The main text for this course was quite useful for me. I plan to become a secondary English teacher and the information it provided seemed well suited to that purpose. I learned the definition of young adult literature (something which, surprisingly, I was unaware of). I have always been more interested in more adult literature, and I had thought of young adult literature as being something dumbed down for mass consumption. The discussion of young adult literature and its significance and meaning in the first section of the book helped me to see its value for teaching, and to realize that a knowledge of young adult literature in invaluable for anyone pursuing a teaching career.
Since I want to teach at the high school level, the primary importance of young adult literature for me is as a motivator or introduction to more advanced texts. Many of the books we have read this year fit this purpose perfectly.
The second section of the text concerned the many types of problem novels that exist and the advantages, criticisms, and classroom uses that they have. There are many types of problem novel, from those that deal with multicultural issues, to those which focus on the rapidly changing body, to those that deal with family or peer relationships. The chapter also discusses more optimistic novels, such as those about friendship and love, and novels whose protagonist allows readers to live vicariously through them. The chapter claims that these two types make up the majority of what is considered young-adult literature, but I think that there is literature from many other genres that could be put into this category, such as fantasy (Piers Anthony), sci-fi (Feed), supernatural (Twilight), or magic realism (Zora and Me). The author probably didn't include these categories because there are many other book in these categories that are adult literature, but I think it is hard to pin down exactly what makes something "young adult". Almost any genre could have books within it that could be classified this way.
The next section of the text dealt with censorship, an issue which is critical to the teachers of today. I appreciated the honest discussion of censorship that I found here. The book points out that those who wish to censor literature have rights too- their right to free speech gives them the right to hold whatever opinions they wish about what their children read, even when they may be mistaken about its content. Also discussed are many different types of censorship that occur, from directly taking a book out of the curriculum, to removing from library shelves, to more subtle types of censorship like passing over a book for your syllabus because you suspect that its subject matter may cause controversy. Censorship is something that has been happening for years, and will continue to happen, but it is a teacher's duty to stand behind a book if they feel it will benefit their students. The text gives some good tools for doing so.
The next chapter of the text discusses the benefits of using poetry in the classroom. I have always been interested in poetry as a writer and a reader so I appreciated the treatment that it got here. Poetry is often seen as something that the young won't enjoy, but there is massive evidence to the contrary. Kids all over the world are listening to hip-hop, which is certainly a form of poetry. The problem isn't that kids don't like poetry- it's that they are not being given poetry that they like. Books such as Crank, which I read this semester, may be a solution to this problem. The thing about poetry is that it relies so much on its surrounding culture for its resonance- modern kids want to read modern poetry, not Elizabethan sonnets.
The final section of out text focuses on comic books, magazines and graphic novels. While these formats have often been considered "low" by teachers, I believe there is an enormous potential for engaging teens who might otherwise be reluctant in their reading. Many students connect more to something they can see visually on the page rather than reading it and forming a picture in their minds. While some may say that the use of these mediums may undermine students imagination, I think that pictures are often more stimulating to the imagination than words. A huge multitude of artistic styles can be found in graphic novels and comic books. Who is to say that artistic literacy is any less important than reading literacy?
All in all, I thought that the selections which were chosen for our main task were engaging, useful, and appropriate. I have taken a lot from the text, as I am sure the other students in the class have as well, although it was definitely more inclined to those with teaching aspirations.
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