Quick Summary:
A rebellious teenager is kidnapped by a stranger in this short story that explores the relationship between innocence and vice.

About Joyce Carol Oates:
Joyce Carol Oates (born June 16, 1938) is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and non-fiction. Her novels Black Water (1992), What I Lived For (1994), and Blonde (2000), and her short story collections The Wheel of Love (1970) and Lovely, Dark, Deep: Stories (2014) were each finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. She has won many awards for her writing, including the National Book Award, for her novel them (1969), two O. Henry Awards, the National Humanities Medal, and the Jerusalem Prize (2019).

Oates taught at Princeton University from 1978 to 2014, and is the Roger S. Berlind '52 Professor Emerita in the Humanities with the Program in Creative Writing. From 2016 to 2020, she was a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where she taught short fiction in the spring semesters. She now teaches at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.

Oates was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2016.

Link to Story:
www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~cinichol/CreativeWriting/323/WhereAreYouGoing.htm

Printable Story: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OzcYXqVQFAY-v9D9JugftTX3mi37kB-xr1HTs7J3ahA/edit

Prompt:

In the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” the protagonist, Connie, leaves her parents’ home with a stranger, Arnold Friend, in an ending that is both dark and puzzling. While Connie is almost certainly going to die, she makes a conscious decision to leave with Arnold Friend. Connie’s interactions with Arnold Friend reveal the author’s commentary on the interaction between innocence and evil. How does Joyce Carol Oates use allusions, setting, imagery or symbolism to communicate her message to the reader? 

Read the story carefully. Then analyze the author’s use of these rhetorical devices and their effect on the reader. Make sure to select specific examples and to discuss their significance in the story. 

Prompt:

The story is laced with allusions or references to folktales and fairy tales. Arnold Friend’s “coach,” for instance, has a pumpkin on it. He has big teeth (like a big bad wolf, perhaps?) In addition, it is helpful to know that the original title of the story was “Death and the Maiden.” These references reinforce the suggestion that the story is meant to be read as an allegory or as an interpretation of archetypal themes and motifs. 

Carefully read the sources. Then write an essay in which you analyze the themes and characters of the story as they relate to primal human archetypes. 

Powerpoint

Understanding Archetypes (review this material before moving to the synthesis packet)

Synthesis Materials:

Source Packet

Individual Materials Found in Packet:

• Source A: Perrault Little Red Riding Hood

• Source B: Remembering Charles Schmid, Local Serial Killer – The Daily Wildcat

• Source C: The Pied Piper of Tucson Life Magazine 

• Source D: What Are Character Archetypes BBC Maestro

• Source E: Joyce Carol Oates Key Concepts      

• Source F: Bob Dylan and Oates  

• Source G: It's All Over Now, Baby Blue 

Prompt: 

Mid-century America that Joyce Carol Oates is describing has been transformed by the sexual revolution. Yet, it is still fundamentally conservative. Women still lack significant control over their lives. In the story only men, never women, are seen driving, an activity widely seen to symbolize independence and control in American culture. One might argue that Connie is unable to resist Arnold Friend’s bullying because she is expected to be submissive and obedient. 

In a well-written essay, discuss if our lives are mainly the result of choices we make or whether they are mainly shaped by the expectations that society places on us. 

Support your argument with appropriate evidence and examples.