Blog 10 - A Reflection on Young Adult Literature Class

A Reflection on Young Adult Literature Class

I had an internal debate on my last blog posting and decided to take Dr. Hanrahan's advise and “Go for it.” Part of good teaching is ensuring that students have an opportunity to provide feedback, so thank you to Dr. Hanrahan for displaying academic bravery and trust in offering that option as a final blog post. What I hope to do is provide the constructive feedback that I would appreciate if I was teaching the same class.

Dr. Hanrahan's idea to have a class blog worked well for a small class. During the class, I wondered about incorporating a blog into my own instructional toolbox. I think for the 20-30 kids that I have, and based on their varying ability levels, that a blog of their individual essays would not be beneficial. However, I was thinking that I could start a blog that reflects the students' young adult and adult literature interests. In my class, students can read a book of their choice that is school-appropriate for Silent Sustained Reading (SSR), which is usually the first fifteen minutes of class. A new twist to this will be to hold them accountable for what they read on an SSR Blog. I have had students read and complete book reviews in the past. Now, I will have them post their book reviews on the blog. This allows for a common gathering place for both my English 10 and English 11 classes: one blog for all. Also, this allows students to respond to a book review with their own reading experiences with the novel, manga, magazine, comic book—whatever their interests. Not only will this create a sense of community in the classroom, but it will allow me to get to know their interests. As Katherine Bucher and KaaVonia Hinton mention in Young Adult Literature: Exploration, Evalation, and Appreciation, “[o]ne way to encourage young adults to read is to supplement the curriculum with high-interest young adult literature and utlize engaging activities and class discussion” (16). I have high hopes for the SSR blog because students love to work with other classes, and this is a great way to develop literary awareness through social learning and technology use.

Next, the issue of literary awareness and genres was covered quite well in class with Bucher and Hinton's Young Adult Literature: Exploration, Evalation, and Appreciation. My only recommendation would be that those genres are read as much as possible as well. I realize that this is a monumental task when considering the breadth of young adult literature. I would like to have read and discussed examples of manga, comics, short stories, and drama. But in the absence of this, I think that Bucher and Hinton provide solid examples of these and, as a result, I am now thinking about researching and adding young adult genres that appeal to the visual and physical learning systems.

Again, I appreciate this class because my literary awareness in the area of young adult literature and classic literature has been expanded. The almost weekly prompts that address pairing young adult texts with classic texts was an especially helpful prompt when considering how to incorporate young adult literature in the classroom. While the idea of pairing these texts is a fleeting paragraph in Bucher and Hinton's Chapter 3, I appreciated that Dr. Hanrahan would not let this idea and prompt fade away because pairing young adult and classic literature is probably going to be one of the strongest supports for arguing to incorporate more young adult literature in the classroom. This will appease administration and allow students to relate. I am already thinking about what I can pair with The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Any suggestions?

And then there are suggestions. I would recommend reading Wonder, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and the sequel Hollow City, a book from the sports genre (I just saw a few books by an author that address the traumatic brain injury (TBI) of a fictional football player, and The Haunting of Sunshine Girl. Some of my reasoning is that these novels follow young adult reading interests, trends, and issues. While I have read Wonder, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, and Hollow City, I have not read any sport novels or The Haunting of Sunshine Girl. However, I have too many students that are obsessed with sports and not obsessed with reading, and I am determined to cross the streams and see what happens. Also, I am fascinated with the backstory of The Haunting of Sunshine Girl. I think the YouTube novel genre (if it can be called this) is worth exploring in the age of social media and reality TV obsession.

So, again, thank you for teaching the class, Dr. Hanrahan. I think we all learned quite a bit more about young adult literature than we knew when we started. I learned more than I ever wanted to know about young adult dystopian fiction (just kidding—I loved every minute of it or I would not have chosen the bibiliography). I think Colleen may need therapy after her young adult WWII bibliography, but she will have decent insurance in a few months when she gets a teaching job. Also, I learned from my peers—there were great lesson plan ideas, great food (thank you for the donuts, Karisma! And thanks to Ashley for the brownies!), and great company (newly concieved, about to be born, and reaching peak performance age). In parting, I would like to reference Dr. Hanrahan's reference to these immortal words, which were so aptly said by Anthony Michael Hall as Brian Johnson in The Breakfast Club:

“Brian Johnson: Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. What we did WAS wrong, but we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us... In the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is ... a brain... 
Andrew Clark: ...and an athlete... 
Allison Reynolds: ...and a basket case... 
Claire Standish: ...a princess... 
John Bender: ...and a criminal... 
Brian Johnson: Does that answer your question? 
Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club.”

While we all don't necessarily think you are crazy for assigning Blog 10 on the Friday after our class ends, my last recommendation is to get rid of Blog 10 on the Friday after class ends.

Where Do We Belong?

            In her article "Everyone Knows Where They Belong," Katy Waldman argues that one of the reasons young adult literature is so appealing is because it gives readers a better understanding of who they are as they relate to the characters depicted on the pages who are labeled as belonging to certain groups yet still stand out as individuals. During the adolescent years, young people are socialized to recognize the differences among one another, form cliques with people who share similar interests, and at the same time, define who they are as individuals and figure out who they want to be. For example, many years before they graduate from high school, students are forced to try and figure out what career path they want to purse, and in turn, who they are going to be once they graduate. It is a constant guessing game of Who am I? and What is my purpose? that never really seems to go away as people enter adulthood and continue to question their identity and where they fit into such a big world. Young adult literature provides examples of characters who are experiencing this same kind of struggle in the same kind of categorized world that exists in reality. The characters are forced into labels while they simultaneously yearn to fit in and remain true to their individual self. Therefore, Waldman makes a sound argument: young adult literature is appealing because it helps readers gain a better understanding of who they are and the potential they have to be someone special.

