Countless parents are exposing their children to material that could scar them. This material, young adult literature, is a plague infecting the world. Young adult literature is literature for and about adolescents that often addresses mature topics. Although the language is acceptable for teens, the content is still very explicit. There is a major debate regarding young adult literature, as there are many people that feel that these novels have much to offer. However, young adult literature is not benefitting adolescents. Therefore, teenagers should not read young adult literature. Young adult literature addresses content too mature for adolescents. Topics such as suicide, sex, and abortion are common plot points found in young adult novels. …show more content…
One of these is how the popular kids dislike the unpopular kids. There is an article in the Huffington Post that talks about how most of the time, the popular girls do not actually hate those in their social circle (DeRosa). Personally, I feel that at my school, this does not exist. While people may eat lunch separately, interactions are free. If someone wanted to talk to someone else, then they just do. The fact of the matter is, most kids just want to get along. So while these books may be claiming to help kids deal with their problems, the reality is that they are making the problems of labeling. Another character that gets generalized in young adult literature are the parents or guardians. Most of the time, they are cast as bad parents or just simply absent. Julie Just, who is a writer for the New York Times, states, "...The bad parent is now enjoying something of a heyday. It would be hard to come up with an exact figure from the thousands of Y.A. novels published every year, but what’s striking is that some of the most sharply written and critically praised works reliably feature a mopey, inept, distracted or ready-for-rehab parent, suggesting that this has become a particularly resonant figure." Just is saying that all parents are generalized as either bad or missing from the teenagers' life. Look at one of the bestselling young adult novels of all time; Harry
Reading Chapter 11, “Genders and Sexualities,” written by Carrie Hintz was to construct and enact alternatives for these two traditional categories. Data is clearly indicated that sexual material is some of the most controversial content in literature. Children’s literature that is involved with adolescent’s childhood are key battlegrounds for attitudes about gender and sexuality. The significance of gender and sexuality in children’s literature is the persistent investment in what is perceived to be the innocence of children. Innocence is defined in part by children’s enforced ignorance of sexual matters. According to James Kincaid, “Youth and innocence are two of the most eroticized constructions of the past two centuries. Innocence was that
It is well known that books read by adolescents are somewhat inappropriate in certain ways such as language and the types of actions done by the characters. Some books consist of drugs, sex, and violence which obviously isn’t very appropriate nor does it consist of positive values. It is easy to see why some books ar...
After finishing the book, this book should not be in the banned books. This book has strong language for a younger child to read. it shows what can happen to teenagers, what students will do with drugs, and it has a strong message for older teens. For younger readers, this book carries very strong language but it has a strong message. One of those is that it shows what students will do with drugs.
In a country like the United States of America, with a history of every individual having an equal opportunity to reach their dreams, it becomes harder and harder to grasp the reality that equal opportunity is diminishing as the years go on. The book Our Kids by Robert Putnam illustrates this reality and compares life during the 1950’s and today’s society and how it has gradually gotten to a point of inequality. In particular, he goes into two touching stories, one that shows the changes in the communities we live in and another that illustrates the change of family structure. In the end he shows how both stories contribute to the American dream slipping away from our hands.
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.
After reading the directions and topic for this paper, I was extremely eager to get started. Adolescence is a stage of life that is very critical for a person. Speaking from my own experience, I know that the teenage years are a difficult part of life and during these years, one experiences a rollercoaster of different emotions, obstacles, and decision-making. Aside from the topic of Adolescence, I was glad that I could choose which movie I wanted to watch, and that was an easy decision. I decided to watch Sixteen Candles. The last time I watched this movie was when I received the DVD as a gift, which was when I turned sixteen. Watching the movie then, I obviously did not realize that most of the problems and events that occurred in the movie
For centuries, society has placed a remarkably large emphasis on protecting the young from the many perceived errors of growing up. Effective sex education is resisted in many locations across the country in favor of somewhat comical biblical suggestions for abstinence until marriage even while the majority of those targeted teens are viewing the world as a more and more sexual place. So many views are weaving in and out of teenagers' newly formed adolescent minds that any effective argument for responsible attitudes or analysis of sexual behavior in teens should be expressed with a certain minimal degree of clarity. Unfortunately, this essential lucidity of advice is missing in the short story “Where are You Going, Where Have You Been,” in which the misguided Joyce Carol Oates creates the character of Arthur Friend as a cliché personification of the inner demon of uncontrollably budding sexuality. Instead, the murky characterization of the antagonist presents nothing more than a confused and ambiguous view of the meaning of the story.
