...In the short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”- Written in 1966, as a tribute to Bob Dylan- Joyce Carol Oates, tells the story of a teenage girl Connie, and her struggles with discontent, vanity, and attachment. Despite some tensions with her parents Connie has a decent summer and goes to the town center with friends often. She loves to engage with pop-culture and the sweet sounds of the 1960’s. Despite being a highly courted young lady, Connie dreamt of the perfect boy, to capture her and breathe life into her seemingly lackluster life. A man named Arnold Friend sees Connie out one evening and proceeds to arrive at her door step, with an invitation to escape soon thereafter. After much persuasion, Connie decides to climb into Arnold’s car, despite some reservations about his age and character. Themes such as maturation, lust, and youth present interesting insight to the mind of a young girl of a time period in which women’s’ social...
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...Theme and Character of: “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Connie lives in a world dominated by Hollywood, popular music, shopping plazas, and fast-food stands. Connie is your typical teenager an, evenings spent with a boy, eating hamburgers, drinking Cokes, and making out in a dark alley are just perfect, “the way it was in the movies.” Like most teenagers Connie feels misunderstood by her parents, she is sure they do not appreciate the significance of her adolescent daydreams and activities. It's obvious to Connie that her mother doesn't understand her; why else would she constantly nag her about her time spent in front of a mirror or for not being as steady and reliable as her twenty-four-year-old, unmarried sister. As for her...
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...Where Is Your ID Going Where Has Your Superego Been? Connie, the main character in Carol Oates’ short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” is a self conscious teenage girl with a quirky personality. Her condescending mother constantly measures her up against her older sister June, which leads to resentment and tension between Connie and her otherwise admirable sister. On a night out with her friend, Connie has a strange encounter with a boy at a drive in restaurant which introduces the personified Freudian struggle between the ID, Ego, and Superego. First, it is necessary to comprehend how Connie’s family is the personification of the Freudian Superego. By simply relating the characteristics used to describe each family member to the concept of a Superego, the reader can condense their apparent individuality into this definitive Freudian ideal. June, a twenty-four year old still living and working from her parents home, serves as an example of low-risk and conservative decision making. Early in the story Oates writes, “June did this, June did that, she saved money and helped clean the house and cooked and Connie couldn't do a thing, her mind was all filled with trashy daydreams” (Oates, 1), which provides supporting evidence in proving June’s...
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...Throughout the story, Connie is portrayed as having inconsistent character. She has different personalities when she is home and when she’s out or at school. She’s very concerned about how she looks to others and is constantly checking herself in the mirror (Oates 244). At the end of the story, it seems Connie is changed after she tries, and fails, to call the police. It seems that Connie has lost her will when it’s said that “She was hollow with what had been fear but what was now just an emptiness” (Oates 254). Connie no longer felt in control of her own body, thinking about her heart “for the first time in her life that it was nothing that was hers, that belonged to her, but just a pounding, living thing inside this body that wasn’t really hers either” (Oates 254). As Connie walks out the door, she feels as if she is watching herself from outside of her body. She does not own her body and is no longer in control of it, and she gives in to Arnold Friend. In the excerpt “Night March” from “Going after Cacciato” by Tim O’Brien, a new soldier, Paul Berlin, is feeling overwhelmed by his circumstances and the recent death of his friend. He meets another soldier who offers him gum, and they talk about the dead soldier. Based on the excerpt alone, it’s unknown which soldier is going AWOL. If I had to guess based on contextual evidence from “Night March,” I would assume that Cacciato, the soldier carrying many...
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...the main character in the story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”. She is what one would call a stereotypical 15 year old girl. She has an obsession with looks, as expressed in the quotation “…habit of craning her neck to glance into mirrors or checking people’s faces to make sure her own was all right” (316). She also has a desire for a relationship with a boy. Connie tries acting like an adult, wanting to seem older than she is. Throughout the story, we see Connie’s attitude develop from a girl desperately trying to be an adult, back into a scared little girl. The arrival of Arnold at her doorstep (321) causes her to quickly realize the realities of adulthood, and it is not at all what she imagines. Connie was pulled out...
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...In the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates we are introduced to a character named Connie. Connie likes to sneak out with her friends and hangout with boys who are older than her. One night Connie was asked to go to dinner by a boy named Eddie. When they are walking through the parking lot they come across a man in a gold convertible that says “Gonna get you, baby” (Oates 862). Then a few days past by and Connie is home alone while her Mother and sister went out for a family barbeque. While Connie is alone she notices a car coming up, she realizes that it’s the same gold convertible she saw that one night with Eddie. The reader finds out the the owner of the gold convertible is a man name Arnold Friend....
