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

Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?: Setting 1 key example

Definition of Setting

Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or it can be an imagined... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the... read full definition

Key Examples in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

Setting
Explanation and Analysis:

“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is set in an unnamed suburb in the United States in the mid-1960s. The following passage from early in the story captures two important aspects of the setting of this story—suburban mall culture and the ubiquity of pop music:

They went up through the maze of parked and cruising cars to the bright-lit, fly-infested restaurant, their faces pleased and expectant as if they were entering a sacred building that loomed up out of the night to give them what haven and blessing they yearned for. They sat at the counter and crossed their legs at the ankles, their thin shoulders rigid with excitement, and listened to the music that made everything so good: the music was always in the background, like music at a church service; it was something to depend upon.