            Young adult literature often depicts characters who are struggling to understand who they are, where they fit in, and what their purpose in life is going to be, which young adults and adults alike can relate. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie writes about a young boy named Junior who lives on a reservation and struggles with understanding who he is; he feels trapped between his Spokane roots and his new school where he is the only Indian besides the mascot (56). Junior says, "I woke up on the reservation as an Indian, and somewhere on the road to Reardon, I became something less than Indian" (Alexie 83). He struggles to fit into one category, which makes him question his identity. In Eleanor & Park, Rainbow Rowell introduces characters that have a hard time fitting in. When Eleanor first walks down the bus aisle, she is seen as "big and awkward" and out of place (Rowell 8). In fact, no one even wants her to sit with them. Who cannot relate to these feelings of confusion, loneliness, and rejection?  

Despite this desire to fit in among others, Waldman makes the argument that the characters in young adult literature are often viewed as “heroes” when they go against the grain and step out as individuals. Waldman believes that “as much as teenagers (and adults!) yearn to blend in, they/we also want to shine forth as special snowflakes.” In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Junior is ridiculed for leaving his reservation to attend school in a predominantly white area, but he is later admired for his actions. Similarly, in Eleanor & Park, the characters find solace in their separation from the crowd and the norms they are expected to follow. Despite their challenging of their labels, the characters in so many young adult stories find hope, love, and purpose. It is this kind of message that so many adolescents are searching for, and they can find it within the pages of young adult literature.

Young adult literature provides readers with examples of characters who go through the same kinds of struggles readers are facing every day. Generally, those characters make it out okay in the end, and readers can grasp on to that hope in those moments of confusion when hope and acceptance seem far away. Perhaps adults also love young adult literature because it brings them back to a time when life was a little simpler, when one of their biggest stressors focused around finding a group to accept them and find a permanent space to fill in the cafeteria. Every day young adults face a constant battle of feeling pressured to fit in, yet they have a strong desire to stand out and be unique. Young adult literature demonstrates that struggle with characters who often step out of their expected role and succeed. Readers need to know they can succeed too.

 

Works Cited

Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2007. Print.

Rowell, Rainbow. Eleanor & Park. New York: St. Martin's, 2013. Print.

Waldman, Katy. "Everyone Knows Where They Belong." Slate. 21 March 2015. Web. 25 June     2015.

From the Washington Post in Response to Graham

I thought you would enjoy reading someone directly responding to Graham:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/act-four/wp/2014/06/06/no-you-do-not-have-to-be-ashamed-of-reading-young-adult-fiction/

ENJOY!

For YA: A Point for Miss Graham’s Consideration (10)

As we wrap up the summer session, we will turn to that idea. That said, respond to Graham’s article, “Against YA.” Pick something we’ve read this summer session and use it to formulate a response to her assertion that YA is just for young adults (not “regular” adults).  Be sure to include evidence from the text you choose. Also feel free to use our other course readings in your response.

For YA: A Point for Miss Graham’s Consideration

Ruth Graham’s article, “Against YA,” postulates that adults who read YA should “feel embarrassed” by replacing adult reading with YA reading. I will only briefly point out that the lines which divide “adult” writing and YA are at best blurry, and that many canonical authors write across both genres. I will only briefly bring to Ms. Graham’s attention that the driving force between categorizations across literature has nothing to do with the content or complexity of texts; rather it is a construct driven by the publishing industry in order to create marketing groups. Unfortunately, Ms. Graham does not have the presence of mind to address this blaring issue in her article, so I will encourage her and everyone else to research genre lines on their own time. I will also only briefly point out that, according to her other articles, Ms. Graham also believes that mothers should exclusively carry the blame for the recent anti-vaxer movement and that she feels reality TV, such as The Bachelor and Preach, are quality television. Scoff. I firmly believe that adults should immediately take time out of their lives to scrape their faces off of their television sets and away from vapid reality TV shows like The Bachelor so they can read quality YA novels. YA literature deals with the creation of a universal human experience, an experience that many adults need to explore in order to understand the world that they and adolescents live in today. By dealing, sometimes messily, with issues that adolescents face, YA literature teaches its readers compassion and empathy.

Within the reality fiction genre of  YA, exists a sub-genre that deals with ethnic diversity and poverty, and through this sub-genre, the reader learns what it is like to come from a world that is sincerely lacking in basic human material needs. Not many people have experienced the hunger that is associated with living in the lowest tax bracket like Arnold Spirit, “Junior,” does in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Few people understand what the inside of a jail house feels like when the lights go out and the rapings and beating begin, but Steve Harmon does, and Walter Dean Myers shows his readers in Monster. Even fewer people understand the mixed emotions that accompany the act of killing an infant child, but Devin Davenport does, and she shows us in After by Amy Efaw how devastating and far reaching teenaged decisions can be. Through multiple points of view and unapologetic storytelling, YA novels deal with those sorts of themes that cannot end as Graham postulates, in a “uniformly satisfying” way. Sherman Alexie’s Flight for example ends with the main character sobbing because maybe this adoptive family will be “almost real,” and after facing a barrage of horrendous foster families, almost real is as good as his life gets. Is an almost real family satisfying? I would dare say no; it is not. YA literature deals with issues, such as poverty and sexual abuse, that are impossible to wrap up in the idea of “uniformly satisfying.”