Nilson, Allen Pace & Kenneth L. Donelson. “Stages of Literary Appreciation” in Literature for Today’s Young Adults. Longman, 2001: pp. 35-42. [PDF in Blackboard]
In today’s world of multimedia it has become extremely hard to avoid the introduction of adult themes to younger children, who lack the maturity to process and question the information. Young people are bombarded continually with unsuitable and undesirable concepts that give false images of acceptable behavior. Music, movies, television, internet and video games are accredited with the moral deterioration of present day youth. Great strides have been made to establish rating guidelines, parental controls and warning labels that assist adults in making informed choices on what their children should or should not be able to access but they are not perfect.
Everyone knows that growing up is not an easy thing to do. In fact, the teenage years can be one of the most tumultuous stages of a person’s life. Changes take place daily, making it seem as though a person has no control over his life. These years often are marked by feelings of insecurity, hostility, and uncertainty. Despite this, however, the fact remains that the teenage years also serve as a time of personal growth and maturation. Because these years are so important, it is my belief that schools would be wise to consider adding a unit devoted to the study of texts that chronicle this growth process. I believe that many students would benefit greatly from a curricular unit centered around the “coming of age” theme.
...s intended for adult audiences who are capable of conceiving a subtle nuance as the story was told by innocent voices.
Novels are a certain maturity level, but sometimes the reader has reached the level yet, creating a gap of thoughts between the reader and the novel. To Kill a Mockingbird has numerous examples of mature themes, but the most notable scene is the entire rape trial of Tom Robinson. This entire section of the novel may be very confusing to an immature reader. Many children don’t fully understand the concept of rape until they are in eighth grade or high school, leaving something to be said about how many fifth, sixth, and seventh graders who read To Kill a Mockingbird without any recollect of rape. Also, most young readers do not fully understand the judicial system, especially during this time period, as it is drastically different from the judicial system today. “Schools sometimes argue that providing alternative materials can mean that some children are being exposed to information very selectively and therefore are not being adequately educated. ” (The Issue of Censorship, 199-200) This quote is a pure example of how the school boards and parents of the young readers choose to not allow their children to learn about something so mature for their age that they don 't understand yet. Mature themes create raise numerous flags as a reason for censorship primarily because of the confusion it gives to an immature
Kids that age should not be using that kind of language, but, let's face it, in high school, teenagers are going to say bad things they shouldn't. Most books that contain bad language, are set for a higher grade level and shouldn't be available to elementary kids. In my opinion us high schoolers, and few middle schoolers, are mature enough to read books with that kind of language. Plus they have the option not to read those types of books if they find it offensive.
To what extent can literature have an affect on the way we judge society? Humans are naturally able to make a first impression on countries, religions, and people based upon their own beliefs. Writers are grown up in different societies and express their own beliefs on countries, religion and people through their own life experiences. Writers have enough power to change the reader’s preconceived ideas by the writers sharing of their own perspective on their beliefs. Through analyzing different forms of literature such as White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, Joseph Brodsky’s “A commencement Address,” and watching Chimamanda Adichie’s “The Danger of a Single Story” I have realized that reading literature has the ability to change our thinking which in return affects the we judge different society. There have been controversies that media is a huge factor in altering the mind of humans. Literature can be also viewed as a type of media because literature helps the readers understand the conditions of certain societies.
Consent is an important aspect of sexuality, teens and adults need to give the importance to the topic. The yes or no theory is not enough, a healthy relationship needs boundaries, and girls need to be aware what does sexual harassment means. Teen violence is not rare; it is necessary to provide teenagers with the right information. Verbal abuse is included on teen violence and teens need to know they can speak up.