American shorty story author, Joyce Carol Oates, published
the frequently anthologized short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You
Been” in the fall of 1966, where it first appeared in Epoch Magazine. Inspired
after the Tucson, Arizona murders committed by Charles Schmidt, the story focuses
on a beautiful 15 year-old girl named Connie, who is in a rebellious phase. Frequently
going out with friends without her parent’s knowledge, Connie manages to
capture the attention of the dark and mysterious Arnold Friend. While her
parents and sister are away at a family barbecue Arnold Friend and his quiet,
almost invisible friend Ellie show up at Connie’s door where Arnold tries to
persuade Connie into going on a car ride with him and Ellie. After a series of refusals,
uncertainty and subtle threats, Connie finally breaks down and goes with Arnold
Friend and Ellie.
The
title, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” raises quite a few
expectations. Looking at the title of the story, I expect the title to be about
a teenager out partying with friends and arriving home late. As the teenager
arrives home, the parents hound him with the question “where have you been?” I
also expect maybe two couples got into a fight and while one person marches
off, the other person shouts at the beginning “where are you going?!” and when
the person who left comes back to be questioned “where have you been?” The
title is a clever way to get the audience to start already expecting all these
different ideas and theories before the reader even begins to read the story. The
title of the story creates this sense of curiosity that readers expect the
story to be about. Finally reading the story all the way through, my
expectations changed. My first expectation was half right, the teenager sneaking
out without telling her parents and my second expectation was shot down.
Before I continued further into my essay, I just wanted to make sure I was on the right track with my introduction and analysis.
I like how you talked about the title. Who do you feel the title is addressed to?
ReplyDeleteAlexis,
ReplyDeleteYour intro and summary are very clear. This sentence especially stands out: "After a series of refusals, uncertainty and subtle threats, Connie finally breaks down and goes with Arnold Friend and Ellie." You do a good job of implying a few things about the story's conflicts, but you might consider developing this idea further, naming the internal conflict that you indicate as well as the external between Connie and Arnold.
You make your choice of methodology clear early on - also good. A bit repetitive in the 2nd paragraph (too many "titles). You write, " Looking at the title of the story, I expect the title to be about a teenager out partying with friends and arriving home late." I think you mean you expect the STORY to about a teenager partying.
You also write, "The title is a clever way to get the audience to start already expecting all these different ideas and theories before the reader even begins to read the story. The title of the story creates this sense of curiosity that readers expect the story to be about." You get pretty wordy here; just pare down when you edit. I like your ideas about the phrases connotations (even using reader response, you may want to use the term, since you are quite literally talking about very popular connotations of these phrases). I THINK you're suggesting the title itself indicates a clear external conflict between two parties though the nature of that conflict isn't yet clear. The examples you offer suggest you think the title "signals" character conflict, so perhaps mention this.
Lastly, you drift into past tense here: "My first expectation was half right, the teenager sneaking out without telling her parents and my second expectation was shot down."
All said, you're off to a very good start, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of this.
I like how you went into the title about what this short story will be about. I did also take it as parents saying "where are you going?" before you leave the house. I also did find it as coming home late and them asking "where have you been?" However, I also did have some speculations as to if it meant that "where are you going? where have you been?" might have been about when she was alluded to going with arnold friend and coming back home late possibly?
ReplyDelete