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...In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, one can see that Arnold Friend is Satan, because he deceivingly lures and steals just like Satan does. The first way Arnold is Satan is portrayed through his deceivingly luring character. In the short story, Arnold drives up to a fifteen year old girl’s home in a gold painted car. He then honks four times in order to deceive the girl, Connie, into believing she actually knows him. Friend hopes the familiar sound of the honk will convince her that he is a friend. In addition, he seems to have the perfect attractive face in Connie’s eyes. But she also feels as if something were wrong for she thinks, “His whole face was a mask, she thought wildly, tanned...
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...The Effects of Distress in the Mind In “Where Are You Going Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates, Arnold Friend is a manifestation of Connie’s subconscious. Illustrated within the passage Connie, who is under emotional distress, seeks salvation from her family life. Neglection and abandonment from the family, subconsciously induced depressed and rebellious impulses within Connie. Arnold Friend is a figment of her imagination whose persona helps combat her depression with fear, this makes her stronger and more independent. On account of the neglection and lack of attention on Connie from her family, it is inevitable that Connie would become depressed and attempt to seek help. Subconsciously, Connie’s desperation for help goes to the extreme of conjuring up an imaginary male figure to help her in a time of despair. In the story, Connie's Father plays a...
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...Demonstrated through certain clothing choices, peculiar habits, and specific quirks, Arnold Friend's character from Joyce Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" represents Charles Schmid, also known as the "Pied Piper of Tuscon," a serial killer responsible for the disappearances and murders of Alleen Rowe, and Gretchen and Wendy Fritz. According to the NY Daily News article, "Justice Story: Pied Piper of Tuscon" by Mara Bovsun, Schmid "was a little pipsqueak of a guy, standing just about 5'3'' tall" (Bovsun). To combat his height disadvantage, Schmid would wear boots and stuff them to make him appear taller; one could imagine that walking in his shoes wouldn't have been the most pleasant experience. This parallels to how...
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...Throughout the whole story “Where Are You going, Where Have You Been” of Joyce Carol Oates, one of the main characters, Arnold Friend, behaves himself in a strange manner. He seems to be a typical psychopath since he demonstrates a range of emotional and interpersonal features which are inherent to such people. The first matter to consider is that psychopaths often talk witty and articulate their thoughts clearly. They can be fun interlocutors, presenting themselves in a positive way. Arnold Friend does exactly in such a manner, being completely sure of his charm. However, excessive shine and smoothness of such people, as well as dishonesty and superficiality, sometimes became evident, so that they seem to play a role. Therefore, Arnold’s...
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...Analysis of Two Short Stories Laura Cutler Ashford University Introduction to Literature ENG125 Instructor Rivera March 2, 2015 Analysis of Two Short Stories A literary analysis is important to assist a reader in knowing how or why an author writes a particular piece of literature, whether it is a poem, short story, novel , play, informational piece, etc. and then have the ability to relate to it as an individual. In the short stories 'Sweat' and 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been' the characters are from different walks of life, they both encounter conflict of: individual versus self, individual versus individual and individual versus society; many literary devices create theses stories that include the author's point of view, the conflicts that arise throughout and the resolution that takes place in the endpoint of view, the conflicts that arise throughout and the resolution that takes place in the end. The theme to any piece of literature is the basis for the whole story, in 'Sweat' and 'Where are Going, Where Have You Been' the story is centered primarily on one individual and what they each go through to survive an abusive/violent situation. The theme involves the survival of an individual through: external and external factors, that include the influence of society and the issue of class; sexuality of a women and men and the men's masculinity; suffering and the struggles that deal with violence, both physical and mental; family and religion....
