Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates is probably one of my favorite short stories. In class we just talked about the first part of the story where we are introduced to Connie, the main character. She is a conceited, immature girl who likes to think that she is so much cooler than she it. We talked about her relationship with her family and her relationship with boys...which plays a large part in the second half of the story.

One of my favorite things about this story is the presence of music. I love the tie that Oates used with the dedication to Bob Dylan, because his song was the inspiration for the story. I love that she payed some sort of homage to him by using music as a background for the setting of the story. It is mentioned a lot, and seems to parallel the story....i love little hints of themes within stories like that. 

I liked introducing a story that I love to the class.....even if they weren't too excited about it. I hope that they like it more once they read the second half!