Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Techniques

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“Stop gawking at yourself. Who are you? You think you’re so pretty?” ‘Where are you going, where have you been?’ is a short story about a girl named Connie. Connie is a 15 year old girl who to her mother appears vain. Her mother was once pretty and over the years lost her looks so she attacked her daughter. Connie represents the girls of society which seem to be entering womanhood. In “Where are you going, Where have you been?” Joyce Carol Oath uses literary devices to develop both the theme and tone. One way in which the author conveys the theme is through figurative language to develop the theme. For instance “..the tiny metallic world in his glasses slowing down like gelatine hardening” (Oates 318). “His eyes were like chips of broken glass that catch the light in an amiable way” (Oates 319). Both are examples of similes used in the story. The similes are used to describe the characters and it gives the story a hint of mystery. There is a use of irony in the story as well. The author named one of the characters “Arnold Friend.” Looking at the name one would assume that Arnold is a nice person and a …show more content…

The title of the story is an unusual name, “Where are you going, Where have you been?” and it’s rather long. The title seems to be a question directed towards Connie. Connie is a girl than loves to act and be treated like an adult. It appears that Connie is always out partying and therefore the title would represent the question that her parents would ask her. However, Connie’s parents seemed to be uninterested with her life since they did not bother to take her to a family party. The title could represent a question directed towards Arnold Friend. Connie constantly asked Arnold where they were going to. Arnold seemed to mock the title. He states, “The place where you came from ain’t there anymore, and where you had in mind to go is cancelled out” (Oates 325). It seems to be a response towards the

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