YA Literature forces readers of all ages to experience emotions that they would not otherwise experience in their own lives, resulting in a deeper understanding of and more critical thinking about the issues that people from different walks of life face. Miss Graham can stand from the heights of her New England dream home complete with inground pool and judge those adults who read a genre built by genius marketers, but I find her opinions to be driven by an elitist perspective that purposefully ignores the wide range of YA literature. In order to propagate her ideals, Graham’s article focuses on a small slice of YA Literature while ignoring the vast number of YA books that do not neatly wrap up endings. Many YA novels simply end at a point where the reader must decide if they will continue to live life as if the book never happened, or move on to real life and help people whose lives mirror characters like Zits whose stories end almost happy. Reading YA encourages in the reader of all ages the ability to better understand and empathize with young characters that are not often thought of in the mainstream. YA is complex, messy, and meant to open up conversations amongst all people. It can be the first line in discovering how to have conversations that center around the world that adolescents live in, and the first line in breaking down the barriers that exist between people who live in their dream homes, and people who dream of living in safe homes. I encourage everybody, of all ages, to read YA literature.

Works Cited

Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2007. Print.

Alexie, Sherman. Flight. New York: Black Cat, 2007. Print.

Efaw, Amy. After. New York: Speak, 2010. Print.

Graham, Ruth. “Against YA.” Slate. June 5, 2014. Web.

Graham, Ruth. Twitter Feed. 25 June, 2015. Web.

Myers, Walter Dean. Monster. New York: Harper Teen, 1999. Print.

Entry #10 - Who Am I? A Question Answered in YAL

 People read for a variety of reasons – for entertainment, to escape the real world, to make personal connections, to identify with a character or even, figure out who they, the reader, are and how they fit into the world. In Katy Waldman's article, “Everyone Knows Where They Belong,” she argues that readers respond to young adult literature, in particular, because it helps us figure out who we are and how we fit into our world. Waldman says that high school never really leaves us and that there is even evidence that the labels we identify ourselves with in high school cling to us for the rest of our lives. She goes on to say that high school is where we do “a lot of our self-creation” and that this simplistic way of categorizing ourselves and looking at the world is why many people, even into adulthood are drawn to young adult literature. Waldman uses the popular Harry Potter, Divergent, and Hungry Games series as examples of such books that appeal to people of all ages and argues that this is partially due to the way the books break down society into “groups” and the characters are categorized as fitting into one of those groups. She also claims that within these societies our heroes often are those that don't fit in perfectly and are unique. Readers want to fit in, yet they also want to stand out as a unique individual. Add this idea of uniquely fitting in to the belief that who we decide we are in high school stays with us and we have a better understanding of why many young adult titles are so appealing to people of all ages.

Many young adult titles deal with this idea behind uniquely fitting into the world. In Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden thinks of everyone as “phony” and yet, he also has this innate desire to connect with someone. On page 24 Holden says he isn't too crazy about Ackley, but then on page 53 he goes to Ackley's room looking for companionship after his fight with his roommate, Stradlater. Holden isn't too fond of anyone in particular except maybe his little sister, but yet he still has this desire to be around people and to be part of something. In Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell, Eleanor and Park do not fit it. Eleanor is an overweight, red-head that dresses like a boy, while Park is an Asian boy with a small build. Despite not fitting the mold, they love each other and truth be told, it's each of their unique qualities that appeals the most to the other. Park talks about loving Eleanor's hair and knowing when he was in love with her when he says, “Eleanor's hair caught fire at dawn. Her eyes were dark and shining...The first time he'd touched her hand, he'd known” (Rowell 301). Eleanor's nickname is “Big Red” at school because she's larger than the average girl and has bright red hair, yet her hair is one of the things that Park loves about her. Along the same lines, Park is insecure about being small and not looking like the other students. Eleanor describes Park as “beautiful” numerous times in the book and she even says “There's no shame with Park. Nothing is dirty. Because Park is the sun...” (302). Both characters stand out and yet, love each other in all their unique beauty.

Accompanying the idea of uniquely fitting in, Waldman argues that the heroes in our stories are those that are courageous enough to stand out. In The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Alexie Sherman, Junior is stuck between his two lives of living on the reservation and attending the all-white school off of the reservation. Junior tries to fit in at his new school, but the social rules are very different. Then, he makes the basketball team and starts to really develop some friendships at school. Back at the rez, he is an outcast because he left. Throughout the entire book, Junior is struggling to be somebody, while also trying to find himself. Yet, a few people in his life see him as a hero for being different and trying to break the cycle of a resveration kid. Eugene, who is Junior's dad's best friend, even says, “It's pretty cool, you doing this...I could never do it. I'm a wuss” (Sherman 71). This links back to what Waldman is trying to say when she says, “self creation may require....an act of courage.” Junior wants to fit in, but he also is courageous because as he is trying to “find” himself, he isolates himself to a point where he doesn't exactly fit in either at home on the reservation or in school.

