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"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?": Is Arnold Friend the Devil?

This analysis of Joyce Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" argues in favor of the reading that Arnold Friend is the devil (or a similar supernatural villain). The student notes details about his appearance and dialogue that support the analysis that Friend's behavior goes beyond human evil.
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This essay received a B by one of Kibin's paper graders. Click here to see what was done well and what needs improvement.

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This essay received a B by one of Kibin's paper graders. Click here to see what was done well and what needs improvement.

More essays like this:

Not sure what I'd do without @Kibin
- Alfredo Alvarez, student @ Miami University
Exactly what I needed.
- Jenna Kraig, student @ UCLA
Wow. Most helpful essay resource ever!
- Chris Stochs, student @ UC Berkeley

View other essays like this one:

Bridget's feedback:

"Your structure and organization is strong here, guiding the reader clearly and logically through the body discussion. The introduction and conclusion bookend the argumentation and help the reader understand the big picture. The allusions to the real-life events are confusing in the context of the analytical project and thesis: unless the prompt asks if you think the Devil was involved in the events that inspired Oates, the reader won't assume your interpretation of the story's symbolism is a statement about the real world.

If you can line up your evidence from the story with reference to sources on the Devil, you can bring the analysis into a more sophisticated space by making it a conversation between two texts. The reader is otherwise confused by the veracity of statements like "X is a sign of evil."

Another task will be to make sure all quotations are smoothly integrated into your writing. The first set of quotations in para. 2 is a good example of embedding the evidence to guide the reader's understanding. Working with the quotations that are currently standing on their own will also help eliminate some redundant commentary that follows up those quotations."

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