Cruel Traditional Tension

Joyce Carol Oates creates tension in her story, Where Are Your Going, Where Have You Been? from the first words on the page, the title. Oates maintain the tension through several elements: dialogue, repeating phrases or music, subtle hints or descriptions of setting and the initial, continuous conflict between the characters. The story begins with an argument between Connie and her mother that gives insight to the past.

Oates describes Connie by her, "long dark blond hair" and her mouth, "bright and pink on evenings out" - foreshadowing and creating a sense of what will happen next. A stranger on the street announces he's "gonna get" Connie which becomes the main dreading idea. Scenes like this and when Connie is alone in her home are traditional, inevitable scary movie scenes we all understand.

Oates utilizes metaphors for descriptions of many settings, giving the reader an intense, unique  visual experience. The metaphors slow down the pacing of the story while the dialogue maintains a steadier, faster pace.

The story, overall, took traditional horror scenes and added description for the readers own interpretation - leaving the reader making guesses about the plot until the very end. The "evil" characters were eerily charming and became menacingly threatening towards the end. The story left the reader repeatedly wanting to grab and shake some sense into Connie but as always left with nothing but false hope from her foolish decisions.