Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
Coming of age themes in literature
Coming of age story essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Connie´s Coming of Age
1245 Words3 Pages
M K Cantrell
D. Hicks
English 1102
6 November 2013
Connie’s Coming of Age
In her famous short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” Joyce Carol Oates shows the transition from childhood to adulthood through her character Connie. Each person experiences this transition in their own way and time. For some it is leaving home for the first time to go to college, for others it might be having to step up to a leadership position. No matter what, this transition affects everyone; it just happens to everyone differently. Oates describes Connie's unfortunate coming of age in a much more violent and unexpected way than the typical coming of age story for a fifteen year old girl.
Connie has the need to be viewed as older and as more mature than she really is, all the while still displaying childlike behavior. She shows this childlike behavior by “craning her neck to glance in mirrors [and] checking other people’s faces to make sure her own was all right” (Oates 323). This shows that Connie is very insecure and needs other people’s approval. Although on one side she is very childish, on the other side she has a strong desire to be treated like an adult. This longing for adulthood is part of her coming of age, and is demonstrated by her going out to “bright-lit, fly-infested restaurant[s]” and meeting boys, staying out with those boys for three hours at a time, and lying to her parents about where she has been and who she has been with (Oates 325, 326). “Everything about her ha[s] two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home” (Oates 324). Even her physical movements represent her two-sided nature: “her walk that could be childlike and bobbing, or languid enough to make anyone think she was hearin...
... middle of paper ...
... a Satyr in Oates.’ ‘Where Are You Going; Where Have You Been?’” Studies in Short Fiction. Vol. 27 Issue 4 (Fall 1990): 537. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 November 2013.
Gillis, Christina “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”: Seduction, Space, and A Fictional Mode.” Studies in Short Fiction. Vol. 18 Issue 1, (Winter 1981): 65 Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 November 2013.
Cuizon, Gwendolyn. "Oate's Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been." Suite101.com. N.p., 4 Nov. 2013. Web. 06 Nov. 2013.
The Eternal Present in Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, Michele D. Theriot, Journal of Short Story in English, 48, (Spring 2007): 59-70. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 November 2013.
Oates, Joyce Carol. Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Backpack Literature. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, 2010. Print.
Related
Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown versus Oates' Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been
1590 Words | 4 PagesOates, Joyce Carol. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Celestial Timepiece. July 2007. U of San Francisco. 15 Mar. 2008.
Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask of Amontillado and Joy C. Oates' Where Are You Going Where Have You Been
935 Words | 2 PagesOates, Joyce C. "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been"" N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
Archetypes In Where Are You Going Where Have You Been
536 Words | 2 PagesIn “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, Oates wants to show a more intellectual and symbolic meaning in this short story. Oates has many symbolic archetypes throughout the short story along with an allegory. Oates uses these elements in her story by the selection of detail and word choice used. Oates does this because she wants to teach her audience a moral lesson.
Comparison Of 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'
981 Words | 2 PagesThis paper will compare and contrast the short story written by Joyce Carol Oates, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” and Joyce Chopra’s very popular film, Smooth Talk, which is based upon the short story.
Little Red Riding Hood by Bill Delaney
937 Words | 2 PagesOates, Joyce C. "Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?" Compact Literature. By Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. 8th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2013. 505-16. Print.
Comparing Where Are you going, Where Have You Been and Hills Like White Elephants
1329 Words | 3 PagesGale Kozikowski, Stan. " The Wishes and Dreams Our Hearts Make in Oates's 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'. " Journal of the Short Story in English. 33 (Autumn 1999): 89-103.
Behind the facade of a killer: Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates
982 Words | 2 PagesOates, Joyce Carol. "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" Exploring Literature: Writing and Arguing about Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. By Frank Madden. 5th ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2012. 436-48. Print.
Transition in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been
3642 Words | 8 PagesThe author begins her message with the title of her work, which conveys the idea of passages of time in life. The phrase "where are you going" suggests a time in the future, and the phrase "where have you been" evokes the past. Oates' message continues through the plot and characters. The basic elements of "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" are rooted in a true story of a 1965 crime. Occurring just a year before Oates' 1966 story was published, the "parallels between [th...
