Homework for Thursday 9/24

Group 1

1. Explain the title. Why is it in the form of a question, and why are there two parts to the question? Who does "you" refer to?

In the short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, by Joyce Carol Oates the title is presented as a two-part question. The title could suggest that the two questions in it are two fundamental and persistent questions that parents ask their children. “Where are you going?”, is a common questions among parents who are wondering what there child is going to be doing when they leave to go somewhere out of their supervision. “Where have you been?”, is also a common questions that parents ask when teenagers return to their home. However, the title could also be taken from the Bible in Judges 19:17 when the question is asked in the story, “Where are you going? Where did you come from?”, as a relation to the Biblical story.

Group 2

1. Discuss the theme of the house as a metaphor of Connie's identity.

In the short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates delivers an imperative scene at Connie’s house. This house is represented as the shelter of her parents protection and supervision. It represents her adolescence and innocence. When she goes out of the house she has another side to her, trying to discover her identity and participate in more adult-like acts. When Arnold Friend tempts her to come outside by manipulation and then by force her exiting the house can be viewed as her transitioning from adolescence to adulthood. She is leaving the protection of her house and her parents and entering into the dangers of reality and adulthood.

Group 3

1. Do a little research about the significance of the numbers 33 19 17. What are some of the ideas that have been suggested about their meaning? What do you think they mean?

In the short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, by Joyce Carol Oates, a young and vulnerable teenage girl, Connie, is forced to leave her home with an older, manipulative adult, Arnold Friend. Before she leaves with him, he shows her his car and the symbols on the side of his car read 33 19 17. He does not explain what these numbers mean which creates an ambiguity around those numbers. The numbers could be added together(33+19+17) to equal the number 69 which is implies a sexual act. The numbers could also suggests when you count the books of the Old Testament backwards Judges is the 33^rd book and chapter 19 verse 17 of the book says, “When he looked and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, “Where are you going? Where did you come from?”. I agree with the Biblical symbolism of the title.

Group 4

3. How does the setting function in the story? Could this be anywhere? Why did Oates choose the setting(s) that she did?

In the short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates the setting is slightly ambiguous. It does not say exactly where the story takes place. It does infer that Connie lives in a suburban area by making references of being in a smaller residential community that is located immediately outside of a town. Oates writes, “The father of Connie’s best girl friend drove the girls the three miles to town…” The time of the story is the early 1960s, and this is when Oates says that Bob Dylan, whom the story was written for, wrote his song, “It’s all over now, baby blue,” and the murders of the teenage girls in Arizona occurred. She claims both of these contributed to her idea of the entire story. The setting of the story could have been at any suburban area, because the symbolism of a this type of location relates a feeling of innocence and protection.