Blog 6: Short Story Writing Techniques ~ (Joyce Carol Oates Writing Style-)

I believe short stories are much harder to write than a novel. It has to send its message while being short and sweet. The short stories that we have read in class were actually amazing. But the one that actually spoke to me and also made me uncomfortable was by Joyce Carol Oates, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been." I loved how the short story explained everything to the readers without giving any details of Connie getting raped or how even she got murdered. Oates describes everything so on point that it wasn't hard to understand what was going to happen at the end. I found her writing style quite journalistic as well as there were very few redundant dramatic embellishments. But her writing style definitely gives the reader those vivid images in a way that has a mysterious importance in it. Details such as Arnold's sunglasses give the readers that speechless emotional tension and everything becomes weightier. Oates made a simply short story so very powerful by her descriptive diction and imagery and made it real while keeping it interesting at the same time. She also uses a great deal of dialogues when she introduces her two main characters Arnold and Connie. The one thing that I absolutely loved about the story is how Oates portrayed Connie having these two different kinds of personalities. At home she was way different than what she was when she went outside. She always loved attention but never know that the whole concept of "attention" will hit her with Arnold Friend. As the story is written is Connie's point of view the tone of Oates writing is quite sympathetic towards Connie as she only discusses her thoughts, desires, and feelings. The tone definitely gets serious once Arnold is introduced and it keeps getting intense as it progresses with the threat of violence, rape, and murder.