Death and Reality in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates
1268 Words | 3 PagesJoyce Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" is about a young girl's struggle to escape reality while defying authority and portraying herself as a beauty queen; ultimately, she is forced back to reality when confronted by a man who symbolizes her demise. The young girl, Connie, is hell- bent on not becoming like her mother or sister. She feels she is above them because she is prettier. She wants to live in a "dream world" where she listens to music all day and lives with Prince Charming. She does not encounter Prince Charming but is visited by someone, Arnold Friend, who embodies the soul of something evil. Arnold Friend symbolizes "Death" in that he is going to take Connie away from the world she once knew. Even if she is not dead, she will never be the same person again, and will be dead in spirit. With the incorporation of irony, Oates illustrates how Connie's self-infatuation, her sole reason for living, is the reason she is faced with such a terrible situation possibly ending her life.
Reader Response Essay - Joyce Carol Oates's Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
755 Words | 2 PagesReader Response Essay - Joyce Carol Oates's Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been by Oates
1237 Words | 3 PagesOates, Joyce Carol. Where are You Going, Where Have You Been? N.p.: Epoch, 1966. N. pag. Print.
Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
1099 Words | 3 PagesOates, Joyce Carol. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”. Backpack Literature. An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X.J. Kennedy & Dana Gioia. 4th ed. New Jersey: Pearson, 2006. (323-336). Print.
Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Analysis
881 Words | 2 PagesWhen approached by Arnold Friend at first, she was skeptical but was still charmed by him. As she began to feel uneasy, Connie could have used her intuition to realize that he was trouble. Once she had been engaged by Arnold, her life was over. The influences on Connie and her lack of instilled reasoning led to her down fall. Her family’s fragmented nature was echoed in her actions; consequently, she was unable to communicate with her parents, and she was never was able to learn anything of significance. She felt abandoned and rejected, because no one took the initiative to teach her how to make good decisions. Connie was unable to mature until she was faced with death and self sacrifice. In the end, her situation made it difficult for her to think and reason beyond the position she was in. By not being able apply insight, she fell into Arnold Friends lure. Misguidance by the parents strongly contributed to Connie’s
Joyce Carol Oates's Arnold Friend Is Definitely A Friend?
1255 Words | 3 PagesKozikowski, Stan. "The Wishes and Dreams Our Hearts Make in Oates's 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'." Short Story Criticism, edited by Joseph Palmisano, vol. 70, Gale, 2004. Literature Resource Center, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GLS&sw=w&u=avl_madi&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CH1420056819&asid=22c8b2317a25bc24bae39d92a1b7b8ed. Accessed 30 Oct. 2017. Originally published in Journal of the Short Story in English, no. 33, Autumn 1999, pp.
Arnold Friend Analysis
984 Words | 2 PagesThe short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is told through the protagonist Connie around the events of her loss of innocence through the demonic figure, Arnold Friend. The story is created surrounding true events of a murder of a young girl through the creative style and syntax of Joyce Carol Oates. Connie is caught in the sights of Arnold Friend and withstands mental and physical obstacles until her innocence is
More about Connie´s Coming of Age
Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown versus Oates' Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been
1590 Words | 4 PagesEdgar Allan Poe's The Cask of Amontillado and Joy C. Oates' Where Are You Going Where Have You Been
935 Words | 2 PagesArchetypes In Where Are You Going Where Have You Been
536 Words | 2 PagesComparison Of 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'
981 Words | 2 PagesLittle Red Riding Hood by Bill Delaney
937 Words | 2 PagesComparing Where Are you going, Where Have You Been and Hills Like White Elephants
1329 Words | 3 PagesBehind the facade of a killer: Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates
982 Words | 2 PagesTransition in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been
3642 Words | 8 PagesDeath and Reality in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates
1268 Words | 3 PagesReader Response Essay - Joyce Carol Oates's Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
755 Words | 2 PagesWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been by Oates
1237 Words | 3 PagesWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
1099 Words | 3 PagesWhere Are You Going Where Have You Been Analysis
881 Words | 2 PagesJoyce Carol Oates's Arnold Friend Is Definitely A Friend?
1255 Words | 3 PagesArnold Friend Analysis
984 Words | 2 Pages