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...Talk” & Joyce Carol Oates’s short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” are supposed to be the same story, one can only wonder if the same message is actually being presented. Through extensive research on the criticisms of both the story and the film, I have come to the realization that the overall moral & the characters of the story have been changed so much for the film version that at the end it’s questionable at best if the overall message of the story comes across as intended. Beginning with the moral of the story, in an article by Joyce Carol Oates herself entitled "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? & Smooth Talk: Short Story into Film” she discusses how she “deferred in the end to Joyce Chopra's [The Film’s Director] decision to reverse the story's conclusion… [in which] the film ends not with death, not with a sleepwalker's crossing over to her fate, but upon a scene of reconciliation, rejuvenation” (Oates, “Where” para 10). Yet, as this deferral might seem slight, in actuality it changes the whole tone of the story, as critic John Simon put it, “[this] disgraceful ending… turns allegory, Gothic horror, and tragedy into soap opera” (Simon, “Lowering” para 1). Yet, besides the ending Joyce Carol Oates did approve of the film, in the same article she also stated, that “Laura Dern is so dazzlingly right as "my" Connie that I may come to think I modeled the fictitious girl on her” (Oates, “Where” para 9). Before I go on I would briefly like...
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...Assignment: Character Analysis Worksheet Name: Assignment total: 30 marks Part 1: Questions about the character. They may not all apply. Point form answers are fine. 20 marks 1. When does the character live? Past, present or future? Future 2. Where does the character live? In the country, the city, the suburbs…? Suburbs 3. What is the socioeconomic background of my character? A middle class socioeconomic background. 4. What is a typical day for my character like? Obeying and following orders for now.. 5. Who else heavily influences my character? Members of the gang. 6. What is my character’s biggest life goal? Become the master, take charge of things 7. What is the primary emotion my character has throughout this story? Anger 8. What other emotions are affecting my character underneath that emotion? Rage, over thinking, hate towards others. 9. Does my character have mental or emotional difficulties, illnesses or tics? Yes 10. What kind of self-esteem does my character have? Low 11. How does my character relate to the outside world? Involved in a lot of things such as gangs and follows orders and does what he is told What props or scenic elements does my character relate to within the story? X 12. How do those props/scenic elements develop my character? Make him stronger 13. What emotion should the audience feel toward my character? Sympathy, hate, friendly? 14. In the beginning of the story, what do we discover...
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...and her lover, and him going to prison and dealing with the struggles of prison life as a truly innocent man. . “He's sentenced to a life term at the Shawshank State Prison in Maine, where another lifer, Ellis Red Redding (Morgan Freeman), picks him as the new recruit most likely to crack under the pressure. The ugly realities of prison life are quickly introduced to Andy: a corrupt warden (Bob Gunton), sadistic guards led by Capt. Byron Hadley (Clancy Brown), and inmates who are little better than animals, willing to use rape or beatings to insure their dominance. But Andy does not crack: he has the hope of the truly innocent, which (together with his smarts) allow him to prevail behind bars. He uses his banking skills to win favor with the warden and the guards, doing the books for Norton's illegal business schemes and keeping an eye on the investments of most of the prison staff. In exchange, he is able to improve the prison library and bring some dignity and respect back to many of the inmates, including Red.” After many years and a pick axe Andy manages to escape from prison threw slowly chipping away at the hole in his cell wall where he had a poster hung.” (google.com, 1999). In this paper we will be discussing many key points about the Shawshank Redemption; we will be going over storytelling, acting, editing, and cinematography, editing, sound, the different styles and directing, the impact of society on the film, genre and the overall analysis of the film. Within the...
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...An analysis of generic conventions in the trailers for the movies ‘John Tucker Must Die’ & ‘Mean Girls’ An analysis in terms of generic conventions in the trailers for the movies “John Tucker must die” and “Mean Girls”. Genre is defined as ‘A large category of stories united by their particular settings, characters, themes and narrative conflicts’ (Worland 2007, pg15). This assignment will look at the generic conventions a coming of age/ teen film (what we expect to see), aspects such as typical situations, stock characters, style, icons and setting. In terms of themes in coming of age (teen films) (subjects that are dealt with within the text) they tend to focus around, first love, rebellion, and conflict with parents, teen angst or alienation. In terms of what we would typically see within the genre ‘teen/coming of age’ film it is in the interest of the target audience and making the plot relatable and focus on their interests. The first trailer to be analysed is “Mean Girls”, a teen movie released in 2004. The style of “Mean Girls” is glossy, the use of high key lighting creates an expensive look and the contrast of high/bright colours makes the film more vivid and eye catching the use of the bright colours encourages a cheerful and young audience. In the first shot we see ‘Kady Heron’ in class she looks bland and has no character and is introduced as the new ‘student’ which is typical for the plot of a teen (coming of age movie) and the non-diegetic sound tracking...
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