All three books show how readers can still identify with the characters of young adult literature even as adults because in high school we decide who we are and that sticks with us into adulthood. At the same time readers want to fit in while they also want to stand out as unique individuals. Holden is so afraid of becoming just another phony, yet he's equally afraid of not fitting in at all. Eleanor and Park stand out for the physical differences and yet, this is what draws them together. Junior is stuck between two worlds and learning to blend his identification to be both an Indian and a kid that attends the “white-kid-school.” He wants to be somebody and in doing so, he stands out. They all want to fit in while remaining unique. Junior, specifically is even portrayed as a hero for his desire to break the mold and all the courage that it takes to do so. This is something we can all relate to, even as adults and why young adult literature is so popular.

Works Cited

Rowell, Rainbow. Eleanor and Park. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2013. Electronic.

Salinger, J.D. Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown & Company, 1951. Print

Sherman, Alexie. The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Little Brown and Company, 2007. Electronic.

Waldman, Katy. “Everyone Knows Where They Belong.” Slate. 21 March 2014. Web.

Belong in the Page

        Young adult literature and its market continues to grow. Readers connect to the characters and themes on a deeper level than many other genres geared toward other audiences. Critics and educators have been trying to determine why young adult literature has been so successful. Katy Waldman, in her article “Everyone Knows Where They Belong”, attempts to decipher what aspects of young adult literature appeal to readers most. While there are many factors that impact the reception of this genre on the market, Waldman believes she has pinpointed the most compelling factor. This literature creates a sense of belonging by categorizing characters into the groups that fit their personalities, jobs in their societies, or place in their worlds. Although young adult literature is a diverse grouping of texts, Waldman’s article effectively explores the community and group mentality that it fosters.

            As students develop and grow through high school, they experience a need for a community. Puberty, changing social dynamics, and maturity create an upheaval that many young adults do not know how to cope with. High school is a formative time in which students begin to develop an idea of self. In Eleanor and Park, Park begins to experiment with make up as he attempts to find his place in the social hierarchy of his school and family. “Self-invention is hard” Waldman states “and it helps to have a blueprint. Enter stereotypes: the Gryffindors, Givers, and Geeks who turn the chaotic terrarium of high school into a taxonomist’s paradise” (Waldman). Readers find common characteristics between the groups in these texts; those commonalities help young adults categorize themselves within the fictional realm they are stepping into and quantify their status within their own world. These texts show other young adults engaged in predetermined social groupings set by uncontrollable forces. In the Harry Potter series the uncontrollable force is the Sorting Hat; Divergent relies on a test; Brown Girl Dreaming sorts by race. These texts provide a scaffold for readers to use as a platform in their own development and understanding of who and what they are.

            Since young adults experience a great deal of change, not only do they seek some form of community, they also seek similar groupings that are described in young adult literature. As Waldman explains, “as family dynamics shift in confusing ways, a lot of teens hunger for community, YA fiction mines that wish with its visions of deep group cohesion” (Waldman). In Monster by Walter Dean Myers, Steve gets into trouble as he seeks out that group cohesion. By associating with Osvaldo and James, Steve finds himself on trial for murder. His lawyer, Ms. O’Brien, says “The prosecutor’s strongest point against you is the connection between you and King” (Myers 224). Steve’s need for a group and community work against him. Waldman notes that “Resisting categorization becomes central to the mythology of each universe” and “In the end, these heroes confront not just the beauty but the terror of labels, and they come to know both the terror and the beauty of standing apart” (Waldman). Steve learns the terror of being labeled as another thug. Dante, from Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, is beaten because of his otherness. Eleanor is forced to run away because she stands out against her stepfather. Holden, in The Catcher in the Rye, doesn’t fit with anyone. Even Bella from the Twilight Series strives to fit in but is constantly reminded of her difference. In the end, Waldman explains that “We don’t feel like anybody else. So our fictional avatars flirt with categories and then reject them, striking out on richer and lonelier quests for identity” (Waldman). These texts do not solve readers’ need for belonging, but they give readers the power to step out into a world they may not belong to.

            Young adult literature is a complex grouping of texts that provides readers with a platform to explore and discover a community within a book and find their way in the “real world.” The communities and categorizations that can be found in young adult literature are accessible enough that readers can identify with the groups. They view the world through mirrors and windows. They see themselves reflected back at them as they read about Aristotle and Dante; they understand a deeper level of the social stratum of their schools through the lens provided in Eleanor and Park. They are sorted, tested, and given identities as they escape into these worlds strictly governed by sets and groups. Young adults may not belong in their communities yet, but they belong within the pages of the books they love. Through these texts, young adults are given the language and tools to self-create. They are given blueprints to the bigger, wider world of adulthood and set out to continually remake themselves. Young adult literature has such an appeal to young adults because of this fact: they find a safe place to belong.

Works Cited

Myers, Walter Dean. Monster. HarperCollins e-books, 2008.

Rowell, Rainbow. Eleanor and Park. Google E-book, 2013.

Waldman, Katy. "Everyone Knows Where They Belong." 21 March 2014. Slate.com. Web. 23 June 2015.

Woodson, Jacqueline. Brown Girl Dreaming. New York: Nancy Paulsen Books, 2014. E-book.

Jacqueline Woodson and Alice Walker: A Nonfiction Human Rights Pairing (9)

Pair Brown Girl Dreaming (you can be selective—choosing just one or two poems from the collection) with a contemporary non-fiction text: a news story, photograph, or editorial that touches on similar issues. In your response, discuss how you would pair these two texts in the classroom and what students could gain from such a pairing. How do the texts inform and/or comment on each other or a specific societal issue? Remember: the Common Core puts emphasis on non-fiction and complexity, so this pairing would help on both counts. Be sure to use specific evidence from both Brown Girl Dreaming and the other text you choose. And be specific about what you would do in the classroom. If you choose this approach, provide a link to or copy of your text in both your blog post and your Sakai submission.

