Adolescence marks the turning point of an individual's life, establishing the foundation of their development. It is during this phase that individuals leave behind the comfort of childhood and enter a reality beset with new perceptions of life. There are many stages of life, each enclosing its own distinct characteristics. As evident in the short story, The Master of Disaster, written by Guy Vanderhaeghe, adolescence involves growth as an individual, both physically and emotionally. Although each phase has its own challenges and difficulties, adolescence proves to be the most difficult stage of life to overcome. Through examination of the situations in the story, it becomes apparent that adolescence involves experiencing emotional conflicts between friends, searching for one's identity amid a period of change and overcoming the negative influence of peer pressure.
Adolescence is a stage of life, overwhelmed by emotional conflicts
between friends. It is a period of time where emotional instincts are
weighed more than good judgement, when making decisions that will
alter the outcome of the future. As evident in the story, there exists
a strong emotional bond between Bernie and Kurt, "Whatever I withheld
from Hiller, whatever would have been unspeakable in the company of
the others was confided to Kurt Meinecke." (Vanderhaeghe, 59) It
is apparent that trust is the foundation of their friendship. Trust is
the firm belief in the reliability, truth and strength of an
individual. However, Bernie decides to betray this trust, in choosing
not to advise him of the intentions of Norman Hiller, "Norman was the
flashy type, the guy who collected followers, collected them the way
he did baseball cards and Superman comic boo...
... middle of paper ...
...ents experience a time of
mixed emotions between friends. They tend to make decisions, not with
their head, but instead with their heart. Furthermore, adolescence is
the turning point, through which individuals shape their identity.
However, this proves to be difficult during a period of change,
mentally and physically. Finally, within this transition, young people
have the tendency to find reassurance in their peers. Nevertheless,
this can often lead to negative peer pressure. The need for acceptance
exists, so they are inclined to be vulnerable to influence. In a fast
paced society, where constant change is inevitable, the transition
from child to adult proves to be the most difficult. It is at this
point in life, that adolescents shape the outcome of the future.
Work Cited
Vanderhaeghe, Guy. Things as They Are? Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1992.
Introduction:The road to maturity and adulthood can be a long and difficult road for teens, especially when it comes to decision making and changing your view on the world. The popular short story, “On the Sidewalk Bleeding”, written by world-renowned author, Evan Hunter in 1957, displays this perfectly. Hunter uses the protagonist, Andy, to illustrate his development from adolescence into adulthood as he shifts from a state of ignorance to a state of knowledge, from a mindset of idealism to realism and from a selfish personality to a selflessness personality. Hunter expresses the major theme of coming of age through this protagonist character who is seen shifting from a state of adolescence to a more matured state of adulthood throughout the story.
The heroine of the story ‘’Connie,’’ engages in an adolescent rebellion against her entourage by acting older. This increases her vulnerability throughout the story and at the end leads her to a perverse person. A psychological approach to this teenager’s behavior would highlight some difficulties youth encounter in their mid-adolescent life. Some attitudes that she exhibits in her fantasy life are egocentric, superficial, narcissistic, sophisticated and provocative, and they should be considered responsible for her disappearance. Among the characters involved in the story, Connie is undoubtedly the one that carries the most sympathy in the reader’s view.
In J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, the main character Holden Caufield believes that innocence is corrupted by society. He exposes his self-inflicted emotional struggles as he is reminiscing the past. For Holden, teenage adolescence is a complicated time for him, his teenage mentality in allows him to transition from the teenage era to the reality of an adult in the real world. As he is struggling to find his own meaning of life, he cares less about others and worries about how he can be a hero not only to himself but also to the innocent youth. As Holden is grasping the idea of growing up, he sets his priorities of where he belongs and how to establish it. As he talks about how ‘phony’ the outside world is, he has specific recollections that signify importance to his life and he uses these time and time again because these memories are ones that he wont ever let go of. The death of his younger brother Allie has had a major impact on him emotionally and mentally. The freedom of the ducks in Central Park symbolize his ‘get away’ from reality into his own world. His ideology of letting kids grow up and breaking the chain loose to discover for themselves portrays the carrousel and the gold ring. These are three major moments that will be explored to understand the life of Holden Caufield and his significant personal encounters as he transitions from adolescence into manhood.
According to Steinberg (2014) adolescents is a time of growing up, of moving from the immaturity of childhood into the maturity of adulthood, of preparation for the future. It is a period of transitions: biological, psychological, and social. Adolescence can begin as early as ten years of age and not end until the adolescent is in their early twenties. It is important to note that adolescent development occurs at different times for each individual. Therefore, students in the same grade that are around the same age may be going through different developmental stages of adolescents. The purpose of this analysis paper is to discuss the different stages of adolescent development, how they affect the maturity of the students and to determine
A common pattern in the destruction of childhood and teenage year is visible when one is trying to achieve their self-identity. In Vanderhaeghe’s “Master of Disaster” Kurt Meinecke is in search of his identity by finding his sport, he comes from a family of distinguished athletes and as a Meinecke, Kurt wants to validate that he has “the bloodlines of a champion” (Vanderhaeghe 60). Kurt is obligated to find his skill in sports as it is anticipated for him to achieve the same level of success like his family. Unlike his family, Kurt Meinecke has the “failure to shine on the fields of glory” (Vanderhaeghe 60) because he is barely mediocre and does not have any talent but Kurt to continuously tries to seek the game in which he will succeed in,
Where are you going, where have you been is the most gripping short story that I have ever read so far. This story has sealed my interest in Oates and was very much a page turner. The short story follows a teenage adolescent girl name Connie; she is presented as a typical teenage girl finding herself. Connie is very confident; she spends time looking at herself in the mirror and aware of her beauty. She is portrayed as caring for herself more than her family. By the end of the story there’s growth within Connie by the act of self sacrifice for her family. Her mother who’s described as having faded beauty was always after her, a frumpy boring sister and a disconnected father.
