A young girl is standing with a gun ready to fire. Her best friend Will walks toward her, another gun outstretched. She pleads for him to snap out of it. But, Will can't hear her, he's being controlled. She shoots, letting the bullet fly through his head. She flees the area crying to herself. Thankfully, this isn't real. This is a scene from the book Divergent, by Veronica Roth. This is one of the new popular book series from the Young Adult Literature genre. Young women are looking up to such heroines like Tris, described above. We know because the Hunger Games series alone has sold more than 65 million copies. These heroines are presented as strong willed, persistent, and smart role models for young women around the world. In fact I am going to argue that Young Adult Heroine Literature is the most influential source of entertainment for young women today. I will argue this by showing that our literary heroines make smart, influential decisions, they don’t care about their outward appearance like some many women do, and they have changed our world in a few simple days. Also, our world has been influenced by heroines. Adults, writers, and young women alike have many different ways in which Heroines have impacted our life all throughout history.
The Heroine was developed fully in the late 1500s and the early 1600s by William Shakespeare. During the 1700s and the 1800s it was the reign of Queen Victoria and women were starting to get recognized. Most of Shakespeare’s plays and stories were about women. At the time, his works were being read and watched by all. Shakespeare’s women were made with the best virtues, they were always doing what they were supposed to be doing. At least, that’s what you are meant to think. The women of ...
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...ts, because, books are the most influential thing, that I have ever seen.
Works Cited
Collins, Suzanne, and Phil Falco. "Chapter 1." The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic, 2008. 6. Print.
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Roth, Veronica. Divergent. New York: HarperCollins Children's, 2012. 78. Print.
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...set examples for future generations and have shed light on the feminist movement in the U.S.
Booth, Alison, J. Paul Hunter, and Kelly J. Mays. The Norton Introduction to Literature. Shorter 9th ed. New York: Norton, 2006. A7
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Nancy Drew is noteworthy for her lack of dependence on male characters for assist and honored for her independence at a young age. Drew is a young woman who appeals young readers due to her fantasy life. She is an attractive, young, well-mannered, witted woman with a nice house, whose self-determination provide her noble access to the real world. By her courageous personality and spirit, she is a role model of gender roles in children's literature. Furthermore, Nancy Drew's adventures gives us fair ideas on justice and discrimination in the world. Ultimately, Nancy Drew’s mysteries are inspiring, presents with female empowerment, and gives examples of independency throughout the series.
However, well beneath the surface of the plotline, the viewer can also find himself or herself looking at a struggle for survival that is greatly affected by the roles of genders. Collins asks many questions regarding this; such as “If young girls do not see themselves reflected in media, will this diminish their sense of importance and self-esteem? Will boys conclude that women and girls are unimportant, as well? Will girls lack role models? Will adult women feel disenfranchised? Does the under-representation of women constrict societal perspectives and information in important ways?” (Collins). If Becky had not followed the standard gender role that the frame of time presented itself, she may have seen herself surviving the endeavor, despite almost no chance of her doing so. It is one of those things that today’s society may be glad to have moved past, because there is no reason for anyone to lose their life because they rely so heavily on the opposite
Murty, Govindini. "Decoding the Influences in "The Hunger Games"" The Atlantic. The Atlantic, 26 Mar. 2012. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
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The involvement of social issues in young adult literature is no red flag to modern day society. New Realism, which first occurred around the 1960’s-1970, lead to the evolution of the appropriateness of social issues in the young adult literature genre. (Robinson) In Francesca Lia Block's Wolf, the author addresses the taboos of sexual violence and abuse in the home, and pairs this with the idea of female self-empowerment, and the age appropriateness of young adult literature for young adults.
Fisher, Jerilyn, and Ellen S. Silber. Women in Literature: Reading Through the Lens of Gender. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2003. Print.
Throughout American Literature, women have been depicted in many different ways. The portrayal of women in American Literature is often influenced by an author's personal experience or a frequent societal stereotype of women and their position. Often times, male authors interpret society’s views of women in a completely different nature than a female author would. While F. Scott Fitzgerald may represent his main female character as a victim in the 1920’s, Zora Neale Hurston portrays hers as a strong, free-spirited, and independent woman only a decade later in the 1930’s.
Updike, John. “A&P.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. 10th ed. Eds. Alison Booth and Kelly J. Mays. New York: Norton, 2010. 409-414. Print.
“Girls wear jeans and cut their hair short and wear shirts and boots because it is okay to be a boy; for a girl it is like promotion. But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading, according to you, because secretly you believe that being a girl is degrading” (McEwan 55-56). Throughout the history of literature women have been viewed as inferior to men, but as time has progressed the idealistic views of how women perceive themselves has changed. In earlier literature women took the role of being the “housewife” or the household caretaker for the family while the men provided for the family. Women were hardly mentioned in the workforce and always held a spot under their husband’s wing. Women were viewed as a calm and caring character in many stories, poems, and novels in the early time period of literature. During the early time period of literature, women who opposed the common role were often times put to shame or viewed as rebels. As literature progresses through the decades and centuries, very little, but noticeable change begins to appear in perspective to the common role of women. Women were more often seen as a main character in a story setting as the literary period advanced. Around the nineteenth century women were beginning to break away from the social norms of society. Society had created a subservient role for women, which did not allow women to stand up for what they believe in. As the role of women in literature evolves, so does their views on the workforce environment and their own independence. Throughout the history of the world, British, and American literature, women have evolved to become more independent, self-reliant, and have learned to emphasize their self-worth.