Where Have You Been?Where Are You Going By Joyce Oates

1. Examine the plot of your essay. Explain the basis of reasoning. The story begins by portraying Connie’s character. She is rebellious, self-centered, romantic, seductive, but lacks experience. Her life was portrayed as a girl whose only confidence was rooted from her charm and beauty. Her normal life circles around facing the mirror and making herself beautiful, being scolded by her mother, being compared to his sister, a father who don’t took time for her, and hanging out with her best friend. She loves to watch movies and listening to music.

She meets boys but the story did not clearly portray of her having a boyfriend. That was once the constant life she had, then one day everything has changed. A stranger came in to their house when she was left alone. The stranger uttered promising words about escaping the cruelties she had at home and discovering the world where she could do everything she desires. She was fighting at deep inside at first. In the end she turned out to become a victim of a demonic character who seduced and threatened her through her weakness. . Explain the theme and historical content of the article The theme of the story tackles on abuses on women’s rights. The story also portrayed most problems associated with young ages like being unable to speak freely, and the lack of experience as a basis of making logical judgment. The historical content is closely associated with Women’s Movement. It was also based on a story about a psychopath on his early thirties known as “The Pied Piper of Tucson. ” He loves to seduce women and then murder them.

Most of her victims were teenagers in the Tucson area, for some reason they kept his secret, deliberately did not inform parents or police. Oates has been very particular in devoting some of her writings for supporting Women’s Movement. This is the response of many crusaders to rampant cases of abuses and violence – physically, emotionally, sexually against women in the past years. It was intensified in the year 1960s and early 70s and has become subjects of many debates and literature writings concerning giving equal rights and opportunities for men and women.

The movement is fighting for giving women equal employment opportunities with men, freedom to speak for themselves, and balance of power in handling their relationships with families. Most of her writings were fictional portrayals of real situations and cases occurring between sexes being women as the subject of violence. Critics believed that Oates occupies a controversial position in tradition of feminist literature. She portrays most of her female characters as fearful, reliant and passive – for instance, Connie was portrayed as a young girl who has lived in the shadow of her mother’s improper upbringing.

She was always scolded by her mother and being compared to his older sister in her habitual characters and actions which her mother emphasized as indecent. That kind of situation was very miserable that she’d wished she’d died as a way of departing from it. She lives in fear and was unable to overcome it. Being portrayed as young at age clearly shows women’s weakness that had turned them submissive and disregarded in most cases. Her mother as supreme over her portrays her position that is always searching to be heard.

Being a victim of emotional abuse she ended up thinking of what is life outside her away from the family she hated. The whole story itself shows women as powerless against abusers. The story ended has a hanging ending, although she has escaped the cruelties at home but ends up at another abuser’s hands. While most critics have negative perceptions of her ideas about dependency of women, there are still who have defended the feminist sense in her writings.

In fact, in her later works she was able to portray power of female bonds and their journey towards self discovery. 3. Offer support or criticism to the essay of your own thought. Offer support (at least TWO references). The story calls for awakening. We should not abuse every authority we have because our actions have direct effects on people around us either physically or mentally. It has rooted deep influence on its readers that it has become one of the most widely reprinted stories that have appeared on many short story compilations.

In 1972, Walter Sullivan noted the story as “one of her most widely reprinted stories and justly so. ” Awakening is, in the story’s final lines, moving out into the sunlight where Arnold Friend waits: “My sweet little blue-eyed girl,” he said in a half-sung sigh that had nothing to do with [Connie’s] brown eyes but was taken up just the same by the vast sunlit reaches of the land behind him and on all sides of him—so much land that Connie had never seen before and did not recognize except to know that she was going to it. http://www. usfca. edu/~southerr/works/film/smoothtalk. html). For Connie, it was an awakening of what is life out of home? And what is life in the real world. When treated on our present society, there are lots of individuals who became members of cruelties by those who consider themselves powerful and strong. The wise have fooled many people by their promising words and threatening. Just like how Arnold’s friend uttered promising words and threatening to force Connie to go with her.

All throughout the story, there lines were temptations have succeeded over Connie. She never listen to her mom, but instead rebel inside and wished she and her mom would better die. Her young mind’s desire of having fun, and her ignorant desire for romance, and be able to grow old for her to escape from being tightened have exposed her to the world of the more experienced individuals. That is how Arnold’s friend met her and have started to desire for her young and desirable charm and beauty.

It happens in real life; teenagers became victims of rape cases, involved in addictive vices, and do unlawful actions. The ethos of her writing was showed using real life figures: a mother, a sister, a friend, and the seducing old friend. Oates portrayed that everything that happens in our life has direct connection with the people around us. What we do and what they do have vice-versa effects on one another.

The Logos of her writing was showed by presenting the demonic old friends method of seducing Connie in a logical way. He spoke of anything that Connie desired and feared that led Connie to surrender in the end. The Pathos of her writing was showed by using thrilling situations like the scene where Connie was left alone in the house and then Arnold’s friend suddenly came to threat and seduce him. Connie has appeared pitiful and powerless compared to the older stranger’s actions.