Jacqueline Woodson and Alice Walker: A Nonfiction Human Rights Pairing

One of the themes present in Jaqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming is the idea of the civil rights movement. Though the series of poems is told from the point of view of a child, through selected poems, the reader can glean an undercurrent of racism and descriptions about what it was like to be brown in American following forced integration. Poems such as “Sterling High School,” (94) “Stevie and Me,” (190) “What Everybody Knows Now” (198) directly reference prejudices and the environment caused by the civil rights movement, offering a way for teachers to pair them with nonfictional historical texts and contemporary rights texts. One such author that could be paired with these poems is civil rights activist and author, Alice Walker. By pairing Woodson’s poems with Alice Walker’s “In Full Bloom” and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, teachers can open the door up for students to have conversations about human rights both past and present.

One way that to teach this pairing is by encouraging students to explore what both authors say about what it is to be brown women growing up in the South. Though the two authors formated their experiences nearly 20 years apart, both have similar stories about being raised in the Southern part of America. In her essay, Walker admits that she is a lifelong activist, but that she feels her acts are “puny” because “the most committed, most directly confrontational people suffered more. The most ‘revolutionary’ often ended up beaten, in prison or dead. Shot down in front of their children, blown up in cars or in church, run over by racist drunks, raped and thrown in the river” (26). Jackie describes similar violences when she explains that her mother’s school was burned down during a dance, “my mother said it was because / the students had been marching, / and the marching / made some white people in Greenville mad” (94). In both instances, the authors describe violence enacted upon those people who rose up during the civil rights movement. In Walker’s case, she lived through the protests, in Woodson’s case, she is repeating her very near history. As a teacher, these two instances could open up class discussions to talk about the rhetoric of both authors. Specifically, students could find more instances in Woodson’s book that alludes to racism, and then come up with ideas about why Jackie’s narrative maintains only allusions to racism that others around her experience. It would be worth noting to the students that the authors are 20 years apart, and still create similar experiences.

Aside from creating conversations about the American past, linking Walker and Woodson together can allow teachers to create a project that gives students the opportunity to become activists in the current world climate. After reading Woodson and Walker, teachers can have students explore the human rights website at http://www.humanrights.com/#/home in order to gain an understanding about what the 30 universal rights of humans are. When the students have a working knowledge of those rights, they can explore contemporary human rights issues. One website that is an invaluable tool for educators is the Human Rights Watch website at http://www.hrw.org/. This website links to human rights issues all over the globe and categorizes them by theme, making it easier for people to become activists for many world-wide causes. In order to make the learning authentic, teachers could have students create a project on their own that supports a topic from this website that is important to them.

By pairing Woodson with nonfiction pieces such as Walker’s In Full Bloom and integrating contemporary human rights topics, teachers can encourage students to explore the experiences of the world around them and to become activists for their chosen causes. This pairing, in addition to activating conversations and projects, also satisfies a multitude of state standards that deal with nonfictional texts as well as diversity in the classroom. This idea is not limited to just these two texts, though; teachers can use a multitude of texts that deal with social and civil rights in order to create an authentic learning experience for their students.

Works Cited

Human Rights Watch. Home. 2015. Web 22 June, 2015. <http://www.humanrights.com/#/home>.

United Nations. United for Human Rights: Making Human Rights a Fact. 2015. Web 22 June, 2015. <http://www.humanrights.com/#/home>.

Walker, Alice. “In Full Bloom.” The Nation, September 20, 2004. 26. Web. 22 June, 2015. <https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4Z7FG60ezvwQVh1QTROTXJfX2c/view?usp=sharin>

Woodson, Jaqueline. Brown Girl Dreaming. Nancy Paulsen Books, 2014. e-Book.

Using Graphic Novels in the Classroom: Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood

            Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi is a graphic novel and memoir of a young girl who grew up in Iran amidst the Islamic Revolution and war with Iraq. The graphic novel provides insight into Iranian culture and provides a means for students to examine issues of global conflict in a way that they can relate to the character through both words and illustrations. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood is a graphic novel that would be worth teaching in the classroom because it is allows students the opportunity to peer into the life a young person living in a different time, place, and culture, and the graphic novel offers a unique structure that both excites and challenges students.

            I would use Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood in my classroom because it provides a unique medium for reading that might encourage reluctant readers to get on board with a book that is complex and examines some tough topics. While some readers may look at a graphic novel and dismiss its illustrations as juvenile, graphic novels are unique in the sense that "the illustrations enrich and extend the text" (Bucher & Hinton 337). For example, as readers read the words on the page and look at the images depicted with those words, they may get a different understanding of the meaning than if they had simply read the words. Satrapi does this in her graphic novel as she writes,"After a long sleep of 2,500 years, the revolution has finally awakened the people," yet the illustration below the text shows people who appear to be dead rather than sleeping and lying in the streets (44). Furthermore, Bucher and Hinton say that "readers must not only decode the words and the illustrations but must also identify what is happening between the visual sequences" (337). Therefore, graphic novels present a challenge to readers as they must make some predictions and interact with the story as it jumps from scene to scene. Furthermore, graphic novels are visual, which will appeal to visual learners and learners who may be intimidated by reading a wordy novel. The genre overall would be useful in the classroom.

            I would also use Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood as a multicultural work that would serve as a window for students to see a lifestyle that is different than their own. In general, multicultural literature allows readers to better understand other cultures and connect with people who are different than them; reading books about different parts of the world also helps eliminate stereotypes about different cultures (Bucher & Hinton 36-7). In their book about using young adult literature in the classroom, Bucher and Hinton suggest using Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood as a way "to provide insight into global conflicts and power struggles" (344). With this in mind, the book could be taught along with a social studies lesson about global conflict or the history of Iran. I think it would be an interesting topic for students to explore because they are bombarded with images of the Middle East that represent war, terrorism, enemies, and religious fanaticism. While the story does deal with these types of topics, I think it would be beneficial to students to learn about a character who is not so different from themselves who is in the Middle East and possibly expel some of their preconceived notions that they may associate with people who live in the Middle East. Marji deals with feeling lost, losing loved ones, rebelling, and dealing with fear, which are all universal struggles that students will be able to connect with their own lives (Satrapi 71, 65, 117, 140).

            Overall, Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi is a book that would be beneficial to students to read and explore in the classroom because it presents a different kind of novel that I think students would enjoy reading, and it also presents a character who lives in a different part of the world and has a unique perspective. The genre of the graphic novel is not widely used in classrooms; however, the genre has a great deal of potential for reluctant readers and lower level readers. There is value in utilizing different forms of literature and exposing students to a variety of genres. Perhaps a student who would not enjoy reading about the conflict in Iran in a history book would be interested in reading a graphic novel about the same topic.

Works Cited

Bucher, Katherine, and KaaVonia Hinton. Young Adult Literature: Exploration, Evaluation, and      Appreciation. 3rd ed. Boston: Pearson, 2014. Print.

Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood. Paris: Pantheon, 2003. Print.

Bodily Kinesthetic Poetry

Here is the link to the article I was talking about that incorporated bodily kinesthetic learning to teach poetic devices:

http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/vlzimmer/2.3zimmerman.pdf

Blog 9 - Revolution in the Words of a Brown Girl Dreaming and Langston Hughes

Revolution in the Words

of a Brown Girl Dreaming and Langston Hughes

     Social protest writing can take on many forms ranging from essays to novels to poetry. Jacqueline Woodson's narrative arc in Brown Girl Dreaming follows her memories, coming of age, and developing world view in the form of free verse. In one of the closing poems of Brown Girl Dreaming, “The Revolution,” Woodson presents her young girl's point of view about revolution, which takes form as a merry-go-round metaphor. In contrast, Langston Hughes social protest poem “Good Morning Revolution” is told through the eyes of an adult worker who addresses a personified revolution. The pairing of Langston Hughes' classic poem and Jacqueline Woodson's young adult poem would be useful in the classroom to compare the overt style of Hughes' social protest poem to the covert style of Woodson's childlike interpretation of revolution.

Although Langston Hughes is often viewed as a voice of the Harlem Rennaissance, he is also known for his social protest essays and poetry later in life. In particular, Hughes published a collection entitled Good Morning, Revolution: Uncollected Social Protest Writings in 1973, which contains his famous protest poem “Good Morning Revolution.” In the poem, Hughes personifies revolution who is the friend of workers. With an air of camaraderie, Worker tells his friend, Revolution, that it has become obvious to their boss that they have been hanging out together. Both Worker and Revolution are tired and hungry, but Worker says that they should take over everything used for production to give back to other workers. Hughes' Worker represents the laboring class, and the poem's message has a distinctly Marxist perspective because Hughes saw race as a class issue as well. Hughes' Marxist leanings can not be any clearer when he writes “Greetings to the Socialist Soviet Republics / Hey you rising workers everywhere greetings” (Hughes 50-51). Then Hughes writes “Sign it with my one name: Worker / On that day when no one will be hungry, cold oppressed, / Anywhere in the world again” (57-59). Hughes sees a worker's revolution against a privileged upper class, possibly by joining a union. This worldly and overt message of revolution serves as a contrast to Woodson's childlike perception of her Uncle Robert's discussions of revolution.

In Brown Girl Dreaming, it is evident that Woodson addresses revolution as well in “The Revolution,” which is a poem that is both childlike in its voice and use of metaphor, but adult in message. Woodson has stated that she initially was not sure who the audience would be for her memoirs in free verse (Fox). According to her memoir, part of Woodson's coming of age, as a reader and writer, was reading the poetry of Langston Hughes, which is reflected in three instances in Brown Girl Dreaming. First, Woodson opens her memoir with Hughes' poem “Dreams.” This poem supports her title, Brown Girl Dreaming, and her dream to be a writer. Second, she directly references and mimics Hughes' writing style in “Learning from Langston” in which Woodson expresses her love for her friend, Maria. This is a child's reworking of Hughes' simple untitled “I loved my friend” poem that originally addresses the death of Hughes' friend when he was an adult. In this instance, Woodson's reworking of the poem demonstrates her reading interests as a child, the development of her own writing with Hughes as a model, and the means in which reading and writing was an outlet for her memories. Similarly, Hughes' influence permeates her poetry again in “The Revolution.” Again, Woodson is childlike in her perception of her Uncle Robert's beliefs and ideas of revolution. “The Revolution” expresses an awareness of social change when she is “...too old / for hand holding and the like / The revolution is when Shirley Chisholm ran for president / and the rest of the world tried to imagine / a Black woman in the White House” (7 - 11). Woodson views herself as too old to have her hand held, but is aware of politics and knows of revolution even if it makes her think of carousels. She explains that she understands “that the revolution is like / a merry-go-round, history always being made / somewhere. And maybe for a short time, / we're a part of that history. And then the ride stops / and our turn is over” (16 - 20). Woodson's revolution can be interpreted as a burgeoning world view and awareness of the need to participate in social change or her personal revolution as a blossoming writer. Woodson's participation in revolution could also be reflected in her efforts to ensure that there is diversity in her writing. Interestingly, Hughes ends “Good Morning, Revolution!” with the command “Let's go, Revolution!” (63). Woodson answers this command in the final line of her “The Revolution” with “I am ready for the ride” (25). Woodson's dedication to ensuring that margianalized children and young adults have a voice through literature demonstrates she is ready for the ride; Woodson's efforts to include tough topics such as faith, race, sexual identity, alcoholism, and sexual abuse shows that she is ready for the ride. Thus, Hughes' “Good Morning Revolution” and Woodson's “The Revolution” would be worthy of comparison and contrast in a high school American literature class as poems that reflect the need for participation in social change.

