms and shoulders”(pg.1145).

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Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Psychological Manipulation Essay

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Connie’s parents are made up of a not so caring father and a judgmental mother: “Their father was away at work most of the time and when he came home he wanted supper and he read the newspaper at supper and after supper he went to bed. He didn't bother talking much to them, but around his bent head Connie's mother kept picking at her until Connie wished her mother was dead and she herself was dead and it was all over.” (Oates 1). Here the author explains the father's actions when he arrives home. Connie’s father does not pay attention to her nor her sister, June.

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Summary Of Where Are You Going Where Have You Been

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The story Where Are You Going, Where have you Been, is about a fifteen year old young lady named Connie. She was seen at home as a youthful adolescent who went around "ogling" at herself. When she was out with friends she attempted to keep up a full grown and hot personality. Her mother was extremely judgmental of her. Continually contrasting Connie with her more seasoned sister June, suggesting that she was less mindful than June.

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Analysis Of Carol Joyce Oates Where Are You Going Where Have You Been?

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Carol Joyce Oates’ “Where Are You Going Where Have You Been?” presents how falling into temptation leads to giving up control and innocence. Though her mother is unapproving of her actions, Connie spends her time seeking attention from male strangers. Home alone, Connie is approached by a compelling creature who convinces her to leave her life and join him on his unknown journey. Through disapproving her family, having multiple appearances, listening to music, and her desperation to receive attention from boys, Connie gives up control of herself losing the purity of adolescents and contributing to her detrimental fate. It is imperative that one should not be controlled because of a desire to impress others.

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Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Character Analysis Essay

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Connie's choice of life style and attitude shows her lack of morals. Connie constantly has conflicts with her family. She is beginning to break away from them. Because the mother is jealous, she likes to put Connie's self esteem down: " Stop gawking at yourself. Who are you?

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Symbolism In 'Where Are You Going Where Have You Been?'

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In the coming of age story “Where Are You Going Where Have You Been?” Joyce Carol Oates uses symbolism, conflict, and the third person to foreshadow fifteen-year-old Connie’s unfortunate, yet untimely fate. While one may think that the conflict stems from Connie’s promiscuity, it is clear to see her promiscuity is only a result to a much bigger conflict, her mother’s constant nagging and disapproval, alongside the lack of attention from her father. the author paints a vivid picture of what happens when a fifteen-year-old girl such as Connie goes elsewhere to find to find the love, attention, and approval that she lacks at home. All which is vital for her growth and wellbeing as a person.

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Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Arnold Friend Analysis

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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.

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Review Of Short Story 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'

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Leading Towards The End Of Her Life Would Connie had continued being stubborn and obsessed with herself if she knew what the consequences were going to be? In this story called “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” it involves a young teenage girl Name Connie who wants to act older and an old guy name Arnold Friend who is trying to seem young, to get Connie’s attention and ends up figuring out her information. The consequences that she gets put her life in danger and does not make it, to continue with her life. This story is about a 15-year-old girl who has a “habit of craning her neck to glance into mirrors” (p.176) and can’t stop looking at herself because she thinks that she is pretty. She has long blond hair that drew anyone’s attention and would wear charm jiggling bracelets (Oates, 177).

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Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been: Analysis

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A few nights before Connie and some friends had gone out to meet boys and Connie

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Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Analysis

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Joyce Carol Oates’s character Connie in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” discovers at a young age that even if one is not trying to draw attention to themselves, it can be given, and is not always a good thing to receive. Interpretations of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” vary depending on

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The Theme Of Ignorance In Joyce Carol Oates 'Where Are You Been?'

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That also made her become more vulnerable to the real dangers and the evilness that exists in the world. That danger was represented by an old man who pretends to be an eighteen year old boy that seduced and kidnaped Connie. The end of the story Joyce Carol Oates leaves it open to the readers, because that way it makes the reader think of what might have happened, whether she got raped or whether she is killed, after the main character leaves with the antagonist of the story. Oates shows that ignorance, narcissism and the lack of

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The short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates can be interpreted in a multitude of ways due to its ambiguity. A psychological lens, however, provides the most accurate viewpoint for analyzing the story as it clarifies certain obscure scenes and actions of Connie. One psychological issue of Connie that is easily inferred from the beginning of the story is her insecurity about her looks. Connie constantly worries about the way that she looks and takes any opportunity to do so, “craning her neck to glance into mirrors or checking other people's faces to make sure her own was all right” (1).

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Like most teenagers she is thinking only in the moment and what is going to please her. Basically Connie and her friend go to a restaurant and this creepy guy named Eddie came in to talk with them, obviously Connie isn’t thinking straight and she leaves the restaurant with this stranger Eddie. Leaving her friend behind. In the book she states “I just hate to leave her like that” (Oates, 391).

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BEST PARAGRAPH At the beginning of Oates story, Connie is viewed as a young girl with no cares in the world except for the idea of having physical beauty. Joyce Carol Oates wrote that Connie would “look right through her mother” because “she knew she was pretty and that was everything” (323). By including this, Connie is seen as a self-centered girl who only wants people to speak to her if she will make sure they drown her in compliments. She refuses to retaliate to her mother because her mother just doesn’t understand the “hardships” she has to go through to look attractive.

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