Thirteen: The Age of Adolescence Adolescence is the stage in life when you are no longer a child, but not yet an adult. There are many things that still need to be explored, learned, and conquered. In the film Thirteen, the main character, Tracy Freeland, is just entering adolescence. While trying to conquer Erikson’s theory of Identity vs. Role confusion, Tracy is affected by many influences, including family and friends, that hinder her development. Many concepts from what we have learned in class can be applied to this character, from identity development, to depression, to adolescent sexuality and more.
“In middle childhood, 30% of a child’s social interactions involve peers, compared to 10% in early childhood” (Blume, 2010). Children place a large importance on friendship more when they grow older. In early childhood, friendships are associated with a particular activity. During middle childhood, children focus more on bonds and trust when it comes to making friends. Children start to use selective association meaning that children start to pair off with people that have the same interests as them. Sociable kids are attracted to other sociable kids and children who are shy tend to get left behind.
Successful resolution of this psychosocial stage of development is imperative in order to acquire an enduring incorporated sense of self and to progress to the next stage of development. Society and one’s culture also contributes enormously to the commitment or prevention of dealing with the challenges faced during adolescence. Regardless of what challenges are faced during this stage of development, overcoming it is a fundamental necessity in order to progress into a strong-willed and stable individual in
In example, according to the Euro-Western view, adolescence is characterised by the interaction between the individual’s biological development and the demands requested by the industrial and post-industrial societies. Although adolescence is globally referred to as the period in life that groups individuals from 12 to 18 years, each individual’s development varies within different countries and cultures. According to the Euro-Western world, adolescence is a time in life that is characterised by experimentation, fun as well as personal growth that will later lead the individual to become a full adult. However, not every young individual experiences this positive and fun side of this life stage. In fact, adolescence is characterised by the hormonal changes that occur during puberty, which are argued to influence adolescents’ behaviour. Hall (cited in Drewery and Claiborne, 2010) argued that due to the effects caused by puberty, young individuals often experience tension, conflicts with their parents and peers, as well as critical mood changes. In line with Hall, Freud (cited in Drewery and Claiborne, 2010) argues that adolescence is a life stage in which it is hard to maintain a steady equilibrium. For these reasons, adolescence can still be considered a “problematic” stage in life, yet it is not necessary true that these conflicts are triggered by biological changes (Drewery and Claiborne,
For nearly fifty years Erikson 's psychosocial theory has provided an essential framework in understanding the role of adolescence in life-course development, especially the crises of identity and intimacy and their achievement. During adolescence, we are confronted with “the need to resolve the crises of identity versus identity diffusion and intimacy versus isolation” (Meacham & Santilli). Because it is a volatile stage of development, many changes are taking place during this part of the lifecycle, including deciding who to be with, who we are and what our roles are in society.
challenged to transition from childhood to adulthood. As Adler describes it, “For most children, adolescence means one thing above all else: he must prove he is no longer a child” (Fall & Berg, 1996, p.433). Adolescent individuals must understand his or her place within society, family, and community while simultaneously seeking independence in task and identity.
During this stage adolescents develop a better understanding of self and belonging or they face identity crisis and role confusion. During this stage in my life I felt that I was rebelling and doing things that were not age appropriate. I did not respect authority and thought it was ok to do what I wanted to do. Even though I was a young teenager I did not think of myself that way. I thought of myself more like an adult. Through my negative experiences in this stage I suffered identity crisis and role
My physical development was not so difficult for me. I experienced the growth spurt when I was10 to 15-years old. I didn’t think it was difficult time for me because my range of growth spurt was not so large. Additionally, I did not belong to sports club, so I did not feel uncomfortable when I move my body. I think I am a late bloomer because I have never had boyfriend. But I think it is advantage for me because I am not a “boy-crazy”. I know some friends who are early bloomer and being “boy-crazy”, I do not want to be like them. I have my own interest and I have something what I want to do besides dating with boys. My physical developments have some effects on my character of today. I think it is because I was taller than others since very young, my friends often said to me “you are like my elder sister.” This phrase makes me think that I need to be like elder sister when I was child. It is related to more about psychological development, but this way of thinking came from my height. One of other physical development related issue that makes me struggle is my period. Every time I am in period, I have pain in stomach and back; I feel sleepy, hungry, and irritating; and I have skin problems. I think there are more people who have more heavy symptoms of period, however, sometimes I cannot endure these. My physical developments have some effects on me, but it was not so difficult for me to pass through.
My topic of this research paper is adolescence. I will first be discussing about my experience of adolescence. My story is about the embarrassment of my bangs, zits from them, and the nickname I got from them. The story shows how I cracked from the social pressure and followed the crowd. I will then be talk about the research I found about adolescence and things that tie into my story. I will talk about adolescence and the stages, the effects of behavior, social developments, and the change it has on the body. I will also tie in with Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, self-efficacy, and motivation.