Write an essay of approximately 500 words in which you provide evidence from "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates to support one of the following thesis statements. Your introduction should introduce the central idea of the thesis statement. The topic sentences of the body of your essay should be arguments in support of the thesis you have chosen. The body paragraphs should explain how evidence drawn from the story supports the statements you are making (topic sentences) in support of the thesis. You will be graded on how clearly and thoroughly you respond to the thesis statement in language that is appropriate to a literary discussion, grammatically appropriate, and follows proper M:LA format.

In Joyce Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" Connie becomes an easy prey to sexual violence because of a flawed sense of her own self-worth.

The symbolism in "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates suggests a teenage world driven by sex, where females are sacrificed to masculine aggression and control.

Joyce Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" reveals the nature of a sexual predator, both literally and symbolically, in its description of Arnold Friend.

In her self-sacrifice for her family, Connie in Joyce Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" becomes, for the first time, a truly autonomous individual.

Primary Source

"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates