Daily Archives: April 28, 2023

Scholar Rena Korb discusses numerous differing interpretations someone may have while reading the story. She expressed how people view it as a tale of initiation or having a feminist allegory or concept to it. My first reaction while reading this story can be best associated with American culture, or tale of initiation. I would necessary have seen this story in a bad or dark perspective, but the influence of American culture is there. The girl in the story is being groomed by an older man who conveys mental abuse on her. Therefore, I would have to agree with this criticism interpretation at first hand. Rena Korb states, “Oates has expressed her interest in the richness of pain and chaos. Certainly, these elements are apparent in Oates’s own writing, and many critics have commented on the bleak nature of her fiction and on the many unpleasant things that happen to her characters”. This quote illustrates how the author initially focuses on this dark themed writing which is rich in pain. The author has the characters go through real life emotion representing something someone may experience in reality.

Many readers have come up with their own interpretation of the story “Where Are You Going? Where have you been?” describing it as a “inverted fairy tale” or even “a tale of initiation into the evils of depraved American culture. To me it is simply a thriller/ horror about a young girl who is confronted by her stalker and lured into his trap and eventually assaulted in many ways. The Story does not go further than when Connie gives in to Arnold but the subtle threats the Arnorld throws out there in his encounter with Connie makes his intentions seem more than sinister. Even going back to when Connie spots the “boy” at the drive-in restaurant and he tells her “gonna get you baby” from a distance made me unsettled and nervous for what that may mean. In Korbs’ essay about the story, the writer explains that people may interpret Arnold as the devil with the way he had “Supernatural” awareness on Connie and her families whereabouts. For me, this story was a lot more realistic, the almost omniscient awareness Arnold seemed to have was just his obsessive nature and that he’s been watching Connie way before she saw him at the restaurant. He knew where her family was and what they were doing by simply staking out her house and following her family as they pulled off while Connie enjoyed her alone time until Arnold came back. This terrifying story is something that can very much happen in reality and to me is far from a fairy tale. 

Most readers make three false assumptions when addressing an unfamiliar poem,” writes Edward Hirsch in his article “How to Read a Poem” (Activity 1) Which of the three prior assumptions did you make with respect to one of the poems read this week? Be sure to refer to specific lines or phrasing in your discussion.   The First assumption that I made while reading the poem “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” on the Poets.org website, while reading t the line “And live alone in the bee-loud glade,” the phrase “bee-loud glade” I though that the speaker wants to live a free and simple life which is close to nature, but after doing some research it the lines meant that the speaker is referring to the sound of bees buzzing and is trying to create a peaceful environment. The Second assumption i made was that in the line “There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow” I thought that the speaker is talking about the different colors of the sky at night or during different times at night, but then i realized that by the word “glimmer of midnight ”  and “noon a purple glow “the speaker was talking about different mood swings and the color purple meant to convey a sense of warmth and comfort The third assumption that i made was in the line “While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey” I thought that the speaker is physically standing on the road or on the sidewalk but it turned out be that the speaker is using a metaphor to explain its mental and emotional state, it could also mean that the speaker is trying to tell us about. his daily routine and hustle in his everyday life.

The story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates is captivating and incredibly eerie. Reading it felt as if I was watching a movie and yelling at the girl on screen to turn around and run away. The story seems to represent a young girl being groomed: manipulated by an older man to coerce her into agreeing to mental abuse. “I took a special interest in you, such a pretty girl, and found out all about you—like I know your parents and sister are gone somewheres and I know where and how long they’re going to be gone, and I know who you were with last night, and your best girl friend’s name is Betty. Right?” There is a terrifying aspect to this quote. Immediately, as the reader you might see flashing neon red flags, yet Connie is just confused.  Connie, although doing so hesitantly, is cooperating at first. It starts to seem like he almost has her convinced and then things escalate. After the escalation, Connie is defeated. This quote, “She was hollow with what had been fear but what was now just an emptiness. All that screaming had blasted it out of her.” is representing, to me, a victim fighting until they cannot fight anymore. At this point in the story, this is clear because Connie is now beginning to do everything Arnold says. The next few lines in the end of the story point to the victim being estranged from family and being convinced that it is okay. “… Be nice to me, be sweet like you can because what else is there for a girl like you but to be sweet and pretty and give in?—and get away before her people come back? ”She felt her pounding heart. Her hand seemed to […]

The story “Where are you going, where have you been?” is about a fifteen-year-old girl named Connie who goes to meet people who don’t treat her well. The story offers several interpretations of the event, including how awful things can happen in our lives and in our society. The story itself can be seen as a warning to young people about the dangers and terrible things that can happen in America. Connie’s character is portrayed as naive, unaware of the dangers of the world much like all young girls her age. Conversely, the character Arnold Friend is presented here as a nasty character, who hurts and deceives people. In her essay, Rena Korb makes a suggestion that some people may associate the character of Arnold Friend with the image of evil or the consequences of giving up one’s freedom at the hands of someone corrosive. It is a life lesson that aims to warn and warn young people.