With some prior planning and coordination, I would teach both poems so that they coincide with my students' Civil Rights Movement unit in United States History class. The focus of the lesson would be about how revolutions can take on many forms. In a perfect world, I would show scenes from The Butler, where Cecil, a White House butler, defies stereotypes of a black man that cannot hold a job, while his son is a freedom fighter and fulfills the stereotype of a rebellious black man in jail. This is a fictionalized movie loosely based on the life of Eugene Allen, who was a butler in the White House for 34 years. In The Butler, both Cecile and his son are ashamed of each other because each man disapproves of the other's choices. This would be an interesting backdrop to a discussion on Jacqueline's mother and Uncle Robert, who love each other even though Jacqueline's mother thinks that Robert does not always do what is right. The Butler demonstrates the many paths to social change and would be a great supplemental resource to assist student understanding of the issues that influenced Jaqueline, her mother, and Uncle Robert. Again, I could not require my students to watch the movie, but I could show brief clips to support my point. Regardless of whether The Butler is shown or not, I would pose to my students the following questions during and after reading Brown Girl Dreaming: (1) Who is the audience in each poem? (2) How would you describe the author's style in each poem? (3) What is the effect of Woodson's use of the carousel metaphor? (4) What is the effect of Hughes' use of personification? (5) When comparing the two poems, how is the message similar and different? (6) When Woodson states, “history always being made / somewhere. And maybe for a short time, / we're a part of that history. And then the ride stops / and our turn is over,” how is Woodson “a part of that history”? How is Hughes' a part of history? These questions require higher level critical thinking skills such as analysis, evaluation, and judgement, which are required for truly appreciating Brown Girl Dreaming. Although the memoir can be read in a day, it is worthy of a slow, considerate read and discussion.

Poetry Off the Shelf Podcast

Just this weekend, I was catching up with some of my favorite podcasts and came across this episode of "Poetry Off the Shelf" with Jacqueline Woodson. She talks about her work and even reads a couple of poems. Give it a listen if you are so inclined.

Introduction to Poetry

    Poetry can sometimes be a more difficult genre for young adult readers than others. There is a great deal of power in poetry that young adults can connect with if guided by their teacher. Bucher and Hinton state that “When poem and reader connect, poetry has the power to elicit rich sensory images and deep emotional responses” (Bucher and Hinton 300). For this reason, it is important to incorporate a variety of poetry in the classroom. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson is a text that includes several types of poetry. Woodson tells the story of her childhood through a novel in poetic form. This text gives readers a unique perspective of Woodson’s life. While poetry can be daunting to some students, “ghosts” and “home” are two poems within Brown Girl Dreaming that evoke rich images and emotional responses while being accessible to young adult readers and providing for activities to engage in the poems themselves.

            If students are reluctant to engage in poetry, “ghosts” is a poem that will offer them an opportunity to become comfortable with poems. “ghosts” is a short poem that students can easily digest. First, I would have students read the poem silently and make notes of words that stood out to them, punctuation that they thought was creative, or abnormal capitalizations or bolded words that indicate emphasis. Since this poem doesn’t rhyme, we will begin with reading silently because Bucher and Hinton indicate that “poems that were serious, or without rhyme or obvious rhythm, scored highest when students read them silently” (Bucher and Hinton 308). Asking the students to save words and phrases that stuck out to them during their first read through not only causes them to engage in the text but helps them to be more aware of their thoughts about the poem. After this activity, we will break into small groups of three or four students. The groups will then take turns reading the poem out loud, emphasizing the parts that stood out to them. I will model how to read poetry by only pausing at punctuation marks instead of at the end of the lines. Once the students have had an opportunity to hear each other’s emphasis, we will discuss how the punctuation marks contributed to their understanding of the poem. We will also discuss why they think the author wrote “WHITE ONLY” (Woodson 73) in all capital letters. I also would ask what they think the author meant and what emotions they felt by the words “like a ghost standing in front/still keeping you out” (73).  From this poem, students will begin to be more comfortable reading poetry silently and aloud and engaging in the poem as well.

