Meghan Cox Gurdon brought up an interesting point in her article “Darkness Too Visible”; she said that young adult literature is “too dark” and goes into “stomach-clenching detail” of very dark and depressing topics (Gurdon). While I may be able to see how someone in deep pain could relate to those characters, I believe that young adult literature writers have forgotten who their stories are really for. The definition of a young adult is a child in the age range from twelve to eighteen, but some children are better readers than others. I remember that when I was nine I read my first book that was targeted towards young adults. The main question here is who is or wants to be reading these books? I ask this question mainly because I myself …show more content…
A great example of a book where great problems are faced without dark themes is The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. In this novel the main character, Nobody, went through the issues of growing up, finding safe places, and even mortality. Gaiman even was able to have both parents of the main character be viscously murdered without making it so bloody and gory that a nine year old would be afraid to continue reading. This book was also perfectly clean of all inappropriate or “dark” themes. Gaiman should be a role model to other young adult authors for how to get a point across without awful themes. Gaiman is not the only author to do this either; Gene Luen Yang wrote a moving graphic novel, American Born Chinese, about fitting in and being who you truly are without mentioning rape self harm once. Ru Freeman does a great job of explaining this is her article, “I’m with Meghan Cox Gurdon”, when she asks, “how any book that is filled with gore that runs the gamut from rape to incest to addiction to murder and every variance in between, without any of those things being absolutely essential to the development of character or plot, can be lauded as being a solid addition to the life of the mind for a child”
With all these aspects to consider, Delores Phillips’s The Darkest Child should not be added to a high school curriculum because it contains mature contents and vivid descriptions that high school students would not understand especially since there is an excessive use of profanity and sexuality. The novel contains a well written story and should not be discourage from reading but should not be placed in a high school setting. Not all of the mature contents are explicitly stated, but many of them are inferred to the reader. The novel is an emotional story and should be read for pleasure rather than studied in a school setting by high school students.
War was one of the most difficult and brutal things a society could ever go through. World War II was especially terrible because it affected so many people.World War II was centered in Europe and the people of the European countries felt the effects much more than many of the other countries that were also participating in the world war. In the book All the Light We Cannot See written by Anthony Doerr, the story took place during World War II in Europe, the center stage for the war. This war was one of the most difficult wars because it destroyed homes, displaced thousands, tore families apart, killed off loved ones, and forced people to make tough decisions they had to live with for the rest of their lives. In All The Light We Cannot See,
Certainly this book is written for adults. The authour uses profanity and racial remarks, but it is necessary to tell the story in that manner. The bad language used by the characters shows their hate and anger, but also shows that some are willing to change their ways.
Norman Schwarzkopf Jr, a famous war soldier once said, "The truth of the matter is you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it." Although society has the potential to help others in need they restrict themselves from doing the right thing. But when society is challenged with a problem only some step up against to the odds to make a difference. Throughout history, during times of devastation and separation there are people that show a ray of light that gives people hope during the darkest times.
Understanding That point, It may make them want to read even more but it’s that the setting took place in a house of an old man that was killed of his eye. I think that more our age group won’t understand that this could possibly happen. This book grabs your attention but knowing that you could do this in a way to “get rid of something” that bothers you. It’s simple, and most people don’t feel bad in a way that their conscance don’t affect them in a way.
Having literature that can speak to your situation in life is what young adults need in their books. In Donna’s Norton Through the Eyes of a Child she lists seven characteristics of a good young adult novel and some of them are,“written from the viewpoint of an of young people, main characters must overcome their problem without help from the parent, deal with emotional problem of young adults and have fast paced storyline” (Norton, 2007). The Fault in Our Stars executed theses things perfectly. It is told from the perspective of a sixteen year old girl, living with cancer, but still going through what most sixteen year old’s go through, She has parents who do not understand her life and what she is going through so they cannot actually help her with her problems and she falls in love for the first time and experienced a tragic heartbreak. The story goes on how life does for a teenager, everything is happening fast and very out of their control, and they must live as best as they can with the circumstances of their life. John Green wrote more than just a teen cancer book, he told the experiences of not having any control in your teen years by using
To begin with, portrayals of death and violence in young adult literature provide essential information to
the entire town. It can be clearly seen that what is created in the first
Night by Elie Wiesel and Life is Beautiful share common themes. Both of these stories take place during the Holocaust, which was when Hitler wanted to annihilate all of the Jews. One theme they both share is father-son “bonding”. In both stories, 2 of the main characters are the father and son who are both going through the Holocaust. Another theme is silence. There are times in both Night and Life is Beautiful that silence plays a key role. A third theme between the two is innocence. Elie was very young when he entered into the concentration camps. Joshua is even younger when he goes through the Holocaust.
Around the age of 11 to 14, children are typically seen as no good preteens who do not need to be fed any more fuel to their anti-authority behavior. Children within this age group are typically found on a confusing path of finding their own identity. From the time they were born, they had their parents, or guardian around the corner to help with any confusing moments. Around ages 11 to 14, children are seeking to become young adults, and they feel as if they have to do it on their own. With literature, educators and parents can still guide the children to the right path of becoming a proper young adult.
Why can’t adults read YA books? Why are adults getting judge because, of the books they choose to read? Ruth Graham stated in her slate article “Against YA” that “Adults who read YA books should feel embarrassed.”(Graham) Ruth Graham gives some good information on why they shouldn’t but she lacked a lot of support behind her opinions. The type of book genres you read does not define you as an adult or teenager. Adults should be able to read whatever type of genre they feel the need to.
Many may argue, “Children are mature enough to choose their own books!” However a medical discovery has shown that children and teenagers are not mature enough through physical evidence. “Understanding the Teen Brain,” an article on the Online Medical Encyclopedia, states that “The rational part of a teen’s brain isn’t fully developed and won’t be until he or she is 25 years old or so.” This shows that children cannot decide for themselves what is good for them to read. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the adults to decide which books should or should not be banned.
Nathaniel Hawthorne's bold novel, The Scarlet Letter, effectively employs three major symbols: light, dark, and the scarlet letter. The novel relies heavily on light and dark symbolism to represent the eternal struggle of good versus evil.
Sometimes, the juveniles of the nation do not know where to turn. They lose all faith in humanity and themselves. The point of young adult literature is to provide hope for those in distress, to give them something to escape to when everything crumbles around them. The youth of America have been given the freedom to do what they please, and each generation has defined that freedom. The true American experience will never be set in stone, because it changes all the time.
Seeing as how I am only a sophomore in high school, I personally believe that I have experienced things that people in their 50’s and 60’s haven’t gone through. I have been lost in the dark, so many times and only able to get a flicker of a light for a short time to immediately go straight back into the darkness. Don’t take that as a bad thing, take it as this teen has a lot of experience for his age and doesn’t completely know how to cope or understand some of his past situations. Comparing the writings to my own life experiences, I believe that Emily Dickinson was right where I was at one point in her