The story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is about a young 15-year-old girl named Connie whom a child predator seduced. In my understanding, the story portrays how a child predator-prey on young girls. Connie seems to be a beautiful young girl that likes to be seen because of her beauty, and she feels that her mother doesn’t like her much as how she does her older sister, whom she always praises. Also, Connie’s father seems to be just interested in his work and not showing the family much attention. In my opinion, 99% of the time, when a family is like that, the one that gets less attention tends to seek it elsewhere, and for me, Connie seems to fall in that category. Connie likes to hang out with older teens, which can be alarming. The older “friends” she trusts can set her up to do or get into things she’s incapable of understanding or escaping from. And it is sad because in our society, the same vulnerable young kids get seduced and taken advantage of, and most of them are found dead. Several times we watch the news or read the papers and see that young teens have gone missing, but there is no trace of them; those are the teens that know their predators, but at first, they try to build their trust before they make their move. We must check our surroundings because, at times, we never know who is watching us, our children, and just waiting to make a move at the right time that pleases these predators. This story is a well-learned lesson for us not to put our trust in people, no matter the circumstances, and not to show favoritism to our children because it can lead to something displeasing along […]

When I read “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” by W. B. Yeats, the assumption I made was assuming that the poem was a code. For example, throughout the poem, Yeats is talking about the lake house at the Innisfree Lake and when he was describing the scenery, I thought it was symbolic for something else. The entire time I was reading the poem, I was trying to decipher what was the meaning of Lake Innisfree and why it was important for the author to write about it. Yeats says, “And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow” (Yeats line 10) and to me this was a reflection of the poets’ need to find peace and serenity. Usually this is my issue while reading poems, I never really understand it because I feel like there’s a hidden message.

After reading Rena Korb’s critical overview of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, I believe that the story can be interpreted in various ways, including as an inverted fairy tale, a tale of initiation into a depraved American culture, and a feminist allegory. However, I also noticed some other themes that were not explicitly mentioned by Korb. One of the themes that stood out to me was the idea of teenage rebellion and the consequences that can come with it. Connie is a typical teenager who wants to break free from her family and their values. She sees herself as mature and independent, but her encounter with Arnold Friend teaches her a harsh lesson about the dangers of the real world. This theme is relevant to today’s society where young people often feel the pressure to act like adults before they are ready. Another theme that I noticed is the power dynamics between men and women. Arnold Friend’s manipulation and control over Connie reflect a larger societal issue of men exerting dominance over women. The story highlights the vulnerability of women in such situations and their struggle to assert their own agency. Overall, the story is multi-layered and open to interpretation. The themes of teenage rebellion and power dynamics between men and women, along with the other interpretations suggested by Korb, make it a thought-provoking and complex story.

In preparation for the discussion of the stories for our discussions, I prefer to read a story several times, form my own vision about it, and only then read articles that analyze this text in order to consider the story from my own subjective point of view and not be attached to the thoughts of scholars. After reading this story, I fixed three thoughts: the first is terrible violence, but not in the form we are used to, but in a verbal one, the very concept of which curdles the blood. Secondly, this is a gender issue: in particular, the exact delimitation of the role of a woman in this story is noticeable on the basis of two sisters. Either you are an exemplary family woman, a housewife, etc. (remember the cult of femininity) and the second is our protagonist, also a rather stereotypical girl who is more interested in appearance and boys than any other issue. As well as the dialogue between Koni and the Friend, he really reminded me of modern gender realities, including today’s one. And the third is something terrible and supernatural, invisibly present in this story. There are a number of interpretations of this story in Corb’s article, such as initiation or inverted fairy tale, the diabolic motives, feminist allegory. I would like to note that the story is quite creepy, provided that there is not a single scene of violence or physical rudeness here. The author in this case refers to symbolic violence. According to wiki “symbolic violence describes a type of non-physical violence manifested in the power differential between social groups”, but why does the author use this phenomenon in the story. What does it describe? I believe that the main message of the author is a feminist message, symbolic violence between gender […]