            Once students have become more familiar with Woodson’s poetry and engaged in the emotional nature of her poems, we would transition to “home.” “home” is an emotional poem because it is a memory of Woodson’s family life. There is a feeling of love and comfort from reading this text. Everything in the text shows readers that this is home. For example, “A front porch swing thirsty for oil./A pot of azaleas blooming” (27) indicates that Woodson felt welcomed at her grandparents’ house. She continues by describing tears being wiped away “And me,/the new baby, set deep/inside this love” (27). It is clear that this memory is positive. Students would start by reading the text silently. I would then ask for a volunteer to read the poem to the class. After this, we would discuss how the enjambment effected the reading of the poem. Finally, students would write their own poems, in a similar style, about a positive childhood memory. They would use “home” as their example. This would give students an opportunity to explore their feelings about “home” and create their own powerful poem.

            As Bucher and Hinton indicate in their text, poetry can be a difficult genre for students but by choosing poems students can relate to and understand and by creating activities that engage them in the texts, poetry can become a genre they appreciate. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson is a unique text that incorporates a variety of poems, including “ghosts” and “home.” Both poems are emotionally based and can elicit similar emotions from students. By asking students to read silently, read aloud, and record the parts of the poem that stood out to them, students are not only engaging in the text but becoming acquainted with the constructs of poetry. Part of the battle of teaching poetry is showing students that it is a genre they can understand and tackle. Engaging in these activities will hopefully help my students enjoy poetry. (Woodson) (Bucher)

Works Cited

Bucher, Katherine and KaaVonia Hinton. Young Adult Literature: Exploration, Evaluation, and Appreciation. 3rd ed. Boston: Pearson, 2014. Print.

Woodson, Jacqueline. Brown Girl Dreaming. New York: Nancy Paulsen Books, 2014. E-book.

Entry #9: Poetry and the Arts - Getting Students to By-In

Students tend to shy away from poetry partly because it is intimidating. “In the not-so-distant past, some people thought 'poetry was best left in the hands of experts, those deemed knowledgeable enough to decipher and interpret the enigmatic language,' but fortunately poetry has changed and students can personally connect to many contemporary poetry (Bucher and Hinton 300). With that in mind, Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson paired with Big Talk: Poetry for Four Voices by Paul Fleischman would be an excellent way to engage students in poetry because they encourage students to read poems aloud and make personal connections to poetry.

I would start my poetry unit using Big Talk: Poetry for Four Voices by Paul Fleischman to tie in the arts with drama standards because as many would argue, poems are meant to be read aloud (Buchman and Hinton 307). WV state standards say students should be able to demonstrate a focus on concentration, observation and believable action necessary to sustain a character, improvisation or scene (TH.O.L1.2.02.), as well as experiment with a variety of ways to use the body and voice to react to actions and given situations in solo, partner and group improvisations and performances (TH.O.L1.2.02). By starting the unit with Big Talk, students would easily be meeting the above standards when they recite the poem. Big Talk is a collection of poems that are written for four people to recite. Each voice is highlighted in a different color so that the readers can tell which lines they should read. The teacher could have students get in groups of four, choose a poem, and begin practicing. Groups would recite the poem in front of the class. Being sure to meet the criteria for using their voices and bodies. This would provide a great discussion about how much fun reading and listening to poetry can be and how doing so helps to make personal connections, as well as gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for a piece of poetry.

Students would then, be given Brown Girl Dreaming and asked to while the were reading, look for poems that spoke to them because they either begged to be read aloud or because the student made a personal connection with it. During class, the teacher could read aloud individual poems from the book or have students get in pairs to read poems to each other. Together the class could discuss how the poem was read, their individual impressions and about different ways of interpreting the poem. One such poem I would use for this exercise is “Writing 2.” I specifically love the line “The song makes me think of Greenville and Brookly – the two worlds my heart lives in now. I am writing the lyrics down, trying to catch each word before it's gone” (Woodson 220). Almost everyone can relate to feeling like they belong in two worlds. The class and I could discuss what it means to us; what we think it meant to Jackie. I would ask the students to take note of when I paused and used infliction as I read the poem aloud, as well as ask if anyone would like to also read it aloud, perhaps slightly different than I did. Through the time spent modeling reading aloud and practicing how to have these types of conversation, the students would feel more comfortable doing so themselves. Students could then, be put in groups of four in order to engage in authentic poetry discussions, where they discuss the poem, take turns reading the poem in various interpretive ways, share general impressions, work individually or take notes on their impressions of the poem, share their ideas, and finally, take time to reach a group consensus about a poem (Bucher and Hinton 308). Using these types of activities, the teacher would have many opportunities to expose students to discussions on a lot of the poems within the book while meeting standards in both English and theater.

Through exposure of listening and reading poems out loud, students would begin to see the emotion and personal connections that can be made in poetry. The emotion would evoke good conversations about digging deeply into the poems for meaning and interpretation. By starting with Big Talk: Poetry for Four Voices by Paul Fleischman, the excitement of reading aloud would provoke to engage even the most reluctant poetry readers. Followed up with the authentic poetry discussions that would accompany Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson , this would create the perfect pairing for hooking students on poetry because students would be encouraged to read poems aloud and make personal connections to poetry.

Works Cited

Bucher, Katherine and KaoVonia Hinton. Young Adult Literature: Exploration, Evaluation and Appreciation. 3^rd ed. Boston: Pearson, 2014. Print.

Fleischman, Paul. Big Talk: Poems for Four Voices. Cambridge: Candlewick Press, 2000.

Woodson, Jacqueline. Brown Girl Dreaming. New York: Penguin Random House Company, 2014. Electronic.

West Virginia Department of Education. “WV State Standards.” WVDE. 19 June 2015. Web.